Can I use Uber or ride-hailing in Morocco?

Uber pulled out of Morocco years ago, so if you are looking for the exact app you use at home, you will not find it. What does work, and what I point smartphone-savvy travellers towards, is Careem (the Middle Eastern equivalent, owned by Uber) and inDrive, both of which operate in the major cities — Casablanca and Rabat most reliably, with coverage in Marrakech and a few others. They function just like any ride-hailing app: you see the driver, the route and a fixed or negotiated fare upfront, paid by cash or card, which neatly sidesteps the haggling that puts some visitors off taxis.

A note of realism about how this sits with local rules. Ride-hailing has had a famously rocky relationship with the traditional taxi unions in Morocco, and drivers sometimes ask you to sit in the front seat to look like a friend rather than a fare, or to meet slightly away from a taxi rank. It works smoothly day to day, but it is not the seamless, unremarkable service it is in Europe, and coverage thins out fast once you leave the biggest cities. In smaller towns and rural areas, the apps are effectively useless.

For most journeys, the workhorse is still the humble taxi, and it is worth understanding the two types. The petit taxi is a small, colour-coded city cab (a different colour in each city) that takes up to three passengers within the urban area and is supposed to run on a meter — insist on it, because the meter fare is cheap and fair, and a refusal usually signals an attempt at the tourist rate. The grand taxi is a larger, older shared car for longer or intercity routes, where you agree a price for the whole car or pay per seat.

My standard advice ties it together. In Casablanca, Rabat or Marrakech, having Careem or inDrive on your phone is a genuinely useful backup that guarantees a transparent price, especially late at night or to the airport. For everything else, use petit taxis and either insist on the meter or agree the fare before you get in — never after. Keep small dirham notes for exact change, as drivers rarely have much. And for airport transfers, intercity legs or a full day of touring, a pre-booked private driver removes all the guesswork, which is exactly what our chauffeur service is for.