Casablanca Half-Day Tour: Hassan II Mosque, Mohammed V Square and Central Market

This was the worst tour I've booked on Viator. First off, the driver picked me up an hour early than when the tour started. Second, the tour guide mention that in Casablanca, the custom is to tip 20. The tour was rushed. And at one point he separated me and another participant, and I was left alone with the tour guide. He proceeded to walk me to a store that sells Moroccan rugs. I did not request to go shopping or inquired about such thing. He left me alone with 2 guys that were trying to sell me rugs. As a woman, I was afraid and had no idea what would happen next, since my tour guard was no where to be found. I politely said no. and they were angry and belligerent towards me. I've booked so many tours and this tour felt like a setup. No one should have to experience such intimidation and unprofessionalism. I would not recommend this tour to anyone with this tour guide because he's about making sure his friends get money. They also would not move the van until I tipped them to get me back to my hotel.

I did this tour on the afternoon of Wednesday 11 April 2018. It was a huge disappointment. Almost the minute I got into the vehicle the guide started talking about tips. We drove to the Hassan II Mosque. I chose not to go in. The guide didn't even bother to get out of the vehicle to show me around the outside of the building. The same thing happened at the Notre Dame de Lourdes Cathedral. My entrance fee was included there so why didn't he get out of the vehicle to show me around and give me some information? Isn't that what guides do? The rest of the tour was simply a drive past. We didn't even go to the Mehkama where my entrance fee was included in the high price I paid for this tour, or to the Royal Palace. However, in the just over 2 hours the tour is advertised as a 3 hour tour we managed to fit in a visit to a carpet factory and an argan oil shop neither of which were of interest to me. I didn't choose this tour for shopping and there is no mention of shopping in the tour details. It was simply an opportunity for the guide to receive kickbacks to add to the tip he was hoping for. For future visitors to Casablanca...this wasn't a pleasant afternoon so don't waste your money.

The highlight of this tour was the ability to enter and explore the third largest mosque in the world. Generally, one cannot enter a mosque unless Moslem but this mosque permits it. It was beautiful and a great experience. Our guide was good and the rest of the tour was good but the mosque was the highlight.

The tour started out great. Just 4 of us with the guide and driver. Hassan II Mosque was beautiful. However we were taken to a rug place which we did not ask for and spent unnecessary time having to look at carpets which we had no intention of buying. We then asked about the Central Market and was advised we couldn't go there as 'it was too dangerous. we actually went back the next day on our own and had a great time. We dropped off our other 2 companions at their hotel and we were then taken to a restaurant for lunch which was recommended by the guide. It was lovely and the food was great however the guide hung around for some time I actually thought he was going to join us but then he seriously pressured us into giving him a decent tip. This was after pressuring us and the other couple into giving the driver a tip as well. After paying a fair amount for this tour, having to pay entrance for the mosque and lunch to then be pressured to tip the drive and the guide was very disappointing.

Terrible experience. Ruined Casablanca for us. We were never taken to Mohammed Square nor the Central Market. Advised by tour guide Mohammed to skip going inside Hassan II mosque because he wanted to give us a better and more personal tour of his city. We drove around and were taken to just one store this was the Central Market apparently and felt extremely pressured into buying a rug. After this better and more personal tour ended with getting ripped off by aforementioned store, Mohammed took us back to the bus where the other 5 or 6 guests were waiting for us to return. We followed the same exact route that our taxi took to get to the Central Market, There was absolutely nothing different from the better and more personal tour that Mohammed had promised us earlier. We felt that we were taken advantage of and had an awful experience in Casablanca. Since we listened to our local tour guide, we didn't do the tour inside the Mosque and missed out on the only thing worth doing in Casablanca. We were also dropped off 30 minutes early since we arrived by cruise. We mentioned many times that we didn't need to be back at exactly 1:00pm since the cruise was not leaving until 5:30pm but we were still dropped off by 12:30pm. We've done multiple tours through Viator and this is our only complaint ever.

I have spent half this price and got double the value many other places in the world. It feels like Morocco and Casablanca are still trying to discover how to do tourism. I kept thinking during this tour and afterward that there had to be more interesting things to see and showcase I felt like we drove around a lot but only saw some things and actually got to experience very little. Now, the driver and Majid are very good. What could have made things better is if Majid understand his audience: I have ZERO interest in shopping but he never asked. The asking price for this tour is high enough for 3 hours that we really didn't need to stop at THREE separate places to be shown things that would have earned a kick-back if things would have been bought. I hate that part of tours, being dropped through sales traps, when all I really want to do is explore and see, not shop, the highlights. Seeing the rugs is interesting but the high-pressure sales by a large man wanting a couple of grand for a couple of these rugs is not a pleasant experience, 800 might be about the right price and that is likely too high so research this before you go on this tour or you'll get hood-winked. The following was what the tour was advertised to showcase: Visit top sights including the United Nations Place, Mohammed V Square, the Central Market and the Notre Dame de Lourdes Cathedral See the famous Hassan II Mosque and enjoy free time to stroll down the Ain Diab Corniche. Of these, I have no memory of seeing: the United Nations Place, Mohammed V Square, the Central Market. Meanwhile, the Notre Dame de Lourdes Cathedral is just not very interesting if you've seen any cathedral in Europe. Additionally, and totally out of Majid's control, the famous Hassan II Mosque, which is the highlight of this tour by-far, was closed to tourists because the king was coming for prayer. I'm so glad that I wasn't in town for just one day as I would have missed one of the only two things that were interesting, of the little shown to me, in Casablanca itself. The next day, I was on a Rabat Day Trip tour with dear Majid and driver again and they were super-kind enough to amend that trip to start with going to this famous Hassan II Mosque and it is absolutely worth the trip to Casablanca just to see this. Majid will charge you an additional 120 to take the tour on this tour you've already over-paid for, even though I saw a sign saying the cost was 50, but it seems to be the Morrocan way that you need to constantly grease the skids to make things run. Finally, the one highlight of that day was the seven minutes of advertised: free time to stroll down the Ain Diab Corniche. This promenade is one of Casablanca's best features. Instead of the 12 minutes we spent here, I would have been happy if they just dropped me off here and picked me up 3 hours later. Consider getting a hotel in this area if at all possible I made the mistake of not staying here. There seemed to be a ton of nice restaurants and the beaches and fresh ocean breezes are amazing. Being someone who lives in the middle of a continent that is frozen in December, this is where I would have wanted to spend the most time had I been asked. As it was, I saw about three things but got brought through three shopping experiences. To fill the missed time due to the king being at the mosque and not being able to get in, Majid was very kind and ate lunch with me my treat at a nice restaurant a block from my Sheraton hotel. Be warned if you are going to Morocco, if you're reading this, you likely are, that as soon as the guide parted ways with me like I had literally only two blocks to walk to my hotel without him, that there are plenty of people watching that will hit you up for money or even try to stick their hands in your pocket totally ruins the tourist experience and Morocco will struggle to be a destination for tourists as long as we are made to feel uneasy just to walk the streets in daylight and my guide encouraged me not to be out alone at night, and I'm a 6'3, 250 pound, 39 year old man. Other than when I had my driver and guide, I wouldn't leave the front steps of the hotel which made me feel like a prisoner and I've never felt that way anywhere on the globe that I've travelled. Would I go back to Morocco? Not likely I might give Marrakech a try but not Casablanca or Rabat.

Great tour with visit to the Mosque no lines, the guide was helpful enough to get us into the mosque without doing any line The Mosque was almost empty so we had a really nice view with slow pace throughout the mosque then going to the Catholic church and the walls made of colored crystals. We pass through Rick's Cafe, not good food open in 1984, a really good resemblance to the movie

Since I only had a day in Casablanca, this tour was perfect to give me a broad vision of what Casablanca has to offer. Magic was so accommodating and responsive to my interests, and took me around the city, from the magnificent Hassan II mosque it is worth it to go inside, to the Corniche on the Atlantic, and a tour through some of Casablanca's neighbourhoods. Magic is a cosmopolitan, sweet Moroccan guide who wanted to make sure I had a good time and learned a lot about his country. Yes, I did end up coming home with a gorgeous camel-hair berber rug on which I surely could have haggled a better price, but the rug will always remind me of my short visit to Morocco, and will remind me to go back. The visits to the shops and the medina were quick and I didn't feel pressure to buy anything. Magic made sure that I was on time for my flight later that day and knew exactly how to make me feel relaxed and entertained the whole time. I would highly recommend this tour!

This experience was great, our tour guide was awesome and it was a private tour we got to see everything .

This was by far the worst tour we have ever had through Viator. The guide spent most of his time telling us about buying berber rugs, and took us to a shop where we felt uncomfortable in a back room getting a hard sell. He didn’t even get off the bus for the main attractions leaving us to take pics.