Mohammedia
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Mohammedia

Mohammedia

Moroccan coastal city between Casablanca and Rabat, with a relaxed corniche and sandy beaches

Mohammedia is a coastal city midway between Casablanca (30 km south) and Rabat (60 km north). It began as a small Portuguese trading post and was known as Fedala until Moroccan independence. Today it serves largely as a beach getaway for Casablanca residents, with a long sandy coastline and a more relaxed pace than its larger neighbour.

The town has a pleasant corniche, a small kasbah near the port, and one of Morocco's most distinguished links courses at the Royal Golf Mohammedia. The beach is popular but can be rough — the Atlantic swells here are strong. Birders should look in on the marshes of the Oued Mellah just west of town. Mohammedia is also home to Morocco's largest oil refinery, which sits at the edge of town and is hard to miss.

For travellers, Mohammedia is more of a lunch stop or half-day detour than a destination in its own right, but the fish grills at the port are excellent and considerably cheaper than Casablanca.

Guide

Eating Out

Mohammedia is famous for seafood. The cluster of restaurants near the port grills fish from the morning's catch at half the price you would pay in Casablanca, and the corniche is lined with cafés that range from Moroccan-French classics to no-frills tagine joints. Friday afternoons are busiest as the Casablanca weekend crowd drives up the coast.

Guide

Getting There

Mohammedia sits on the main coastal axis between Casablanca and Rabat, which makes it one of the easiest places to reach in Morocco. The A1 motorway has its own Mohammedia exit; the drive from central Casablanca is about 30 km north and from Rabat about 60 km south.

ONCF trains on the Casablanca–Rabat–Kenitra line stop at Mohammedia station roughly every 30 minutes during the day, taking 20 minutes from Casa Voyageurs and 40 minutes from Rabat Ville. The station is a short taxi ride from the corniche.

Guide

Things to Do

Mohammedia is built around its long Atlantic beach and the corniche that runs along it. Beyond the seafront, the old kasbah behind the port keeps a small Portuguese-era footprint, and the Royal Golf Mohammedia is one of the best-known links courses in Morocco. Most visits are a half day combined with a seafood lunch at the port.