10 Best Sights in Casablanca, Rabat, Casablanca, and the North Atlantic Coast

This lovely museum is hidden away in a splendid Art Deco villa. Permanent exhibits feature a collection of the nation’s treasures, including delicate crystal perfume bottles, Jacques Majorelle paintings, vintage travel posters, and 300-year-old jewelry from Fez. The museum has a café spilling out onto the rooftop, and a shop. Guided visits are available for 100 DH and there are creative art workshops in subjects such as photography, tapestry, and drawing and painting for children.

This mosque dominates the city skyline, and through its monumental titanium doors, it’s a masterclass of Moroccan craftsmanship—hand-carved plaster, gilded cedar ceilings, exquisite zellige tilework, and acres of marble. Its foundations lie partly on land and partly in the sea. The main hall, with a retractable roof for summer months, holds an astonishing 25,000 people, with a further 80,000 in the courtyard. The minaret is more than 650 feet high, and the women's section on the mezzanine floor (about 6 feet above the main floor) seems dwarfed by the nearly 200-foot-high ceiling. Don’t miss the marble ablution room; there is also a small museum showcasing the crafts involved in its construction.

Funded through public subscription, designed by a French architect, and built by a team of 35,000, the mosque was erected between 1987 and 1993 and is one of the largest in the world. It was built in Casablanca primarily so that the largest city in the kingdom would have a monument worthy of its size. Except for the ruined Tinmel mosque in the High Atlas Mountains, this is the only mosque in Morocco that non-Muslims are allowed to enter. One-hour guided tours of the mosque are offered daily (six per day, Saturday to Thursday; four on Friday, with reduced hours during Ramadan). Be sure to dress conservatively, and note that you will be required to remove your shoes at the entrance.

If you fly out of Casablanca, try to get a window seat on the left for a good view of the mosque in relation to the city as a whole.

The area of the city bordered by Avenue des FAR, Place des Nations-Unies, Boulevard Mohammed V, and Rue Abdullah Al Mediouini contains some beautiful examples of Mauresque and Art Deco architecture built by the French in the early years of the Protectorate (1912--56). While much has gone, large swathes of these buildings are being restored, including the Central Market and the enormous Hotel Lincoln, both on Boulevard Mohammed V. Some excellent examples are Le Petit Poucet bar on the same street, the Cinema Rialto on Rue Bouchaib, and the Bank Al-Maghrib on Boulevard de Paris. Many apartment blocks in this area sport pretty wrought-iron balconies and swags of cement flowers and fruit on the buildings. Casamémoire ( casamemoire.org) is a Moroccan nonprofit dedicated to the protection and promotion of the city's 20th-century architecture; it organizes architectural Heritage Days in May and can offer private architectural tours in English if booked in advance.

Get a feel for Casa's Atlantic Ocean setting with a stroll along the lovely landscaped waterfront walkway between the Hassan II Mosque and the historic El Hank Lighthouse. It’s a favorite with couples and families enjoying the breeze, sun, and sunset. On weekends, the area heaves with people settling in to the line of cafés and restaurants, basking in the beach resorts, and promenading up and down the wide pavement. In the evenings, along the stretch from the lighthouse to the Tahiti Beach Club, nightclubs and bars open their doors for all kinds of partygoers. 

Set in a lovely villa in the suburb of Oasis, this museum has a permanent exhibition of traditional ceremonial objects, clothing, lamps, and furniture from various synagogues around Morocco. There's also a temporary exhibition space that often shows photographs and art. Phone ahead to make sure it's open.

The main medina gate sits next to the minaret-like Clock Tower, a city landmark on the perpetually busy Place des Nations Unies, with its famous Zevaco-designed dome. European consuls lived here in the 19th century and its simple whitewashed houses, particularly those closest to the port, form a marked contrast to Morocco's economic and commercial nerve center just a few hundred yards away. On its north side, you’ll see the last remains of the city’s 18th-century fortifications, known as the sqala. Today it boils over with busy Moroccan shoppers and vendors and  there’s a conglomeration of stalls and shops selling watches, leather goods, crafted wood, and clothes. It's best avoided at night unless you're accompanied by a local you know well. 

Downtown Casablanca's historic green lung has been revived and is now home to a skate park and playground, palm tree-lined promenades, exotic plants and water features. The dazzlingly white Art Deco edifice at the park’s northwestern corner is L’Église du Sacré-Coeur, built in the 1930s by a French architect. The now-deconsecrated church has been restored, although it is only open to the public for special events.

Downtown Casablanca's version of London's Trafalgar Square has illuminated fountains and plenty of pigeons, and is flanked by grand Mauresque—a mix of Moorish and Art Deco—buildings. Coming from the port, you'll pass the main post office on your right, and on your left as you enter the square is its most impressive edifice, the courthouse, built in the 1920s. On the other side of Avenue Hassan II from the post office is the ornate Bank Al-Maghrib; the structure opposite, with the clock tower, is the Wilaya, the governor's office. 

On the opposite side of the square to the Wilaya, the ultra-contemporary Grand Théâtre de Casablanca was designed by a Pritzker Prize-winning architect. The multi-disciplinary art space includes two halls holding 2,400, and a music space for 300, and it will be one of the largest theaters in Africa when it's fully open. And it's easy to get here by tram from almost anywhere else in the city.

Also known as the New Medina, the Quartier Habous was built by the French in the 1930s as a modern version of a traditional medina. Today it's an attractive mix of French colonial architecture with Moroccan details. Capped by arches, its small shops are the best place in Casablanca to buy handicrafts, from rugs and slippers to kaftans. Don’t miss the olive souk, with its pyramids of multi-hue olives; there are several bookshops, too.

As you enter the Habous, you'll pass a building resembling a castle; this is the Mahkama de Pasha, or court, completed in 1952. It has an ornate interior courtyard but is currently used for district government administration. On the opposite side of the square is the Mohammadi Mosque built in the 1930s—this and the Moulay Youssef Mosque, in an adjacent square, are among the finest examples of traditional Maghrebi (western North African) architecture in Casablanca. Look up at the minarets and you might recognize a style used in Marrakesh's Koutoubia Mosque. Immediately north of the Habous is Casablanca's Royal Palace with an impressive gate; it's heavily guarded and you can't go inside.

This small art gallery, set in a stunning, 1930s Art Deco villa, holds interesting temporary exhibitions by contemporary Moroccan artists, and works to promote art and culture, especially to young people; it has an equally striking sister gallery in Rabat.