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I'm thinking about going to Morocco, and I would be avoiding the most touristic places.

I've read the question When traveling to a country with a different currency, how should you take your money? which recommends withdrawing cash using a low/no foreign exchange fees card. However, I don't know if that'll be an option for me. What is the availability of ATMs in the country - outside of major cities like Casablanca and Marrakesh?

If a lack of ATM availability means I'll need to take cash with me, I was wondering, what currency should I take? Would it be easy to exchange US dollars or Euro, and which should be more popular? Or maybe I should exchange money before and just bring Morrocan dirhams with me?

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  • is there a reason this differs from this question?
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Jul 2, 2012 at 22:57
  • or perhaps, this one?
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Jul 2, 2012 at 22:58
  • actually thinking about it, while the majority of your question is covered by the two I mention above, the availability of ATMs outside of Marrakesh is certainly a valid concern.
    – Mark Mayo
    Commented Jul 2, 2012 at 22:58
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    I think I will rephrase my question
    – Tschareck
    Commented Jul 2, 2012 at 22:59
  • If you're worried about a lack of ATMs, you could always exchange a fair amount of your Euros for dirhams when you arrive at the airport and keep them in a money belt. The same principle would apply when you happen to stumble across an ATM. Stock up on enough money so it won't be a source of anxiety.
    – Ben
    Commented Jul 3, 2012 at 22:36

2 Answers 2

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The answer largely depends on how you will travel within Morocco. If you, like we did, rent a car and drive around. There is no reason for concern. We were always within 45 minutes driving of the next ATM.

This proved to be very handy. It happened more then once, that we went to a hotel which accepted credit cards, but due to poor telecom connections were not able to process the credit card payments. The owners were always helpful in directing us to the closest atm.

In case you are traveling by bus, it might be an issue. This is best explained by an example. We stayed in a very nice hotel close to the Ouzoud cascades. This was one of the cases where the communications required for payments weren't functioning properly. The closest ATM was in Azilal, which was reachable by car. If we were depending on public transport, I am not so sure if we would be able to pay (although I can imagine that the hotel staff would go great length to get paid).

So if you are renting a car, you could use the ATM as you would do at home. If you will be using public transport you might want to work with buffers.

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ATMs are easy to find in Morocco. Except for the really small towns, you'll have no problem withdrawing money.

Do bring some cash, just in case. Euros are by far the preferred currency. Morocco is after all just 14 kilometers from the Eurozone.

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    It is even less as in 0 km, since Cueta and Mellila are already in the eurozone ;)
    – user141
    Commented Jul 3, 2012 at 13:02

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