Is Casablanca worth a stop, and how long should I stay?

Let me be honest with you, because most guides are not. Casablanca is the first place a lot of travellers land, and it is the city that confuses them most. They arrive expecting the Morocco of postcards — winding alleys, spice pyramids, snake charmers — and instead they get tram lines, glass office towers, traffic, and a working port. Then they panic and wonder if Morocco was a mistake. It was not. Casablanca is simply a different animal: it is the country's economic engine, the place where Moroccans actually do business, not a heritage open-air museum.

So here is my flat recommendation: give it one full day, occasionally two if you love early-20th-century architecture. The non-negotiable is the Hassan II Mosque, which sits dramatically over the Atlantic and is genuinely one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever stood inside. Beyond that, I love walking clients through the old downtown around Place Mohammed V and the Marché Central — Casablanca has one of the largest concentrations of Art Deco and Mauresque architecture anywhere in the world, faded and gorgeous, and almost nobody photographs it. Finish with sunset and a fish dinner on the Corniche in the Ain Diab district.

Where Casablanca disappoints is the "old Morocco" checklist. The medina here is small and rough compared with Fes or Marrakech, and it is not somewhere I send people for a magical first wander. If your fantasy is getting beautifully lost in a thousand-year-old labyrinth, save that energy — Fes and Marrakech do it infinitely better, and you will be there within days.

My practical move: I often have clients land in Casablanca, see the mosque and downtown on arrival day to beat jet lag, sleep one night, then take the excellent high-speed train to Marrakech (under three hours) or up to Rabat and Fes. That way Casablanca earns its place in the trip without stealing days from the destinations that will actually take your breath away.