Things to Do Alone in Casablanca

Casablanca is a business city first, which makes it easy to do alone: the sights are separate, so you choose one stop at a time and move on. This page walks the city by its buildings, from the old medina walls to the Art Deco squares, with two museums run by the national museums foundation, a bastion cafe for a long meal, and the tram that links the centre.

Last checked 2026-11-01. If you are comparing Moroccan cities, Marrakech and Fez are the medina-led pages, and Rabat is the capital; Casablanca is about walking between buildings and sitting down in between.

Start with a museum that has a clear ticket

Museum of Photography and Visual Arts (Rue Larache, old medina). The national museums foundation says it was designed by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando and is his only work on the African continent. Old arcades and walls of the site were kept, and a new concrete extension sits beside them. A long glass front lets passers-by see inside. The opening exhibition, "CASA", brings Moroccan and international photographers together around daily life in the city. The foundation's page lists 10:00 to 18:00 and mentions a Tuesday closure, although the same line also says open Monday to Sunday, so check before you go, especially on Tuesdays. Tickets are at 50 dirhams for foreigners and 25 for Moroccan adults (Fondation Nationale des Musees). It works alone because you set the pace and the medina is outside the door.

Villa Carl Ficke, Casablanca Memory Museum (119 Boulevard de la Resistance). A neo-Moorish villa built in the early 20th century for a German merchant, restored as a museum of the city's heritage. It has temporary exhibitions, and sculptures by Ikram Kabbaj stand in the garden. The foundation gives the same hours and the same Tuesday wording, and the same ticket prices (Fondation Nationale des Musees). Opening days can change for one-off closures, so check before you go.

Casablanca's regional tourism site also names two smaller museums: the Museum of Moroccan Judaism, which it describes as the only museum in the Arab world devoted to Jewish culture, and the Abderrahman Slaoui Foundation museum, in a 1940s villa with old jewellery, illuminated manuscripts and an orientalist poster collection (WeCasablanca, culture). The same page lists the Villa des Arts, a 1934 Art Deco villa for contemporary Moroccan and international artists with introductory workshops. It gives no hours, so confirm them first.

The Art Deco centre, one square at a time

The regional tourism site calls the Place des Nations Unies the most emblematic square of Art Deco Casablanca. It faces the old medina, sits a few minutes from the Casa-Port station, and holds the Cafe de France, in a building from the mid-1920s (WeCasablanca, places to visit). A cafe terrace here is a good first sit-down: you watch the square instead of performing for it.

From there, the Central Market (Marche Central) faces the Lincoln hotel across Boulevard Mohamed V. It was built in 1919 to plans by the architect Pierre Bousquet and is known for tastings of fried fish landed that day off Casablanca. Eating at a market is one of the easiest ways to eat alone, and you can point at what you want.

The Rialto is a cinema-theatre from 1930 on the same street as the Cinema Ritz, near the Place des Nations Unies, which the same site recommends "for the magic of the place". It also lists the ABC and the Rif cinemas, which screen live opera ballet and theatre broadcasts. Cinema is a low-pressure evening alone; see the guide to going to the cinema alone.

Two medinas, and which to walk first

The tourism site stresses that Casablanca has two. The old medina is in the north, five minutes' walk from the station and the port, entered through the Bab Marrakech gate in its ramparts; it is best visited by day. The national tourist office says it was rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake, which makes it the newest medina in Morocco (Moroccan National Tourist Office).

The Habous quarter is the other one, a "new medina" built by the French in the early 20th century in the south-east, with lanes, small squares, arcades, a mosque, bathhouses and traditional shops. The tourist office describes a souk there devoted to copper. The Mahkama du Pacha, in the Habous, was designed by Auguste Cadet and mixes zellige tile, painted wood and plasterwork; today it is the seat of the Casablanca-Settat Region, so treat it as a building to look at and ask before you go in. Going alone, choose one medina per outing and finish with a sit-down.

A long meal in a bastion

La Sqala (Boulevard des Almohades) is a restaurant and cafe maure behind the medina ramparts, inside a fortified bastion. Its own site says it is open every day from 08:00 to 23:00, with breakfast from 08:00 to noon, afternoon tea from 16:00 to 19:00, and lunch and dinner from noon to 23:00, and mentions an Andalusian garden and recitals of oriental music (La Sqala). It suits one person because you can order a single dish and a mint tea, sit in the garden, and stay as long as you like.

For an evening with a performance, Rick's Cafe is set in a restored 1930s mansion facing the medina walls. Its site says live piano jazz is played every evening (Rick's Cafe). Book a table in advance, since the site offers booking.

The Hassan II Mosque and the Corniche

The tourist office and the regional site both put the Hassan II Mosque on the ocean shore at the top of the list. The regional site says non-Muslims enter only with a mosque guide, and that outside prayer times the large esplanade is where Casablancans come to sit with the sky and the waves (WeCasablanca, places to visit). Visiting times, prices and dress rules are set by the mosque foundation and vary through the year, so check them with the foundation before you plan a visit.

The Corniche runs for several kilometres from the old medina past La Sqala, the marina, the mosque and El Hank lighthouse towards Ain Diab, with cafes, restaurants and cinemas along it; the regional site mentions a pedestrian stretch used for jogging. A morning walk or a run along it is the simplest plan in the city, with no ticket and no booking.

Getting around by tram

Casatramway and Casabusway are one network with one ticket. The operator's site says it has 151 stations, with a tram or busway about every eight minutes on average, and a free official app. A single trip ticket is 8 dirhams, or 14 for two trips; a rechargeable card costs 15 dirhams and each trip on it is 6 (Casatramway, offers). The operator publishes seasonal timetables, so check the hours for your day (Casatramway). For a day outside the city, the capital has its own page: Rabat. Further inland, see Fez and Marrakech.

First solo outings

1. Easy: the Museum of Photography and Visual Arts, then a mint tea nearby.
2. Medium: a walk through the old medina by day, then lunch at La Sqala and the garden.
3. Bolder: an evening at Rick's Cafe, at your own table, booked ahead on its site.

Solo Era for iPhone

Eat the whole meal, alone

Solo Era (an iPhone app) has a food mission at level 4: "Eat dinner alone in a city you do not live in." La Sqala or Rick's Cafe are places to try it. Free to download. A subscription is required to start missions. Prices and any free trial are shown in the app and depend on the offer and eligibility.

For the habit of dining out alone, read how to eat alone in public and eating at a restaurant alone. The cities hub lists more guides, and the new-city guide covers the first days somewhere unfamiliar.

What the official advisories say

Conditions change, so read the current advisory before travelling.

• UK Foreign Office (updated 19 August 2026): it says people posing as official tourist guides often harass tourists, and that in a historic quarter you should use a guide who has an official badge and permission from the local authority. For women it says: "Women may receive unwanted attention" (UK Foreign Office, safety and security).
• Government of Canada (last updated 26 May 2026): women travelling alone may be subject to certain forms of harassment and verbal abuse (Government of Canada, Morocco).

Sources (checked 2026-11-01)

• Fondation Nationale des Musees, Museum of Photography and Visual Arts of Casablanca
• Fondation Nationale des Musees, Villa Carl Ficke
• La Sqala
• Rick's Cafe
• WeCasablanca, places to visit
• WeCasablanca, culture
• Moroccan National Tourist Office, Casablanca
• Moroccan National Tourist Office, Casablanca medina
• Moroccan National Tourist Office, Casablanca shopping
• Casatramway and Casabusway
• Casatramway, offers
• UK Foreign Office, Morocco safety and security
• Government of Canada, Morocco travel advice

Solo Era for iPhone

Try it with Solo Era

Solo Era gives you one realistic mission a week, records how nervous you felt before and after, and keeps a photo journal of what you did. An iPhone app. A subscription is required to start missions; any free trial depends on the offer and eligibility shown in the app.