We will be flying in to Casablanca (CMN) and I have no idea what to expect.
Neither of us speaks the native language.
Where should we go, what should we do?
which hotel should we stay at?
How much will a 20km cab ride cost us to get to a hotel from the airport?
Any places in particular to visit?
We're really big on nature and architecture and things like that, not so big on partying and beaches.
What percentage of the women in Casablanca wear hejab?

sorry if my questions are silly, but I am admittedly uninformed and would like to be informed by people who know better!

Thanks!

Casablanca is very metropolitan. Most women dress western. They are friendly, speak Arabic (of course), French and English. Your cab ride from the airport into Casa will be approximately $35 USD; you can change your money at the airport before you leave. There are lots of nice hotels, Hilton, Sheraton, and less expensive Ibis. If you don't already have one, I suggest you pick up a guide book; there are wonderful places to explore. Enjoy your visit!

There is also a train that takes you from teh airport to the city centre for much less than the texi - depending on the time of your arrival. A taxi from the train station will take you almost anywhere for $2-4. Depending on what kind of amenities you want in a hotel, there are many choices. The guide book will give you some ideas. Hotel Paris is nice, but nothing like room service or in house cafes.

The one time I took a taxi alone in Morocco the driver didn't even set the counter and I got hosed. I ended up paying about 10 times more than I would have if I was with Hicham. You'll probably end up paying more than you really should have to, but in the end it won't be that much. Have fun!

One problem you may encounter at most hotels is that they will ask you for your marriage certificate to share the room. We had to pay for two rooms in Marrakesh and we slept separately because the inspectors may come in the middle of the night.... This "anti prostitution law" is mostly enforced when one in the couple is moroccan. If both are foreigners, they may be less strict. Anybody had the same experience?

There is a new law in place where taxis must charge a flat fee to and from the airport. I dont have my hands on the cost, but i think it is about $35. i think i read it on the offical casa airport site. The train is just soooo easy to use.

have fun!

I would highly suggest the train from the airport as well. It is quick and easy.

Like others have said, Casablanca is a very cosmopolitian city...reminds me of NYC. If you get a chance to go see the mosque, I would highly suggest it. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture I have ever seen.

Twila

Part of it also depends on the city and the hotel. We stayed at the Ibis, a French chain, near the Casa Voyager station. We paid for two rooms but they asked if we didn't want just one.

Interesting. We stayed at two separate hotels in Morocco (one in Tangier and one in Marrakech) and were never asked for a marriage certificate in order to share a room. It must depend where you are.

That's interesting to hear.
Sounds a lot like Iran.
Does the law apply to Moroccan citizens only, or does it also apply to foreigners as well?
My fiancee wears hijab, will that put us in a precarious position (i.e. more scrutiny than other not-obviously muslim foreign visitors)?
We have been married in a religious ceremony, but not legally (so that we may still qualify for a fiancee visa)
but how would the local authorities validate our marriage? Any documents we have (which are legally non-binding in iran) would have to be translated, etc... Should we look into going to another country?

That's interesting to hear.
Sounds a lot like Iran.
Does the law apply to Moroccan citizens only, or does it also apply to foreigners as well?
My fiancee wears hijab, will that put us in a precarious position (i.e. more scrutiny than other not-obviously muslim foreign visitors)?
We have been married in a religious ceremony, but not legally (so that we may still qualify for a fiancee visa)
but how would the local authorities validate our marriage? Any documents we have (which are legally non-binding in iran) would have to be translated, etc... Should we look into going to another country?
[/quote]
Apparently this law is not applied 100% of the time. I know that if both are foreigners it doesn't seem to affect them. although being your fiance a muslim woman, it is hard to know what would happen. In my opinion, it would be a pity not to visit this beautiful country for this reason. Maybe somebody has some suggestion to avoid this problem. Maybe renting an apartment is a possibility, or maybe the western owned hotels do not apply this law. Maybe your religious certificate is good enough. I hope you find a definite answer. Good luck

we stayed in Marrakesh and Casa and never had any problems with the hotel rooms

The hotel situation is a little tricky...

When we were not married, my husband and I didn't even try to stay in a hotel together. We rented apartments from people--they usually do not check any identification. My husband would negotiate with people in the streets--we'd go see the place and they would agree on a price. We stayed in some wonderful apartments at a much better price than most hotels. It might be hard to do this well if you don't speak Moroccan Arabic (French or English will work with some people, but I'd bet prices would be higher).

Later, even though we were married, my husband and I have had a hard time staying in some hotels together in Morocco! The problem was that we were not carrying our marriage certificate with us (for some crazy reason my husband chose to leave it with his mom for safekeeping while we were traveling). Eventually we would find a place, but it took some time!

I've heard that expensive hotels that cater mostly to foreigners are less likely to care if you are married or not.

I just asked my husband--he said that if your fiance/wife has a Iranian passport, hotels will be strict about the marriage issue.

My suggestion: get the marriage certificate translated if it's not written in Arabic or French. I think you would be considered married in Morocco (oh yeah--you should call her your WIFE, not fiance, and carry your marriage certificate to avoid any troubles with the police).

It's a wonderful country to travel to!

Bon voyage!
Carolyn

P.S. Did your wife have any problems getting a visa to Morocco?

I don't know how much time you'll have in Morocco, but here are my suggestions (FYI: I've been there 4 times):

In my opinion, there isn't a lot to do in Casablanca if you are a tourist (except for seeing the mosque, of course).

I recommend heading straight to Marrakech, where there are many wonderful cultural sites to see. You can take the train from Casa to Marrakech. Do not leave Morocco without going to Djmaa al Fna! The medina is really interesting to walk around in, you'll find plenty of entertainment in the square, as well as great food and shopping in the souks. If you want a fun night of entertainment by traditional musicians from all over Morocco and a great feast, ask your hotel for tickets to Chez Ali--you'll take a minivan out to the desert for an evening extravaganza. It's quite touristy, but we loved it.

If you want to go to the ocean, head to Essouira (a sleepy little town south of Casa) with wonderful fresh-from-the-ocean seafood, crashing waves and a really old Portuguese fort as well as lots of interesting buildings. I don't think that Agadir is all that great--it's a nice resort city, but it doesn't have a real Moroccan feel (you could be anywhere--Europe, US, etc.) We also really enjoyed going to Assila--a tiny ocean town south of Tangier on the Atlantic.

I really love the mountains--if you have time, take a taxi (you could share it with any # of people--I'd suggest buying an extra seat or two for comfort:) up to the mountains--the most amazing views I've ever seen in my life were on the road from Marrakech to Ouarzazate and beyond out to the sand dunes in Merzouga (and we had this crazy taxi driver, Aziz, whose musical choices were the Koran or Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton--quite the contrast to the breathtaking views of mountains, kasbahs and oasis ). That took 4 days round-trip, including a camel trek through the dunes and an overnight in a Berber tent out in Merzouga.

If you want a day trip in the mountains, you could go to Ourika. It is a little mountain village about 45 minutes up into the mountains from Marrakech. Great food, strolling Berber traditional musicians, a cool river and a panoramic view of the majestic Atlas.

Oh, I love Morocco!

Thank you so much for the information, Carolyn.
The people she spoke to at the Moroccan Embassy said she just needed to show a round trip ticket to Morocco as well as her hotel itinerary.

From what you've said, the hotels are pretty strict, and unfortunately, I don't know how to deal with it. Getting two rooms is not a problem, but what you mentioned about traveling together and carrying the marriage certificate to appease local police is not something we'd like to deal with, as we already deal with that sort of thing in our home country. what happens if they don't agree with the translation or they say it's not valid? that's too much of a headache for us to deal with, and being that we look fairly young, we're easy targets.

I'll have to speak to her about all of this and I will call the hotels myself and see if reserving the hotel in both of our names ahead of time will make any difference as far as harassment upon check-in is concerned. we might have to put off morocco until we are legally married in both the US and Iran just to avoid any headaches...

Oh, I would really hate to have you not go to Morocco because of potential problems that may not even occur!

I don't know if MOST hotels are strict--it sounds like several people on here have had no issues with them. Our experience could be very different from yours as my husband is Moroccan, not a foreigner. I would call hotels and ask...

And as far as problems with police--I know that they sometimes check foreign women with Moroccan looking men because they want to make sure that tourists are not being harassed by the locals. I have read many books about modern Iran, and it sounds NOTHING like the possible issues there! Morocco feels very relaxed, enjoyable and safe to me.

Congrats on your engagement/marriage and good luck with your upcoming travels! By the way, are you both Persian? I have an Iranian-American friend who has lived in the US since she was two and has told me fascinating stories about traveling home to visit family.

Carolyn

We had the hotel problem in Casa at several hotels. We were always told we had to get two rooms. Usually they would give us some kind of deal for 2 rooms but it was still more expensive than one room. In Casa I would highly reccomend the hotel "Ibis". For one thing it is at the Casa Voyageur train stop which is on the way from the airport and secondly they have great rooms for a good price and don't care if you're married or not. They also have a good breakfast in the morning. You should book soon though because it's usually full from my experience.

Hi Carolyn,
I have not given up on morocco, but I will definitely check ahead of time to see if the hotel arrangements will be an issue.

We are both Iranian.

I was born and raised in the united states, but I don't look Iranian at all. When I'm in Iran, i get people yelling at me from cars saying "hey mister, why bush is so bad?" to which, i respond, in perfect farsi: man behesh rai nadaadam! (I didn't vote for him!)

She has much darker skin and hair than i do. If anything, they'd think she's local and I'm a tourist.

I love visiting Iran, and I do so about once a year. My fiancee also lived outside of iran for most of her life. neither of us has a non-western accent when speaking English.

we spent the month of july in iran together, holding hands when walking in the street, driving from place to place at all hours of the day and night, and never were bothered by the police, but it was always something that worried us. it just takes one crooked cop to mess everything up, you know?

Have a wonderful trip!

The first hotel we stayed in, I think it was the mystic, required 2 rooms. The 2nd one on my way out of town, was the Wyndamm and they did not require two rooms. I thought it was due to their more conservative way of life that they required the two rooms. So when we travel back this winter, will we need to take our marriage certificate for the places in which we need a hotel?

Its not the hotel usually, unles it is run by an islamist..its abou the law..the police do random checks in the hotel looking t the registry. The hotel employees do not want trouble so they demand two rooms..with foreigners there is not a problems , both of these people are traveling with foreign passports.

The places where you wil have trouble are the places where the tourists are likely to be and if a moroccan is involved.

On one of my trips there we traveled to Saidia. We didn't have too much trouble as far as our marriage, but my drivers license clearly shows that mine and his last names are the same. Saidia is a tourist city, so they understood that it is common in the U.S. for the wife to take on the husbands last name. The one thing I did have a problem with is that I had left my passport at his house. It never struck me to think I would need it. It took some time, but my husband was finally able to contact home and have them get the number. They accepted that.

I really enjoyed going to Volubus in Meknes. In Rabat they had Chella, and that was great. If you like history at all Morocco is filled with it. I know there is so much more I still want to see.

that applies only to moroccans (morccan ID or passport) otherways they should be alright since niether one of them will carry moroccan identifications.
best of luck
have a nice trip

these were taken in Casablanca:







these were taken in marrakech:

these were taken in Essaouira (OUR FAVORITE CITY IN ALL OF AL MAGHREB):

Khengool - Your pics are absolutely beautiful ! Looks like you enjoyed a fantastic time in Morocco... thanks for sharing these !



-MK

Thanks for sharing these. Glad to hear you had a wonderful time in Morocco.

Whenever I would go to see my husband, we never stayed in Casa. I would get there and we would go to Rabat. Marakesh was my favorite. So much to see and there is a beautiful garden there that is so peaceful. We always stayed at an Ibis hotel bc it was right next to the train station, it was proced right and we were never asked for a marriage certificate. I don't think there is much to Casa other than the mosque. There were a few times when the taxi driver didnt put the meter on and my husband did pay more then. Hope you enjoy your trip.

Those pictures are amazing! That cat looks so cozy and I love the one of the wet bumpy sand!

Great pics!!

thanks for the compliments, guys and gals!

If you take a taxi from the airport into Casa make sure you discuss the price with the driver first. It shouldn't cost you more than $25. I would just take the train though. Casa not my favorite place to go in Morocco. Marrakech, Fez and Rabat are pretty interesting places. Have fun!

Well, you're already there, so this advice is moot. But from my experience, once you're off the plane and out of the airport, you take the train... and get the hell away from Casa. Dirty, crowded, polluted, noisy, it's my least favorite place in Morocco. Head to Marrakesh or Fez or Essouira instead.

/heading there Thursday w/ our little boy
//grandpa is anxious
///nice pics BTW. how about one w/ the two of you?

Wonderful pictures--I love Morocco!

I'm so glad you decided to go and didn't get scared off by our postings!

I wish we could go again soon--the tickets are just too expensive this winter break...I guess I'll just have to look at pictures...

Enjoy the rest of your trip!
Carolyn