Morocco Tips Uber, Phone, Cash

For the first weeks of the trip I hired a car through Aircar.  Once I reached Casablanca I used public transport, namely trains, petit taxis and grand taxis.

Petit taxis are for travel within a city. Grand Taxis can go past the city limits too and are also useful within cities when you have lots of luggage and need more space.

I HATE haggling for taxis in Morocco and one of the best developments on that front in recently years is taxi apps.

Uber (Android / IOS) does not operate in Morocco and left due to the resistance it encountered from the Moroccan taxi industry but there are several others that you can use.  The ones listed here are one I used.  Taxi apps are only available in the larger cities.

Careem (Android /IOS)

I used this for my stay in Casablanca. It worked well and reliably and the app is the same style as using Uber.  The app also allows you to order takeaways etc. The app allowed you to store a card for payment so could work cashless,

InDrive (Android /IOS)

This was my favourite. I didn’t even know about it in Casablanca. Other apps did not work reliably in Marrakech so I sought out a new app. This one is the best I found.  It has the unique feature of allowing you to set a price.  The apps suggests a price based on the time of day and how busy it is but you can also set your own i.e. try and bag a bargain or ensure you get a taxi quicker at busy times by paying more.  As a general rule of thumb a ride costs 3MAD per minute of estimated travel during the day.

You can also select between “rides” – these are unregistered drivers, this is technically illegal for the drivers who are constantly avoiding police checkpoints. I used this a lot as it was cheaper and I met some interesting drivers from all walks of life. Driving a taxi was a second job for university professors and gardeners! If you choose to use this method (it’s usually cheaper) then remember they won’t pick you up anywhere near the police!

Other options are “moto”: like ride except on a motorbike, “taxi”: regular taxi, “grand taxi”: big taxi as described before, “city to city”: self-explanatory. 

Moroccan Trains

I used the growing Moroccan rail network for my trip between Casablanca and Marrakech. First class rates were only marginally more expensive than 2^nd class.  My train for over an hour late but it’s all just part of the fun.

Tickets can be booked online on the ONCF website. You need to go through a bit of an annoying registration process but on once you have your account set up its relatively easy to book. The site can be used in English, French, Amazigh or Arabic.  They also have an app for checking timetables etc (Android /IOS).