How much does it cost to travel in Morocco these days? Not a whole lot thankfully—this is still definitely still one of The World’s Cheapest Destinations and in many respects the best value in Africa.
I’ve been in touch with Eden Rudin for a while as she has been a part of my Committed Group with A Better Life for Half the Price. She has left her former expat home and is now roaming the globe house-sitting and looking for her perfect spot on the globe. She recently spent a month in Morocco and was nice enough to give me a rundown on current prices there.
All prices below are in U.S. dollars, at roughly 10 dirham to the greenback. Take it away Eden!
Getting Around in Morocco
When we arrived at airport in Marrakesh, the overpriced taxi to go from the airport to a hotel in the city less than 5 miles away was $15. After that though, taxis were metered and reasonable there.
Taxis in other towns were not metered and were a set fare per person and the taxi would max out his seats and then begin the journey. You are allowed to buy additional seats if you wish if you want to leave sooner (we did this several times). In the town where we were house-sitting the cost was $.70 per person
Local buses are just small minivans and ran $.50 for a 15km drive
We used the big bus company CTM to travel to and from our destination, $12 for a 3-hour ride. These were big air-conditioned, nice, and clean buses.
Most people make max $7 a day, so we hired a local to take us out a couple of times and he only wanted $7 for a 1/2 day tour. We usually gave him $10-$20 to cover gas too.
Food & Drink in Morocco
These grocery costs are from the local market in Tangier—a pretty big city—almost everything is sold by the kilo except milk and bread.
Mixed vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, carrots, zucchini, onion, etc, you choose what you want) 5 kg $2.50.
Fresh oranges 1 kg $.50
Chicken wings 1 kg $2.20
Watermelon 10 kg $1.20
Fresh figs 1 kg $1.20
Whole chicken $1.20-2
Camel/beef (chops, mince or stew chunks) 1 kg $7-$8
Sardines 1 kg $.70
Round bread individual loafs $.20
Coffee freshly ground 1 kg $7.5
Toilet rolls (6) $1.80
Couscous 500g $.90
Pasta 500g $.90
Canned sardines in tomato sauce $.50
Cheese from $8/kilo
Turkey salami, beef slices (lunch meats) from $8/kilo
Milk box $.43 for 6)
Bottled water 1/2 liter $.012 (Yep that is correct – 3 of them for $.04)
Half liter of Pepsi $.60
Housing Expenses
Bottle of propane refill, kitchen size tank for cooking $4.50
Water at an average house, 2 adults – $6 a month
Electric for same with pool – $16 a month
Rents in the main cities range from $200-$400 for a decent place
We stayed at a 5-star hotel for $80 a night and we also stayed in a 3-star place for $27/night. Both were honestly equally as good, comfortable, very clean, and spacious,
Morocco Travel Notes
We felt very safe in Morocco when were were away from the taxi and bus haggler type people. My advice, if you are overwhelmed by people being overly helpful, I would recommend doing any main travel from one city to another with the big bus company like CTM, which is very relaxing.
ATM’s were in French or English (you choose language) with no added service fee.
We were hassled coming in to the country by immigration, because we were going somewhere he wasn’t familiar with (I had written the town name on my immigration from where it asked where you were going) , he even called our friends for specifics of where we would be. Once I said we were staying one night in Marrakesh they just wanted the hotel name. Another American couple in front of us had no problems.
Eden Rudin lived in Belize for several years and now travels the world on house-sitting gigs. She is half of a semi-retired-age couple who share their nomadic life to inspire and encourage others. They live out of their suitcases and carry everything from a screwdriver to a cutting board. See more at ReallyTrulyLiving.com.
Brahim
Wednesday 15th of March 2017
Great Pictures Tim! Infomative Article! I’m so glad you liked Morocco. I wish you could come back here and visit even more fascinating citie. Here is also some tips for those who are interesting in visiting Morocco: -Morocco is at its most beautiful in spring (mid-March to May) when the landscape is green and lush, making for spectacular mountain hiking. Morocco is also lovely in Autumn (September to October) when temperatures are very pleasant. -Weather in May : Expect daytime temperatures to reach 27°C with on average 9 hours of sunshine per day in Morocco in May. -Popular Morocco destinations : Marrakech with its famous square, Fes with its old Medina, Ride camels in Merzouga desert, Chafchaouen (The small blue town ), Ouarzazate ( See the old Kasbah Of Ait Ben Haddou)…
All The Best!
Chris
Friday 4th of November 2016
How about bringing small kids along? Is it OK?
Joanne
Saturday 24th of March 2018
No problem they respect you and your children as you are family. You and your children will love it
Tim Leffel
Monday 7th of November 2016
I'm not sure why it wouldn't be. There are plenty of kids living there, after all, and plenty of hotels serving families in their configuration.
Marjorie Pellot
Wednesday 12th of October 2016
Oh wow, a heaven place like Morocco. One of my bucketlist and saving your blog for future use.
Thank you dear for the informative blog.
Bahtiyar
Monday 10th of October 2016
Hi, Eden. Thanks for such an amazing post. I think that Morocco is the best country for travel in Africa. I have many reasons to think so. First of all, Morocco is the most liberal Arab country in the world. Secondly, as you have already mentioned in this awesome article, it is very cheap to travel in Morocco. And of course, Morocco is enough safe comparing with other African countries. Again, thank you very much!
Stephanie Craig
Sunday 25th of September 2016
Great stuff! Morocco is definitely on my list for the near future (hopefully 2017). Thanks!