Casablanca
Casablanca (Arabic: الدارالبيضاء, Daru l-Bayda) may be the cosmopolitan, industrial and economic heart of Morocco (and its largest city), but it is one of the less endearing of the country's sights. With a small, unassuming medina and a traffic-congested ville nouvelle, travellers arriving via Casablanca may be tempted to find the first train out of to nearby Rabat. The awe-inspiring Hassan II Mosque and happening nightlife, however, are worth at least a day of your Moroccan itinerary.
The modern city of Casablanca was founded by Berber fishermen in the 10th Century BC and was subsequently used by the Phoenicians, Romans and the Merenids as a strategic port called Anfa. The Portuguese destroyed it and rebuilt it under the name Casa Branca, only to abandon it after an earthquake in 1755. The Moroccan sultan rebuilt the city as Daru l-Badya and it was given its current name of Casablanca by Spanish traders who established trading bases there. The French occupied the city in 1907, establishing it as a protectorate in 1912 and starting construction of the ville nouvelle, however it gained independence with the rest of the country in 1956.
Casablanca is now Morocco's largest city with a population of almost 4 million and also boasts the world's largest artificial port. Casablanca is also the most liberal and progressive of Morocco's cities. Young men flirt brazenly with scantily-clad women, designer labels are the norm in the chic, beachfront neighbourhood of 'Ain Diab and many young Moroccans speak to each other exclusively in French.
But not everyone is living the Casablancan dream. Tens of thousands of rural Moroccans who fled the drought-ravaged interior to find work in the city are struggling under high unemployment rates and expensive housing. The poverty, prevalent in slums on the city's outskirts, has led to high rates of crime, drug use and prostitution.
Modern, hip and slightly seedy, Casablanca is a mixed bag of Moroccan extremes.
Mohammed V Int'l Airport (IATA: CMN) is the busiest gateway to the country and is well-connected to Europe. Royal Air Maroc flies to New York JFK, many cities in Europe, and has connecting flights to African countries such as NIgeria, Central African Republic, Senegal, and others.
Casablanca Voyagers station serves trains to Fes, Marrakech, Tangier with stops in between. The trains are comfortable, the stations easy to navigate, and boards display the time of departure/ arrival. Be sure to check the schedule for express trains; for instance, the train that leaves Casablanca at 0705 daily takes 2 hours less to reach Fes (3 instead of 5 hours.)
Trains are divided into first- and second-class compartments; the first-class ones generally cost an extra 50%, but have more room and guarantee a seat. Boarding second-class compartments during peak hours may mean that you have to stand until a seat opens up.
A government department does put out an exhaustive map of Casablanca in book form called Carte Guide de Casablanca that you may be able to find in bookstores or online; in all likelihood, though, it isn't necessary. Taxi drivers know how to get to every single place in every single guide book, even if you tell them just "the restaurant on Blvd. Hassan II." Other than that, Casablanca is like any other European city: the streets (mostly) have signs, and passersby are extremely helpful in French or Arabic and, more rarely, Spanish or English.
