Can you visit the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, and how?

This is the one Casablanca question I want everyone to get right, because the Hassan II Mosque is the single best reason to stop in the city. In Morocco, the overwhelming majority of working mosques are closed to non-Muslims — you admire them from the courtyard gate. The Hassan II is the grand exception: it was deliberately designed to welcome visitors of all faiths inside, and that makes it a rare privilege.

You cannot simply wander in, though. Entry for non-Muslims is by guided tour only, on a fixed schedule. Tours run several times a day — generally a morning slot and a couple of early-afternoon slots, with a reduced timetable on Fridays and around prayer times, since it remains a living place of worship. You buy a ticket at the dedicated entrance, you are grouped by language (English, French, Arabic, sometimes Spanish), and a guide walks you through on a timed circuit of roughly an hour. I always tell clients to arrive early, as the popular slots fill and the schedule can shift seasonally.

What you actually see is extraordinary. It is the largest mosque in Morocco and one of the largest in the world, with a minaret that soars over 200 metres, a retractable roof, a hand-carved cedar ceiling, acres of zellige tilework and a section of the floor built directly over the Atlantic — there is even a glass floor area where you can see the ocean beneath you. The whole thing was completed in the early 1990s, so the craftsmanship is pristine rather than weathered.

A few etiquette notes I give everyone: dress modestly — shoulders and knees covered for all, and women do not need a headscarf here but should avoid anything too revealing. You will remove your shoes before entering the prayer hall (bring socks), and you carry them with you. Photography is allowed and encouraged, which is unusual and wonderful. Budget the guided hour plus time to linger on the vast esplanade outside afterwards, especially at golden hour when the light off the ocean is unreal.