Travel within Rabat and Morocco in general, as of late 2019:
Rabat: tramway is the best way to travel within Rabat if possible: each direction ticket costs 6dirhams. Purchase the tickets at any stop: vending machines usually work, and usually offer English display; some accept bills, but sometimes only accept coins. During rush hour times there is usually a small booth manned by a ticket-seller. Note that there are 2 different lines, which coincide in central Hassan. (line2 is under construction in Salé, being extended toward the airpor!).
There are city buses, but their operation is not apparent on any western-language website or sign.
Taxi: in major cities, petits taxis are little blue cars that operate ONLY within city limits, and often pick up other passengers going the same direction -- thus when you flag down a taxi, the driver will stop and want to know your destination before agreeing to take you there. However, once in, they are usually consistent about running the official meter, which is very reasonable. They appreciate a small tip from foreigners. Note that petits taxis may take maximum 3 passengers -- don’t try to squeeze four of you in that small car! (same applies in Casablanca, except their petits taxis are colored red!) The petits-taxis may be old and crummy, or may be quite new and nice: quality varies a lot, but the price is the same.
In all Morocco, Grands Taxis are obviously larger vehicles that negotiate most prices: they typically gather at specific points for specific destinations, where they wait to fill up with 6 paying passengers before departing -- but they will always offer to take you sooner if you pay a lot! Sometimes the per-seat set price is actually posted -- look for it, or ask around. Some of the GrandsTaxis are crummy rattletraps, but some are quite nice, comfortable, and cheap.
Trains: the new TGV high-speed rail between Casablanca Voyageurs, Rabat Agdal, Kenitra, and Tangier Ville is wonderful! All seats are reserved. Online ticketing is possible, but unlikely unless you have a local creditcard. Second-class is fine, four seats across. If you have lots of luggage, take First-class, for more space. Each train has a nice café car as well, for packaged food and drink.
Local trains are old: take first-class, which is usually a 6-seat cabin.
Second-class is unreserved seating, really old, but clean and cheap.
Bus: inter-city bus service is plentiful but hard to find. Website markoub.ma works surprisingly well, and accepts US creditcards! It includes schedules. It only shows the CTM bus company, but that is the most reliable nationwide bus company, and is quite reasonably priced. Unfortunately, their bus stations are rarely in convenient locations, often requiring a taxi ride to find. However, my two CTM bus rides were remarkably pleasant, calm, safe rides, with reserved seating -- they even officially checked my luggage, as an airline does!
Train Station duplicate confusion: for modernizing purposes and in order to complete the new high-speed rail project by 2018, Casablanca, Rabat, and Tangier all built beatiful new stations for the high-speed train. These overshadowed the original old stations and thus cause confusion for tourists. As of 2019, the high-speed train stops at Casablanca Voyageurs, Rabat Agdal, and Tanger Ville stations, while the local trains still also stop at the original stations in the city centers of Casa and Rabat. In Tangier the train tracks no longer go all the way to the ferry.
Getting to the airport:
Casablanca has a train station at the airport! Unfortunately it is just a slow old shuttle train linking to the main line downtown, but still convenient, and you can buy a ticket through to any train station in the country. The airport is far to the west of town.
Rabat airport is actually across the river in Salé, so petits taxi cannot go there from Rabat. Grands Taxis will charge anywhere from 150 to 300 dirhams, depending on your negotiating skills.
Airport bus! There is apparently not a Salé city bus to the airport. However, there is an “autobus navette” by ALSA, shuttling between Rabat Agdel, Rabat Ville, and the airport. It looks like a big new city bus, with destination sign “AE” (perhaps that means Airport Express?). It has no website, no public signage, no obvious office, and basically runs every couple of hours -- apparently it’s for the airport employees? Cost is only 25dhs, though, so it may be worth waiting for. The info desk at each station stop might be helpful here. The tramway line2 is now under construction to get closer to the airport..
The GrandsTaxis sitting at the airport supposedly list a fixed price of 150dhs to Rabat, with 50dhs added after dark. The cartel usually charges more, but you may negotiate that...or else wait for a taxi just dropping off a passenger, as they will typically provide a better price.
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