PICK Driving in Morocco: rules, speed limits and practical tips
Driving in Morocco is easy once you know a few rules. Here is what you need to know before getting behind the wheel of your rental car in Marrakech.
Speed limits
- In towns: 60 km/h
- Outside towns and on expressways: 100 km/h
- Motorways: 120 km/h
With our cars, the maximum speed set in the rental contract is 90 km/h. Fixed and mobile speed cameras are common, especially at the entrance to towns.
Documents to keep with you
Always carry your driving licence, your passport or ID card, and the rental contract. Police and gendarmerie checkpoints are frequent, especially on the way in and out of towns. Never leave the car's papers inside the vehicle.
Seat belts, phones and alcohol
- Seat belts are compulsory in the front and the back.
- Holding your phone while driving is forbidden.
- Do not drink before driving: the insurance does not cover a drunk driver.
Motorways and tolls
Moroccan motorways are toll roads. You pay at the toll booths, so keep some cash in dirhams. From Marrakech, the motorway goes to Casablanca, Rabat and Agadir.
Fuel
Diesel is called “gasoil” at petrol stations and petrol is “sans plomb”. Stations are common on the main roads but rarer in the mountains, so fill up before heading into the Atlas. Return the car with the same fuel level as at pick-up.
In town and at night
- Priority at roundabouts is not always respected: slow down and stay alert.
- In the Medina, streets are narrow and often pedestrian: park outside.
- Parking attendants in vests watch cars for a few dirhams.
- Avoid driving at night on small roads: pedestrians, carts and animals are often unlit.
Where you can drive
Our cars drive on paved roads. The rental contract forbids unpaved tracks, so if you are heading to an Agafay desert camp or a mountain village, check first that access is paved.
