How is living in Morocco in 2023?

Morocco is food. Morocco is culture. Morocco is the smell of petrol in the air. Morocco is the old lady decorating the hand of a young girl with henna. Morocco is a sunset behind the palm trees. Morocco is history. Morocco is a unique country. 

We lived in Marrakech for 3 months last winter. We’ve both traveled to Morocco with our family before knowing each other a few years ago. Unfortunately, we both had a bad experience back then and, if Eddy was positive about going to live in Morocco, I was not excited about it. Why? Because during my first trip to Morocco, I felt many times not comfortable as a woman and I felt oppressed. Despite this, we decided to go there anyway because Morocco has many positive points as well: warm weather, cheap prices, an ancient culture and its Moroccan charm. In this article you’ll discover the cost of our (beautiful) accommodation in the Ville Nouvelle, the prices of food and transportation. But that’s not all: we’ll talk about how’s being digital nomad in Morocco, and specially in Marrakech, and we’ll share with you our money-saving tips. Yalla!

Accommodation – When we decided to move to Morocco for three months, a big dilemma caught us: where should we live? In a Riad in the Medina or in Gueliz? We immediately discarded the idea of living in the Medina because the constant chaos scared us a bit. In fact, the Medina is a completely different world. We think that if you’re not used to it, living there will be a shock. The Medina is also a bit dangerous at night, because either you’ll get lost in the maze of narrow streets, or you’ll meet strange people. Moreover, there aren’t classic supermarkets, but only minimarket that, as soon as they see you’re a tourist, will double the price. In the Medina, it’s easier to find Riad and hotels, while the real apartments are in the district of Gueliz in the Ville Nouvelle. If you want to discover the best neighborhood to live in Marrakech, check out our guide and our reviews!

Once we discarded the option of moving to the Medina, we focused on the districts of Gueliz and Semlalia, both in the Ville Nouvelle where most of the expats live. These neighborhoods are the best following the reviews of expats on different online forums. We always use Airbnb when we search for apartments, but when it comes to hotels, our favorite website is Travala. If you’re more of a hotel person, find the best hotel in the city with Travala and get a discount of xx euros on your first booking! 

After our research, we found the best accommodation ever. We found a private room in a beautiful new house made by a French architect expat in Semlalia. Since we rented the room for three months, the price decreased until 17 euros per night. Such a good deal! Kevin, the owner, is just amazing. He’s not intrusive, he’s very funny and we had so many laughs with him. His home is a paradise and a taxi from there to the Medina costs only one euro. If you’re not sure you want to move to Morocco, we really advise you to spend one month there instead of engaging you in a one year lease to see if you like the city, the vibes and the country. Kevin is an expat there for many years, so he’ll be glad to give you some advice about living in Morocco and in major Moroccan cities. 

Food – Food in Morocco is good and cheap. Its cost is in line with the tenor of Moroccan life, so a standard meal in a local restaurant will cost you between 3 and 5 euros. On the other hand, if you’ll eat in the Medina or in touristy/for expats restaurants, prices can go up to 30 euros and more for two. If you want to discover our favorite (vegan and not) restaurants, check out our article. 

We were following a vegan and vegetarian diet while in Marrakech and it was completely affordable for us. You’ll find most of the occidental products in Carrefour at ‘Carre Eden’ shopping mall in Gueliz, but know that prices will be the same as in France or Europe (or even higher). There you can also find international vegan and vegetarian products. Our favorite shop for buying vegetarian and vegan goods was ‘Ayaso’. There, you’ll find both international and local high quality and organic products and Monika, the owner, will recommend you the best choice for your needs and the diet you’re following. Once a week, they also have a local market of organic vegetables, fruits, cheese, honey, olive oil and so on. In this way, you’ll discover products that are not so popular and for tourists. In Morocco you’ll be able to buy vegetables from the streets since there are many vendors that walk around with their donkey, selling products from their garden. Yes, they will be cheaper than in the supermarkets and the organic market in ‘Ayaso’, but you’ll never know which products they put on them since in Morocco agriculture is not really controlled. Again, if they see you’re a tourist, they will more than double the price. If you want to discover the real price Moroccans pay, check out our article about scams in Morocco.

Transportation – In Morocco we always moved on foot, by cab or by bus. Taxis in Marrakech are horrible. A normal taxi ride from everywhere to the Medina costs approximately 10 dirhams, something around one euro. Taxi drivers will never put the counter on, even if in Morocco it’s illegal to drive without it. The worst thing to do is actually ask the price before you get on a taxi. As soon as they see you’re a tourist or an expat, they will charge you 50 dirhams, five euro, just to reach the Medina. If you want to discover our infallible technique to take a cab like a local, check out our article about how not to be scammed in Marrakech. 

On the other side, walking in Marrakech is free and completely amazing because it’ll permit you to discover places you would have never discovered otherwise. Taking the buses number 1 and 6 from the Medina to the Ville Nouvelle cost around 40 cents and it’s really safe. We once traveled by bus from Marrakech to Essaouira and, besides being really cheap, it’s also very fast and clean. From Marrakech there are also trains for Casablanca, Rabat and Moroccan biggest cities, which are pretty economic if booked a month or so in advance. Expats didn’t recommend us moving by car because most of the time, if you have a foreigner plaque or you look like an expat, police will stop you to ask for some money finding something not in order with your car.