Day trips from Casablanca

8 h route3 stopsBest: Any day: trains to Rabat leave constantlyUpdated July 2026

IN SHORT

Casablanca is Morocco’s best rail hub and that’s its strongest card as a base: everything leaves from Casa Voyageurs. Rabat is an hour away, El Jadida ninety minutes, and Marrakech a little over two, plus the high-speed line north.

The obligatory trip is Rabat: the capital is a World Heritage Site, it’s everything Casablanca isn’t, and it’s one train away. If you have a single free day, that’s the plan.

The route, stop by stop

3 STOPS

01
Rabat
⏱ Día completoTrain from Casa Voyageurs, roughly an hour
An hour by train and on another planet: the capital is calm, clean, green and sits on the Atlantic. A World Heritage Site, with the Kasbah of the Udayas, an entire quarter of alleys painted blue and white above the sea, and its Andalusian garden.
The Hassan Tower is the great story: the minaret of a 12th-century mosque meant to be the largest in the world, abandoned when the sultan died. The half-built tower and 200 roofless columns remain.
It’s the sibling of the Koutoubia and Seville’s Giralda.
02
El Jadida
⏱ Medio díaTrain south, ninety minutes
A walled 16th-century Portuguese citadel over the Atlantic, a World Heritage Site. It was Mazagan, the last Portuguese stronghold in Morocco, and they didn’t abandon it until 1769. The jewel is the Portuguese Cistern: an underground hall of Gothic columns and vaults with a finger of water on the floor reflecting the entire ceiling. Orson Welles shot scenes of his Othello here. It’s small, silent and almost nobody goes.
03
Marrakech
⏱ Día completoTrain from Casa Voyageurs, a little over two hours
A little over two hours by train separates the two cities, and they’re opposite worlds: from the Atlantic economic capital to the imperial medina at the desert’s edge.
It’s doable in a day if you leave early, though Marrakech deserves at least two nights.
If you only have a day: the Koutoubia, the Bahia Palace, a spell in the souk and Jemaa el-Fna at sunset, back on the last train. It’s punishing, but plenty of people do it.

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Frequently asked

What day trip should I do from Casablanca?

Rabat, without question: the capital is an hour away by train, a World Heritage Site, with the Kasbah of the Udayas and the Hassan Tower. It’s everything Casablanca isn’t: calm, clean and green.

Can you visit Marrakech from Casablanca in a day?

Yes: it’s a little over two hours by train from Casa Voyageurs, done by leaving early and returning on the last one. It’s a long day, and Marrakech deserves at least two nights, but as a quick visit it works.

Is Casablanca a good base for travelling Morocco?

Very good: it has the country’s main airport and best rail hub, with constant trains to Rabat, Marrakech, Tangier and Fez. As a city it’s worth a day. As a starting point, it’s the best in the country.

More in Casablanca

Casablanca in a dayThe only mosque in Morocco you can enter, an Art Deco centre falling apart, and an Atlantic promenade. There’s no postcard medina, and that’s fine.Read guide Casablanca in a weekendOne day of city, one of escape: Rabat is an hour away by train and everything Casablanca isn’t.Read guide Casablanca’s Art DecoThe French rehearsed here what Paris wouldn’t let them build. It’s still standing, peeling, and almost tourist-free.Read guide Eating in Casablanca: fish and the marketIt’s an Atlantic city, so here you eat fish. You pick it at the market and they grill it on the spot.Read guide The neighbourhoods of CasablancaThe crumbling colonial centre, a real medina with no tourists, a fake medina that works, and the coast where the city goes out.Read guide Casablanca airport to the centreThe train leaves from under the terminal and it’s the best option in the country. But it runs hourly: check before you go down.Read guide Casablanca: practical tipsIt’s a business city, not a postcard destination: less hassle, more traffic, and the country’s only visitable mosque.Read guide Getting into CasablancaAirport to centre: metro, train, bus and taxi.City guide