Casablanca (Morocco) > Reviews > Casablanca-hell on earth?

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money
Shopping
Nightlife
Ease of getting around
Family Friendly

Advantages:	lively city
Disadvantages:	intimidating, unwelcoming, crazy traffic

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

My partner and i took a cruise and Casablanca was our second port of call, and the one on our itinerary we most looked forward to visiting.

We had been promised welcoming people, and great shopping in the soukes (markets). We lasted a whole hour before heading back to our ship in an almighty hurry.

From the moment we stepped out of our petit taxi (which are allowed to carry no more than 3 passengers) we knew it was going to be a disappointment. Cars and buses going wherever they liked, beggars and street traders refusing to leave you until you had at least handled their goods. this all in the first half hour.

The next was spent trying to shake off a local who had followed us from the minute we had entered the first shop and despite our attempts to persuade him in a friendly manner that we did not need him to show us around he (and 3 other "friends") tagged beside us trying to persuade us to go with him to the Medina (the old part of the city containing over 200 soukes). Fortunately for us the taxi driver had already warned us to avoid the area at all costs as it was renowned for thiefs and pick-pockets. It didn't take us long to realise that there was method in his madness in guiding us to this area (as was later confirmed to us by a fellow passenger who had been told by some locals that men like this one operate in gangs, luring tourists into areas where they can then help themselves to wallets, cameras etc as the tourists wander around the soukes blissfully unaware of these thefts.

We only shook this guy off by telling him we had friends to meet in the one of the luxury hotels , as i had realised that he probably would not have been welcomed there. Trying to get a taxi back to the ship from there was another eye-opener with one driver throwing us out of his taxi because we refused to pay the £20 fare he was asking for a 1 mile journey (having offered him as a rep had advised, £8), and fellow drivers brawling in the street arguing over who was getting what passengers.

Despite our love of experiencing different cultures we could not wait to leave Casablanca.