Rabat Travel Guide

Many travellers pass through Rabat on the train between Tangier and Marrakech and never get off. That is a pity, because the capital of Morocco is one of the most rewarding and least stressful cities in the country. It has a walled medina where people still do their daily shopping, a clifftop kasbah painted blue and white, gardens that are genuinely green, a long Atlantic seafront and some of the finest monuments of medieval North Africa. It also has wide, tree-lined boulevards, a modern tram, good museums and a calm, orderly atmosphere that surprises first-time visitors.

Rabat sits on the south bank of the Bou Regreg, a broad tidal river that meets the Atlantic between high rocky banks. On the north bank lies Salé, a much older city in spirit, with its own medina, its own great mosque and its own proud history. For centuries the two towns eyed each other across the water; today a tram crosses the river in minutes, and visitors can enjoy both in a single day.

A capital with many layers

Few Moroccan cities show their history as clearly as Rabat. Walk for an afternoon and you can move from the ruins of a Roman town to a fourteenth-century royal necropolis, from a twelfth-century minaret left unfinished when its builder died to a seventeenth-century wall raised by refugees from Spain, and from there to the elegant offices and arcades of a colonial-era capital planned in the 1910s. In 2012 UNESCO recognised this combination by adding Rabat to the World Heritage List as a modern capital and historic city with a shared heritage.

The character of the city

Rabat is the seat of the monarchy, the government and the parliament, and home to embassies, ministries, universities and international organisations. That gives it a slightly formal, well-kept feel: clean streets, plenty of parks, smartly dressed office workers and less of the hustle found in the busier tourist cities. You will hear Moroccan Arabic (Darija) everywhere, French very widely, and increasingly English among younger people and students.

It is also a city of ordinary neighbourhoods and real daily life. Tourism matters, but it is not what drives the economy, and in the medina most shops sell shoes, fabric, kitchenware and spices to local families rather than souvenirs to visitors. The pressure to buy is gentle, guides rarely approach you uninvited, and you can wander at your own pace. For many travellers this is the great discovery of Rabat: an authentic Moroccan city where you can relax.

Who Rabat suits best

• First-time visitors to Morocco who want a gentle introduction, with real history and few hassles.
• History and architecture lovers, thanks to Roman, Almohad, Merinid, Andalusian and twentieth-century layers within walking distance of each other.
• Train travellers touring the country, since Rabat lies on the main line between Tangier, Casablanca and Marrakech.
• Families, who will appreciate the parks, beaches, flat boulevards and calm atmosphere.
• Travellers who like gardens: Rabat has some of the most beautiful public gardens in Morocco.
• Slow travellers looking for a comfortable base for day trips to Salé, the coast, Meknes and Volubilis.

If you want the drama of Marrakech’s great square or the labyrinth of Fes, Rabat will feel quieter. But it rewards curiosity, and it works beautifully as a counterpoint to those busier cities. Two or three days are enough to see the highlights; a week lets you settle in, explore Salé properly and take several day trips.

How to use this book

The chapters follow the order in which most people plan a trip, starting with history, because Rabat’s monuments make far more sense once you know who built them and why. Practical chapters, sights, itineraries, food, customs, day trips, phrases and a checklist follow.

Throughout the book you will find three kinds of highlighted box. Local tip boxes share small things our team has learned on our regular visits to the capital. Good to know boxes explain customs or practical details. Avoid this boxes point out common mistakes. We deliberately do not print prices, exact opening hours or phone numbers, and we do not name hotels, restaurants or shops: these change too often, and an out-of-date detail is worse than none. Instead we tell you what to expect and what to check locally.

However long you stay, let Rabat reveal itself gently: the call to prayer drifting over the river at dusk, the scent of orange blossom in the gardens, the surfers below the kasbah walls and the long evening walk along the corniche. It is a city that does not try hard to impress, and that is exactly why it does.