Everyday practical information for Morocco

Language

• Arabic and Amazigh are official. Moroccan Arabic (Darija) is the street language.
• French is the working second language and will get you further than English almost everywhere, including in shops, banks and with taxi drivers.
• Spanish is widely spoken in the north, around Tangier and Tetouan.
• English is common in tourist businesses in Marrakech and Fez and rare beyond them.
• "Salam" for hello, "shukran" for thank you, "la shukran" for no thank you. That last one is the most useful phrase in the country.

Dress and behaviour

• Modest dress makes the trip easier, particularly for women. Shoulders and knees covered in the medina.
• Nobody requires a headscarf and visitors do not wear one.
• Beach and pool wear is for beaches and pools, not for the medina.
• Public affection is best kept private.
• Most mosques are closed to non-Muslims. The Hassan II in Casablanca and the Tin Mal are the notable exceptions.
• The right hand is used for eating and greeting. Bread is torn and shared.

The rhythm of the week

• Friday is the main prayer day. Many shops and offices shut for a couple of hours around midday, and Friday couscous is a family tradition.
• The weekend is Saturday and Sunday for offices, but souks work every day.
• Ramadan changes everything. It fell in February and March in 2026 and moves 11 days earlier each year, so it begins in early February 2027.
• During Ramadan, do not eat, drink or smoke in the street in daylight. Restaurants catering to tourists stay open, often screened. The evening meal (iftar) is a wonderful thing to be invited to.
• Business hours shorten in Ramadan and everything slows in the afternoon.

Practicalities

• Plugs are type C and E, 220 V, the same round two-pin as continental Europe.
• Morocco stays on UTC+1 all year, except that it moves back an hour for Ramadan. That means your phone can be right and the printed timetable wrong, or the reverse, in Ramadan weeks.
• Public toilets are scarce and often need a coin. Use cafes and museums.
• Hammams are a genuine local institution. Public ones are cheap and communal, hotel ones are private and gentler. Bring flip flops.
• Haggling is not required in shops with marked prices, including supermarkets and pharmacies.
• Take small change everywhere. The whole cash economy runs on notes under MAD 100.
• Friday to Sunday in high season, Marrakech is very busy. Book restaurants and desert trips before you arrive.