Things to do in Casablanca

Landmark · Sour Jdid, on the Atlantic

One of the largest mosques in the world, built out over the ocean with a 210-metre minaret and a retractable roof.

Local tip: It is one of very few mosques in Morocco non-Muslims may enter, and only on a guided tour at set times — book rather than turning up. Go at low tide and walk the sea wall behind it; the platform is glass-floored over the water in places, which almost nobody notices from the courtyard.

Neighborhood · South of the centre

A 1930s 'new medina' built by the French in a stylised Moroccan idiom — arcades, a covered market, and the city's traditional bookshops.

Local tip: This is where Casablancans actually buy their olives, dates and mkhabbaz pastries, and where the old book and manuscript dealers are. The arcades are the best shade in the city in August, and prices are marked rather than negotiated, unlike the old medina.

Culture · Centre-ville

One of the world's densest concentrations of 1920s–40s art deco and Mauresque architecture, largely unrestored.

Local tip: Look up. The ground floors have been re-fronted with shop signage but the upper storeys are almost untouched — Cinéma Rialto, the Villa des Arts and the buildings around Marché Central. Casamémoire, a local heritage association, runs walking tours, which is the only reliable way to get inside the courtyards.

Nightlife · West along the coast

The seafront strip of beach clubs, restaurants and bars that is Casablanca's warm-weather social centre.

Local tip: The beach clubs charge day rates and are where the city's professional class actually spends Sunday. The public beach beyond them is free and much livelier. Note that alcohol is served here and in hotels but is not sold everywhere — this is a Muslim country with a licensed, visible drinking culture in specific places rather than a general one.

Food · Boulevard Mohammed V

The 1917 central market — fish, produce, flowers — with a ring of stalls that will cook what you just bought.

Local tip: Buy your fish at the counters at the back and hand it to one of the small restaurants around the edge; they grill it for a small charge and it costs a fraction of a restaurant meal. Go before 1pm — this is a lunch institution, not a dinner one.

Nature · 20–30 minutes south-west along the coast

A tidal island shrine just past the Corniche, and beyond it the surf beaches and low-rise sprawl of Dar Bouazza.

Local tip: The island is reachable on foot only at low tide and is a working shrine rather than a monument, so go quietly and ask before photographing. Keep going south-west and you reach the beaches where Casablanca's surf community lives — Tamaris, Jack Beach and Bouznika. This is the escape valve locals use and visitors never find.