Money in Morocco

Moroccan Dirham (MAD) — a restricted currency

Morocco's official currency is the Moroccan Dirham (MAD), divided into 100 centimes. The dirham is a restricted currency: you generally cannot buy it outside Morocco, so plan to exchange on arrival. Banknotes circulate in 20, 50, 100, and 200 MAD denominations; coins in 1, 2, 5, and 10 MAD (plus smaller centime coins that are rarely used). The dirham is loosely pegged to a basket of euros and US dollars, so it remains relatively stable against both currencies.

ATMs are widely available

ATMs (called distributeurs or guichets automatiques) are plentiful in all Moroccan cities and most tourist towns. Visa, Mastercard, and Maestro/Cirrus are widely accepted. Major banks include Attijariwafa Bank, BMCE Bank of Africa, Banque Populaire, and CIH Bank. Withdrawals dispense dirham, with a per-transaction ceiling set by the machine and a separate daily limit set by your own bank — check both before you rely on a single large withdrawal. Airport ATMs are available at the Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez, Agadir, and Tangier arrivals halls. Confirm your home bank's foreign withdrawal fees before departure, since they vary enough to make one card clearly better than another.

Cards accepted in tourist establishments

Visa and Mastercard are accepted in hotels, riads, upscale restaurants, major shops, supermarkets, and petrol stations across Morocco. Contactless payment is increasingly common in cities. However, cash remains essential in the souks, at street food stalls, in taxis, in small guesthouses, and throughout rural Morocco. American Express has limited acceptance. Carry enough cash for day-to-day spending in traditional markets and smaller towns, and keep a supply of small notes — the single most common payment friction here is nobody having change for a large one.

An affordable destination with excellent value

Morocco offers strong value for travellers arriving from western Europe or North America, and the gap is widest at the everyday end: a meal in a neighbourhood restaurant, a coffee, a cross-town taxi or a fresh juice from a market stall all cost a small fraction of the equivalent at home. What surprises people is the spread inside the country rather than the level. A tourist-facing restaurant on a famous square will charge several times what a local place a few streets behind it asks for a similar dish, and accommodation runs from plain guesthouse rooms to genuinely luxurious converted riads without much in between being obvious from a listing. Multi-day desert tours vary by a wide margin according to vehicle, group size and camp standard rather than by where they go — so confirm current prices directly, compare what is actually included, and treat a quote well below the going rate as information about what is being cut rather than as a bargain.

Exchange euros, pounds, or dollars on arrival

Licensed bureaux de change are found in airports, city centres, and tourist areas. Banks also exchange foreign currency during business hours — typically weekday mornings through mid-afternoon, with many branches closing for a midday break, and noticeably reduced hours during Ramadan, which is worth planning around if your dates overlap. Euros get the most favourable rates given Morocco's proximity to Europe, but US dollars and British pounds are equally easy to exchange. Hotels can exchange money but at worse rates. Avoid informal street changers — it is illegal and unnecessary given the abundance of legal exchange points.