What should I know about money before visiting Morocco?

The first thing to understand is that the Moroccan dirham is a "closed" currency — officially you can't buy meaningful amounts outside the country, and you shouldn't try. The simplest approach is to arrive with a little emergency cash in euros, pounds or dollars to change at a kiosk, then draw dirhams from an ATM in the arrivals hall or a city bank. Withdraw a decent chunk at a time to minimise per-transaction fees, tell your bank you're travelling so the card doesn't freeze, and bring a backup card kept separately. ATMs occasionally run empty over weekends, so don't leave it to the last 50 dirhams.

This is a cash-first economy, far more than most visitors expect. Hotels, riads and smarter restaurants take cards, but the taxi, the medina stall, the rural café, the museum tip box, the hammam attendant and the man guarding the car all want cash — and specifically small denominations. The 200-dirham notes that ATMs love to dispense are useless for a 10-dirham purchase, so break them early at a supermarket or a busy café and hoard your 20s, 10s and coins. I tell every client: the single best money habit in Morocco is keeping a pocket of small change.

Tipping deserves its own mention because it's woven into daily life and surprises people with how often it comes up. A few dirhams for the café waiter, 10-20 for a helpful porter, 10 or so for a clean public toilet, a meaningful tip for your driver or guide at the end of a tour — none of it is huge, but it adds up and it lubricates everything. It's not extortion; modest tipping is simply how a lot of service work is paid here. Budget a daily cash allowance for it so it never catches you short, and keep small notes handy for exactly this.

On bargaining: it's expected and even enjoyable in the souks and with unmetered taxis, but not everywhere. Supermarkets, pharmacies, the train station, modern shops and most restaurants have fixed prices — trying to haggle there is just awkward. Where it does apply, treat it as a friendly game, not a battle: smile, start well below the asking price, be willing to walk away, and never bargain hard for something you don't intend to buy. As a rough planning figure, mid-range travellers spend comfortably on far less than in Europe, but it's the cash discipline, not the budget, that trips people up.