Casablanca Arrival Guide: The ONCF Airport Train at MAD 50 and the Cheapest Good Transfer Here

One airport, one train line, and an arrival that is genuinely easy

Mohammed V International (CMN) sits about 30 km south-west of central Casablanca, and it is the point of entry for most of Morocco’s international traffic. The terminal is compact and the process from immigration to the ground floor is short by regional standards, so this is an airport that does not eat your first day.

The structural fact that makes this city easy is the ONCF airport train: a dedicated, modern, air-conditioned service connecting the airport directly to Casa Voyageurs and Casa Port in the city centre. It is the cheapest comfortable transfer on this guide, and it removes the single worst feature of arriving in a large unfamiliar city — the airport taxi queue.

Getting into the city: the ONCF train, petit taxi, and the grand taxi decision

The train is the headline. A second class ticket from CMN to Casa Voyageurs or Casa Port costs roughly MAD 50 and the run takes about 30 minutes; first class is around MAD 70 on the same journey. You buy the ticket at the station in the arrivals hall with cash in dirhams, board a clean, modern, air-conditioned train, and arrive in the centre. Compared with the airport transfer, the train is a fraction of the price and a fraction of the stress.

The catch is the last kilometre: Casa Voyageurs and Casa Port are the central rail stations, not your hotel door. A petit taxi — the small white car — covers the last stretch for a few tens of dirhams, and a large taxi is available if you have a lot of luggage or a family. That combination — train plus petit taxi — is the best value arrival in this guide, and it is what a local would do.

The grand taxi is the third option and it is not bad, it is just expensive: expect an opening of 300 MAD and upwards for the same journey, and agree the price before you get in rather than on the roadside. A pre-booked private transfer runs higher again, around 1,400 MAD, and is worth it only for a very early or very late arrival with a group, or for a first visit where you want the door-to-door certainty. The ONCF buses also run airport services into the city and are cheaper than a taxi but slower and route-fixed — fine if your hotel is on the route, awkward if it is not.

First-day practicalities: entry, cash, French, and the medina rules

Entry: Morocco’s visa position depends on your nationality, and many travellers can buy a visa on arrival at the airport while others must arrange an eVisa in advance — check your own passport status rather than assuming, and have your accommodation address and onward booking to hand. Keep your passport with you in the medina, where it will be checked at the gates.

Money and language: Morocco is unusually straightforward for a region. The dirham is a closed currency — you cannot easily buy or sell it outside the country — so plan your cash in advance and withdraw from a bank or change at a proper bureau rather than on the street. Cards work well in hotels, malls, restaurants and larger shops, and ATMs are common. The working language in commerce is French, with Arabic and English widespread in tourism, and almost every sign, menu and instruction in the medina and the rail system is in French — which is why a handful of French words pays for itself immediately. Tipping is modest but normal: a few dirhams for a porter, rounding up for a petit taxi, and around ten percent in restaurants.

Getting around: the ONCF network, anchored by the Al Boraq high-speed line, connects Casablanca to Rabat, Kenitra, Tangier and Marrakech, and the commuter trains cover the city and its suburbs. Inside the old city, walking is the only sane mode — the medina is a maze of alleys that makes a car a liability and a navigation app a useful but imperfect guide. A city taxi is unmetered and negotiable, so agree the price first.

Getting around the city: the medina, the Corniche, and day trips by rail

Casablanca divides into three Casablancas. The medina and the old French city around Place Mohammed V are the historic core — the square, the cathedral, the old market and the alleys of the medina, where the trade is in leather, brass, ceramics, rugs and food. The Corniche along the coast is the modern, open, seafront version — wide, walkable, with the beach clubs and restaurants and the Hassan II Mosque rising beside it. Anfa and Maarif are the contemporary district between them, with malls, the old stock exchange and the best modern food in the city.

The reason to base yourself in Casablanca rather than pass through is the rail. Al Boraq makes Rabat, a 20-minute run, a comfortable day trip, and makes Tangier and Marrakech possible without flying. That is a genuinely different way to see Morocco from the usual car-and-guide tour: you sit in a proper high-speed train, you arrive in a city centre, and you spend a day in a place rather than a coach window. The train is comfortable, punctual and the second class is entirely adequate.

Where to base yourself: the medina, Place Mohammed V, and Anfa

The old city around Place Mohammed V is the classic pick: the medina a few minutes away on foot, the colonial-era boulevard, and the best of the city’s historic buildings on your doorstep. It is atmospheric and central, and the streets are quieter at night than you might expect, though the alleys themselves are dark and worth navigating with a phone. The Corniche is the modern choice — sea air, walkability, hotels and restaurants aimed at visitors, and a car or taxi to the medina when you want it. Anfa and Maarif are the local choice, with the best-value restaurants and a more everyday feel, and they are a short trip from the rail.

Prices follow the seasons and they are pronounced: Casablanca is a business city, so the conference and expo calendar, and the spring and autumn travel, move rates a long way. What is stable is that a medina-side hotel trades some quiet for a genuinely walkable arrival, and that staying near Casa Voyageurs or Casa Port puts the whole ONCF network at your door — which is the most valuable thing in a city whose best excursions are by train.

The mistakes that ruin first days (and the fixes)

Taking a grand taxi when the ONCF train costs MAD 50 and takes 30 minutes: the train is the best-value transfer on this whole list. Assuming the metro or a tram will replace the train into town: the ONCF airport train is the service, and the city tram does not serve the airport. Changing money on the street: the dirham is a closed currency and street rates are a robbery — use a bank or a proper bureau. Losing track of your passport in the medina: carry it, because the gates check. Agreeing a petit taxi price after the drive: agree first, then move. Trying to reach the medina by car from the airport: walk it, do not drive it. And the classic: booking Casablanca as a two-night stop when Al Boraq turns Rabat, Tangier and Marrakech into day trips from the same station — a third night in the city is often the best-value night of the whole trip.