Money in Morocco is one of the few things on a trip where the country has made the rules deliberately awkward, and understanding why saves a wasted trip to a bank at home.
The dirham is a closed currency. It is not bought and sold outside Morocco, which is why the cash desk at your own bank will look puzzled, and why every sensible packing list says to take euros instead.
- Currency code
- MAD
- How the price is written
- DH
- Centimes in a dirham
- 100
Why the dirham stays in Morocco
A closed currency is one the government keeps inside its own borders and manages the value of. It buys and sells dirhams itself, sets the exchange rate within a band against a basket of foreign currencies, and does not allow the currency to be traded freely abroad. The dirham is the currency of a country that has chosen a measure of control over its money, and the inconvenience to a visitor is the price of that policy.
Three practical consequences follow.
You cannot normally buy dirhams before you leave. Take euros, US dollars or pounds and change them when you arrive, or withdraw from an ATM.
There is a limit on how many dirhams you may take out of the country, and it is low. Spend or change what is left before you fly.
Every exchange is recorded. Keep the receipt, because it is the evidence that the money in your pocket came in legally, and it is what you will be asked for if anyone checks.
What things cost
Morocco is not an expensive country by Western European standards, and prices for the things a visitor buys most are easy to hold in your head once you have converted a couple of times.
A glass of mint tea or a coffee in a cafe is a few dirhams. A tagine in a mid-range restaurant in Marrakech or Fes is a reasonable plate of food by any measure. A petit taxi across town is cheap, and the fare should be agreed before you get in, because the meter is often not used for visitors. A hammam, a guided walk, a night in a riad: the range is wide, and the top of it belongs to the places that have decided to price in euros.
Two things to know about how prices are given. Bargaining is normal in the souk and not normal in a shop with a till. And the price quoted to you in a souk will usually start well above what the seller will accept, which is not a trick but the custom, and the polite response is a counter-offer rather than a shrug.
Converting without doing arithmetic
The widget below uses a reference rate for one day, so it is a guide rather than a promise. Your bank will give you something slightly worse, and the difference is the margin.
Dirhams in your money
In dirhamsMAD
| 10 EUR | 109 MAD |
|---|---|
| 20 EUR | 219 MAD |
| 50 EUR | 547 MAD |
| 100 EUR | 1,094 MAD |
A reference rate for one day, before any bank or card margin. Yours will be a little worse.
The useful trick is to learn one anchor number and convert everything from it. If a coffee is around the same as a coffee at home, or a taxi is a quarter of one, you have a scale in your head that survives the whole trip and does not need a phone.
Cards, ATMs and cash
Cards work in the places that have a till and a card machine: hotels, larger restaurants, supermarkets, petrol stations and the bigger shops in the new town. They do not work in the souk, in a small cafe, in a petit taxi, or for a tip.
ATMs are easy to find in cities and give you dirhams at a rate close to the official one. Two costs sit on top: the fee from the Moroccan bank, which is modest, and whatever your own bank charges for a foreign withdrawal. Some banks charge a flat fee, some a percentage, and a few charge nothing, which is worth knowing before you go rather than after.
The rule that prevents most problems is boring and effective. Carry two cards, keep them in different places, and carry enough cash to get through a day when neither works.
Tipping and small change
Tipping is expected in the places where visitors are served, and it is not large. Ten percent in a restaurant with table service. A few dirhams for a bag carried, a toilet attended or a taxi. Something for a guide, based on how long they spent with you.
Small notes matter more than the amount. Handing a 200 dirham note for a 15 dirham coffee and expecting change is a small nuisance for everyone, so keep 20 and 50 dirham notes and a pocket of coins.
Before you fly
Money kit for Morocco
0/8
The last piece of advice is the one people ignore. Before you leave Morocco, deal with your dirhams. Change them at the airport or spend them, because taking them home leaves you with a currency no bank at home will buy back, and a small pile of notes nobody can use.
If you are still sorting out the phone side of the trip, an eSIM for Morocco covers getting online, and what a SIM card costs here compares the options on arrival.
