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.
I would like to know how you go about find an apartment for 200. > 400. per month..
i assume it is furnished, clean and ready to move into..?
am trying to do a morocco long stay and would appreciate any information you can give…
thank you in advance.. aleta
Hi Aleta,
Once you are on the ground you will find them pretty easily. We saw signs advertising on the newer buildings also. We didn’t personally look at any so I can’t vouch for the details of what is/isn’t included.
Make sure you know the immigration laws surrounding how long you can stay before diving in head first.
There are a couple closed Facebook groups dedicated to women traveling and living in Morocco – one of them is called Women Navigating Morocco and English Speaking Women in Morocco. I am sure you can get some great info in there too.
Eden
Thank you for this! I am curious about the same question as Aleta. I plan to be there for about 5-6 weeks starting in November (most likely Marrakesh or Tangier) and wonder how I can find an apartment that is a good rate. Airbnb seems to have inflated rates. I also wondered how fast the Internet is there? I will be working online. Thank you!!
Hi Bridget,
Those prices are probably for longer term then just a month or two from my guess. We didn’t personally go see any of the rentals but just my guess.
I know you can use Airbnb – but you may just want to book 1 week in a hotel and start asking around to hotel staff and female restaurant staff.
Read my notes above to Aleta about the Facebook groups, you may find help in there or even a room to rent.
Internet was pretty darn good, better then Nicaragua. Could have Skype calls and husband watched live stream sports with very little problem.
Hope that helps!!
Eden
The prices of fruit and vegetables are seasonal, just as in the US or Europe.
If it’s out of season for the Watermelon or Oranges, you can’t expect to find them at those prices, but then again, other fruits pops up cheap instead.
To be honest, I thought most of those prices where quite high, almost like here in Spain.
Hi Daniel,
We really enjoyed the variety of fruits that were available when we were there, and then we hit cherry season in Spain and lived that up too!
After spending a month in each Morocco, Spain and Portugal we have concluded that Morocco was the least expensive but not by tooooo much compared to the others. They were all surprisingly inexpensive for the quality of items you can buy, that is for sure. But the availability of products in each location does make a difference as well and we have found that they all have their ups and downs in that regard.
It sure is fun to be able to give people insight into a place they haven’t been!!
Great stuff! Morocco is definitely on my list for the near future (hopefully 2017). Thanks!
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!
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.
How about bringing small kids along? Is it OK?
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.
No problem they respect you and your children as you are family. You and your children will love it
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!