Do I need cash or are cards enough in Morocco?

I always tell first-timers to carry a "two-pocket" system: a card for the predictable stuff and a fold of cash for everything else. In Marrakech or Casablanca, my hotel, a sit-down dinner, and the airport pharmacy all took my Visa without blinking. The moment I stepped into the medina, that card became dead weight — the spice seller, the leather stall, and the man with the mint tea cart all wanted dirhams.

Cash is king for the small, lovely transactions that make a Morocco trip: the 20-dirham petit taxi across town, the tip for the riad porter who hauled my bag up four flights, the hammam scrub, the parking guardian in the orange vest. None of these take cards, and trying to pay any other way just creates awkward shrugs.

Withdraw from a bank ATM (look for Attijariwafa, BMCE, or Banque Populaire) rather than the standalone machines, and decline the "convert to my currency" option so your own bank gives you the better rate. Notify your bank you are travelling so the first withdrawal does not get blocked. I pull out a few hundred dirhams at a time and never carry more than I would miss.

A practical tip that saves a lot of friction: break your big notes early. Nobody in the souk wants to change a 200-dirham bill for a 15-dirham purchase, and "no change" is a classic stall tactic. I ask my riad to swap a couple of big notes for tens and twenties at breakfast, and the rest of the day flows much more easily.