What do Ukrainian travellers need to know about Morocco?

Good news to begin with for my Ukrainian guests: Ukraine is on Morocco's visa-free list, so holders of a Ukrainian passport can stay up to 90 days visa-free, with a passport valid for six months beyond arrival and blank pages for the stamp. You complete a short arrival card on the plane and clear immigration on landing. Because entry rules and travel arrangements can shift — and travel from Ukraine currently involves overland routes to neighbouring airports given airspace closures — I always tell Ukrainian travellers to confirm the current requirement through the Moroccan embassy or the official Morocco e-visa portal, and to check their own government's travel guidance, before booking. Verify officially rather than relying on this answer alone.

On flights, there are no direct services, and in the current situation many Ukrainian travellers depart from airports in neighbouring countries — Warsaw, Krakow, Chișinău or Budapest are common starting points reached overland. From there, comfortable one-stop routings run via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, via Warsaw with LOT, or via the Gulf with Qatar, Emirates or Etihad, all connecting into Casablanca, Morocco's main gateway. A layover in Istanbul or a European hub breaks the journey well. From Casablanca, fast domestic links carry you onward to Marrakech, Fes and Tangier.

On money, the dirham is a closed currency you cannot buy in Ukraine, so plan to draw it from ATMs once you arrive — bring a modest reserve of euros or US dollars in cash as backup. Ukrainian-issued Visa and Mastercard cards generally work well in Moroccan ATMs and in city hotels, restaurants and larger shops (this is a key difference from Russian-issued cards, which do not work); notify your bank you're travelling so the payment isn't blocked, and choose a card with sensible foreign-transaction terms. The desert, the mountains and the souks are cash-only, so always keep small dirham notes for taxis, tips and stalls.

Culturally, Ukrainian travellers tend to find Morocco's warmth, colour and unhurried rhythm a welcome contrast, and a few notes help you settle in. Communication leans on Arabic and French, with English in hotels and tourist areas, so a translation app is genuinely useful in the souks and smaller towns; Ukrainian and Russian are rarely spoken, though you may occasionally meet someone with a few words. Tipping is customary but modest — a few dirhams, not a percentage. Bargaining in the markets is expected and good-natured, so enjoy it rather than treating it as a contest. Dress modestly away from the resorts, with shoulders and knees covered. Accept the famous mint-tea hospitality, and Morocco — its medinas, its Sahara, its Atlas valleys — offers a restorative, generous escape.