Are public toilets available in Morocco, and do they cost money?

Let me set realistic expectations, because this is one of those things nobody warns first-timers about: street-corner public toilets in the Western sense are not common in Morocco. There are some — at transport hubs, in larger markets, near major monuments — but you should not plan your day assuming you will find one on demand. The practical reality, which locals live by, is that you use the facilities at the places you are already visiting and eating.

Where public toilets do exist, they are almost always staffed by an attendant and cost a small fee — typically a couple of dirhams — handed over as you go in or out. That fee usually buys you a small wad of toilet paper from the attendant, which matters because paper is often not stocked inside the stall itself. This is exactly why I tell every guest to carry two things at all times: a stash of small coins and a packet of tissues. A travel-size hand sanitiser completes the kit, since soap is not guaranteed.

Your most comfortable and reliable option is to build "comfort stops" into where you are already going. Cafés and restaurants have toilets for customers — buying a mint tea earns you the loo and a lovely pause anyway. Museums, riads, hotels and the better tourist sites have clean Western-style facilities. On a guided itinerary, your driver knows exactly which roadside cafés and petrol stations on the desert routes have decent toilets, and will time stops around them, which removes the guesswork entirely on long drives.

One cultural heads-up so you are not caught off guard: outside tourist-facing venues you will frequently meet squat toilets, and a small hose or a bucket of water rather than paper is the local norm for cleaning. It is perfectly hygienic once you know the etiquette — keep your own tissues for backup. Embrace it as part of the travel experience, plan your stops around cafés and your riad, and keep coins and tissues in your daypack; do that and toilets simply never become a problem on your trip.