Getting Around Morocco: Trains, Buses, Grands Taxis and When to Just Hire a Driver

Morocco's transport splits cleanly in two, and knowing where the line falls

saves a lot of wasted planning. The northern cities are joined by fast, cheap,

comfortable trains. Everywhere most visitors actually want to go — the desert,

the gorges, the blue city, the Atlantic — has no train at all.

The trains, where they run

Al Boraq is Africa's first high-speed rail line, open since November 2018

and running up to 320 km/h on the dedicated Tangier–Kenitra section. It cut

Tangier to Casablanca from 4h45 to 2h10.

From Casablanca, classic Al Atlas expresses continue:

Fares are low: Tangier–Casablanca costs 99 to 224 dirhams in second class,

129 to 292 in first, depending on how early you book. **Booking opens three

months ahead.** First class gets you a six-seat air-conditioned compartment and

is worth the small premium in summer.

An extension of the high-speed line towards Marrakech is under construction,

which will eventually cut the Casablanca run substantially. It is not open yet.

Where the trains do not go

This is the part that catches people out. No railway reaches:

• Merzouga or the Erg Chebbi dunes — the Sahara
• Ouarzazate, Ait Ben Haddou, the Dades and Todra gorges
• Chefchaouen — the blue city
• Essaouira — the Atlantic coast
• Imlil and the Toubkal trailheads

That is, more or less, the entire list of reasons people come to Morocco in the

first place. For these you need a bus, a grand taxi, a hire car, or a tour.

Buses

CTM and Supratours are the two intercity operators worth using. Both

are modern, air-conditioned, run to a timetable and let you book online.

Supratours is run by the rail operator and connects to train stations, which

makes rail-plus-bus combinations straightforward — the standard way to reach

Essaouira is the train to Marrakech and a bus onward, roughly three hours, with

departures every two to three hours.

The cheaper local buses that leave from souk stations are an experience, but

they stop constantly and have no fixed departure time.

Grands taxis

A shared long-distance taxi, usually an ageing Mercedes, running a fixed route

and leaving when six passengers have accumulated. They are cheap, frequent and

the normal way Moroccans move between neighbouring towns. If you do not want to

wait, buy the remaining seats — still inexpensive, and the taxi leaves at once.

Agree the fare before getting in. Rates on established routes are effectively

fixed and locals will tell you what they are.

Hiring a car

Sensible if you want to explore the Atlantic coast or the Anti-Atlas at your

own pace. Less sensible than it looks for the mountain and desert routes.

The Tizi n'Tichka — the pass every Marrakech-to-Sahara journey crosses — is

a long climb of tight switchbacks with drops, slow lorries and, in winter,

snow. It is a genuinely demanding drive, and after seven or eight hours of it

you arrive at the dunes tired. Add that most desert accommodation is down

unsigned pistes that a standard hire car should not attempt, and the appeal

narrows.

Also budget for: a credit card deposit, careful photography of existing damage

at pickup, and police checkpoints where you simply slow down, say hello and

carry on.

When a driver or a tour is genuinely the better answer

Not for everything. If you are moving between Marrakech, Casablanca, Rabat, Fes

and Tangier, take the train — it is faster, cheaper and more comfortable than

anything we could sell you.

It changes when the destination has no railway and the drive is the hard part:

• Marrakech to the Sahara. Two long driving days each way over the Tichka.

Our three-day Merzouga run is

€120 per person shared — less than hiring a car for the same days, and you

are not the one driving the pass.

• Marrakech to Chefchaouen. Four days,

because doing it in one is nine hours of motorway.

• The imperial cities. Five days

covering Fes, Meknes and Volubilis — the last of which has no public

transport at all.

• Marrakech to Fes overland, via [Ait Ben Haddou and the

gorges](/en/tours/marrakech-to-fes-3day) rather than the motorway, which is

the whole point of going that way.

For a fuller cost comparison, see

booking direct versus a platform

and what group size does to the price.

A sensible default

Trains between the big northern cities. Tour or driver for the desert, the

gorges and the mountains. Grands taxis for short hops. Hire a car only if the

driving is the part you are looking forward to.