What should I know about getting around before I go?

The backbone of public transport is the train, run by ONCF, and it's genuinely good on the routes it covers — Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca, Fes, Marrakech and the new high-speed Al Boraq line that whisks you between Tangier and Casablanca in a couple of hours. It's comfortable, affordable and a lovely way to watch the country roll by; book first class on busy routes for a reserved seat. The catch is that trains don't reach the south or the desert, so the moment your plans involve Chefchaouen, the Sahara or the Atlas valleys, you're into buses, taxis or a private car.

For everywhere the train doesn't go, the intercity coaches are your friend, and the two names to trust are CTM and Supratours — modern, air-conditioned, with assigned seats and a booked-luggage system, a clear cut above the cheaper local lines. Then there are grand taxis: usually old Mercedes that run fixed routes between towns and leave when full (often six passengers crammed in), cheap and characterful but tight. You can also charter a whole grand taxi for yourself by paying for the empty seats, which is how a lot of point-to-point day trips actually work.

Within cities, the workhorse is the petit taxi — small, colour-coded by city, metered and not allowed to leave town limits. The rule that saves the most money and friction is simple: insist on the meter ("compteur, s'il vous plaît") or firmly agree a price before you get in, never after. They're shared, so a driver may pick up another passenger heading the same way. Trams in Casablanca and Rabat are excellent and cheap. For the medinas themselves, of course, nothing has wheels except mopeds and handcarts — you're walking, so wear the right shoes.

The big-picture advice is to respect distance and consider a driver. Morocco is large and mountainous, and a route that looks short on the map can be a winding, switchback half-day over a pass. Self-driving gives freedom and the rental rates are reasonable, but city traffic is assertive, rural roads are unlit and shared with everything from sheep to overloaded trucks, and police checkpoints are routine. For most first-timers covering the south or the desert, I honestly recommend a private driver-guide: you keep the flexibility, lose the stress, and learn far more from the person at the wheel than any signpost would teach you.