Air
There are direct scheduled flights to Marrakech from London and Paris. There are also frequent scheduled and charter flights from elsewhere in Europe. Flying time from Paris is about 3 hours 20 minutes. As there are a large number of Moroccan emigrants in Quebec, Royal Air Maroc (RAM) runs flights to Casablanca from Montreal and New York with a connecting flight to Marrakech. Flying time from NY to Casablanca is 6 hours 40 minutes. Alternatively, travel to Europe with British Airways, Air France or KLM, all of which have flights to Moroccan destinations.
Marrakech’s airport, Menara, is less than 4 miles from the city centre. A local bus – No. 11 – stops a short walk from the airport and will take you into the central square, although services are said to be unpredictable. Tickets cost 3 dirham and are available from the driver. A more convenient way in is by taxi. There are two types, grands taxis (shared inter-city vehicles) and petits taxis (city cabs). A grand taxi (usually a Mercedes) takes up to six passengers, so use them if you arrive with a group. The negotiable fare from the airport to the city is 50 or 60 dirham for the whole taxi. This type of vehicle is not allowed inside the walls of the old town, so if you're heading for the area around Djemaa el Fna, take a petit taxi. It’s a beige-coloured car like the Peugeot 206 and takes only three passengers. These local taxis are equipped with meters. The standard fare to the city in a petit taxi is 30 dirham during the day, 50 at night.
Train
There’s a good train service to Marrakech from Morocco’s major cities to the north run by the ONCF (Office National des Chemins de Fer) www.oncf.org.ma. If you can only get a flight to Casablanca, it’s worth thinking about taking the train to Marrakech. You’ll need to take the turquoise-blue Baydaoui shuttle train (navette) from Casablanca’s Mohammed V airport to Voyageurs Station where you can pick up the main line service to Marrakech – the ‘Marrakech Express’ sung about by Crosby, Stills and Nash all those years ago. The journey takes three hours.
Road
Most of the main car rental companies are represented in Morocco. Driving in Morocco can be a pleasure, as it has a good network of uncongested roads. However, driving within cities can be much more stressful because of busy traffic and a general disregard for road etiquette. Many of the roads in the Marrakech medina (old town) are simply too narrow for cars and only small cars can negotiate the rest. It is advisable to park the car and use taxis while in the city. Furthermore, accident rates are very high, especially around the medina, where people and cyclists are apt to pull out suddenly in front of the traffic. After dark, the dangers increase, as it’s legal to drive cars and ride bicycles without lights at up to 12mph.
