8 Best Day Trips from Casablanca: A Local's Guide (2026)
One of the quiet advantages of Casablanca that nobody talks about: it’s the best-connected city in Morocco. Trains run constantly, the coastal highway is excellent, and within two hours in almost any direction you can be standing somewhere completely different — a UNESCO-listed Portuguese fortress, a lagoon famous for oysters, or the walled capital of the country.
I’ve lived here since 2013, and over the years I’ve made every one of these trips, most of them more than once. Here are the eight day trips genuinely worth your time, with honest notes on which ones deserve a full day and which ones you can do in an afternoon.
Quick Comparison: All 8 Day Trips
| Destination | Travel Time | Best Way | Time Needed | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rabat | 1 hour | Train | Full day | History, calm capital city |
| Mohammedia | 25 min | Train | Half day | Quick beach escape |
| El Jadida | 1h 35m | Train or car | Full day | UNESCO Portuguese cistern |
| Azemmour | 1h 20m | Train or car | Half day | Art, murals, no crowds |
| Bouznika | 40 min | Train or car | Half day | Beach + grilled meat |
| Oualidia | 2 hours | Car only | Full day | Lagoon, oysters, families |
| Marrakech | 2h 40m | Train | Long full day | First-timers, souks |
| Ben Slimane | 45 min | Car | Half day | Forest walks, fresh air |
1. Rabat — The Easiest and Best Day Trip
If you only have time for one day trip from Casablanca, make it Rabat. The train takes about an hour, runs roughly hourly from early morning until late at night, and costs less than a decent lunch. There is genuinely no easier trip in Morocco.
Rabat is Morocco’s capital, and it surprises almost everyone who visits. It’s calm in a way Casablanca isn’t — wide boulevards, gardens, a tram system that actually works, and a medina you can walk through without anyone trying to sell you a carpet. The whole historic centre is UNESCO-listed.
The must-sees are the Kasbah of the Udayas (a fortified quarter of blue-and-white lanes overlooking the river mouth, with a beautiful Andalusian garden inside), the Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, and the ruins of Chellah — a Roman site turned medieval necropolis where storks nest on the crumbling minarets. Chellah is my favourite spot in Rabat.
The medina is small, relaxed and excellent for shopping. Bab El Had market in particular is one of the most authentic traditional souks in the country.
- Travel time: About 1 hour by train from Casa Voyageurs or Casa Port
- Cost: Roughly 50–90 MAD one way, depending on class and how far ahead you book
- Frequency: Hourly, from around 5:40 AM to late evening
- Time needed: A full day. You could rush it in a half day, but don’t
- Best for: History, gardens, relaxed medina shopping, anyone tired of big-city noise
My tip: Take the train from Casa Port rather than Casa Voyageurs if you’re staying near the medina or the Corniche — it’s more central. In Rabat, get off at Rabat Ville, which puts you a short walk from the medina and the tram. Buy your return ticket when you arrive so you’re not queuing at the end of a long day.
Read about how Rabat changed the way I see Morocco, my full guide to Bab El Had market in Rabat, and Rabat vs Casablanca: which city should you choose?
2. El Jadida — A Portuguese Fortress on the Atlantic
El Jadida is where you go for something that looks nothing like the rest of Morocco. The old town — the Cité Portugaise — was built by the Portuguese in the 16th century and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. You walk in through a stone gateway and suddenly you’re in a small European fortified town, with ramparts you can walk along and the Atlantic crashing below.
The famous part is the Portuguese Cistern: an underground chamber of stone columns and vaulted arches, with a thin layer of water on the floor that reflects the ceiling perfectly. Orson Welles filmed part of his Othello here.
Beyond the old town, El Jadida has a long sandy beach, a working fishing port, and some very good, very cheap seafood.
- Travel time: About 1h 35m by train, or 1h 30m driving via the A5 motorway
- Cost: Around 70–100 MAD by train one way; buses run too and cost slightly less
- Frequency: Trains every few hours — check times carefully, they’re less frequent than Rabat
- Time needed: A full day, or half a day if you only want the old town
- Best for: History, photography, UNESCO sites, seafood
Combine it: El Jadida and Azemmour are only 15 km apart. If you have a car, do both in one day — Azemmour in the morning when the light is good on the river, El Jadida in the afternoon with the cistern and a seafood lunch by the port.
Read my complete El Jadida travel guide.
3. Azemmour — The One Nobody Knows About
Azemmour is my favourite kind of place: genuinely beautiful, genuinely historic, and almost completely ignored by tourists.
It sits about 80 km south of Casablanca where the Oum Er-Rbia river meets the Atlantic. Like El Jadida, it was a Portuguese stronghold, and the massive 16th-century stone walls still stand along the riverbank. But what makes Azemmour different is what’s happened inside those walls: over the past couple of decades, artists have covered the whitewashed medina houses in murals.
People compare it to Chefchaouen, and I understand why — there’s the same dreamy, blue-washed, wander-slowly quality. Except in Azemmour you’ll have the streets largely to yourself.
- Travel time: About 1h 20m by train, or 1h 15m by car
- Cost: Around 60–80 MAD by train one way
- Time needed: Half a day, or combine with El Jadida for a full day
- Best for: Photography, art, quiet wandering, avoiding crowds
Read my full guide to Azemmour, Morocco’s hidden gem.
4. Oualidia — The Lagoon Worth the Drive
I have to admit something here. I lived two hours from Oualidia for years and never went. I assumed the Atlantic here would be like the Atlantic in Casablanca: cold, rough, not the sort of place you swim.
I was completely wrong. Oualidia is built around a natural lagoon, protected from the ocean by a rocky barrier, so the water inside is calm, shallow and warm enough to swim in comfortably. For families with small children it’s one of the few genuinely safe swimming spots on this coast.
Oualidia is also famous for oysters — they’re farmed right there in the lagoon, and you can eat them within an hour of harvest at restaurants overlooking the water.
- Travel time: About 2 hours by car (160 km)
- Transport: Car strongly recommended — public transport is slow and inconvenient
- Time needed: A full day, or better still, an overnight stay
- Best for: Families, swimming, seafood, anyone who wants calm water
Worth knowing: Oualidia gets very busy on summer weekends when Moroccan families come down from Casablanca. If you can go on a weekday, do — you’ll have the lagoon almost to yourself.
Read my full Oualidia guide for families.
5. Mohammedia — The 25-Minute Escape
Mohammedia is what Casablancans do when they want the sea but don’t want to commit to a whole day. It’s barely 25 minutes on the train, sits right on the coast, and has a proper sandy beach, a marina, a small old town and a row of restaurants along the front.
It isn’t spectacular. But that’s not really the point — it’s the point of a quick afternoon out: eat some grilled fish, walk on the sand, have a coffee looking at the water, get the train home.
- Travel time: About 25 minutes by train
- Cost: Around 20–30 MAD one way — the cheapest trip on this list
- Time needed: Half a day or just an afternoon
- Best for: A quick sea fix, seafood lunch, low effort
6. Bouznika — Best Beach, Best Grilled Meat
Bouznika sits about halfway between Casablanca and Rabat, and it has two things going for it: one of the nicest stretches of sand on this part of the coast, and a slightly unlikely reputation as the place you stop to eat meat.
The beach is wide, clean and backed by low cliffs and dunes. The food thing is real, too. Bouznika grew up as a stopping point for drivers on the Casa–Rabat road, and the town built a genuine reputation for grilled meat and tagines. There’s a strip of small restaurants where the grills are going all day.
- Travel time: About 40 minutes by train or car
- Cost: Around 30–50 MAD by train one way
- Time needed: Half a day
- Best for: Beach walks, grilled meat, an easy stop en route to Rabat
7. Marrakech — Doable, But Be Realistic
People ask me constantly whether you can day-trip to Marrakech from Casablanca. The honest answer: yes, technically. The train takes about 2 hours 40 minutes each way, and if you leave on an early train and come back on a late one you can get a solid seven or eight hours in the city.
But I want to be straight with you about what that actually feels like. Marrakech is intense. The medina is a maze, the souks are relentless, and the heat in summer is serious. Doing all of that on the back of a nearly three-hour train journey, knowing you have another one waiting at the end of the day, is tiring in a way that takes some of the joy out of it.
If Marrakech is the only reason you’re considering the trip, I’d rather you stayed a night.
- Travel time: 2h 40m to 3 hours each way by train
- Cost: From around 100–200 MAD one way depending on class and booking time
- Time needed: A very long full day. An overnight stay is much better
- Best for: Travellers with no other option, or repeat visitors
Read my complete Marrakech guide.
8. Ben Slimane — Forest Air, 45 Minutes Away
This is the one nobody outside Casablanca has heard of, and it’s here for a specific reason: sometimes what you need isn’t another medina or another beach. Sometimes you just need trees.
Ben Slimane sits inland, about 45 minutes from Casablanca, surrounded by cork oak and eucalyptus forest. It’s where Casablancans go for picnics, walks and a break from the concrete and the sea wind.
It’s not a sightseeing destination and I wouldn’t recommend it to someone visiting Morocco for a week. But if you’re living in Casablanca, or staying longer, or travelling with restless kids who need to run somewhere green, it’s a genuinely good half day.
- Travel time: About 45 minutes by car
- Transport: Car is easiest; trains and grand taxis exist but are less convenient
- Time needed: Half a day
- Best for: Fresh air, picnics, families, expats needing a change of scene
Practical Tips for Day Trips from Casablanca
Using the trains: Morocco’s rail network (ONCF) is genuinely good — clean, punctual and cheap. Casablanca has two main stations: Casa Voyageurs (the bigger one, where long-distance trains start) and Casa Port (more central, closer to the medina and Corniche). Book ahead for the best fares, and buy your return ticket on arrival so you’re not queuing at a busy station at the end of the day. Trains to El Jadida and Azemmour are less frequent than the Rabat line — check the timetable before committing to a plan.
Renting a car: For Oualidia and Ben Slimane, and for combining El Jadida with Azemmour, a car makes everything easier. The motorways are modern and well maintained, and driving outside Casablanca is far calmer than driving inside it.
Grand taxis: For shorter hops like Mohammedia or Bouznika, shared grand taxis (usually old Mercedes) run set routes and leave when full.
When to go: Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are the best months for almost all of these trips. Summer is ideal for the beach destinations (Mohammedia, Bouznika, Oualidia) but uncomfortable for walking around Marrakech. Winter is mild on the coast and perfect for Rabat and the Portuguese towns.
FAQs
What is the best day trip from Casablanca? Rabat, without question. It’s an hour by train, the trains run hourly, the historic centre is UNESCO-listed, and it gives you a completely different side of Morocco.
Can you do a day trip from Casablanca to Marrakech? Yes, but it’s a long day. The train takes about 2 hours 40 minutes each way, so you’d have roughly seven or eight hours in the city if you take the earliest and latest trains. It’s doable but tiring, and Marrakech really deserves an overnight stay.
How far is Rabat from Casablanca? About 90 km, which is roughly one hour by train or a little over an hour by car. Trains run hourly from early morning until late at night.
Do I need a car for day trips from Casablanca? Not for most of them. Rabat, Mohammedia, Bouznika, El Jadida, Azemmour and Marrakech are all reachable by train. You only really need a car for Oualidia and Ben Slimane, or if you want to combine El Jadida and Azemmour comfortably in one day.
What is the closest beach to Casablanca? Within the city, Ain Diab along the Corniche. For a proper beach day, Mohammedia is 25 minutes away by train and Bouznika is about 40 minutes, with the nicer stretch of sand of the two.
Is it worth visiting El Jadida from Casablanca? Yes, mainly for the Cité Portugaise and the Portuguese Cistern, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most atmospheric places in Morocco.
This is the part of living in Casablanca that took me longest to appreciate. The city itself is wonderful, but its real luxury is how easy it is to leave for a day — to be standing inside a Portuguese cistern, or eating oysters over a lagoon, or watching storks nest on a Roman ruin, and still be home for dinner.
Start with Rabat. Then work your way down the coast. You’ll run out of weekends before you run out of places.
Which of these have you done? And is there a spot near Casablanca I’ve missed? Tell me in the comments!
Before you leave the city, see my complete guide to things to do in Casablanca. First time in Morocco? Read my honest Casablanca safety guide. Back in the city? Here’s where to eat in Casablanca. Want to go further? Four Moroccan cities in four days.
