Half the people I see landing at Mohammed V aren't staying in Casablanca at all — they're going to Rabat. The capital is calmer, greener and an easy 80-minute motorway run north, and a surprising number of embassy, ministry and business visitors fly into Casablanca simply because it carries far more long-haul flights than little Rabat-Salé. The catch is that Rabat has its own airport problem: nothing direct from the terminal.
You either change trains in Casablanca or take a car straight through on the A1/A3. I've done both more times than I can count, and the right answer comes down to how many of you there are, how much you're carrying, and whether you'd rather save a few euros or arrive without a single platform change.
Compare your options
| Your options | Price from | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Direct private transfer Recommended 1 h 20 | €60 · 650 MAD | Groups, families, late arrivals and business trips |
| Train via Casa-Voyageurs 2 h 10 | €9 · 100 MAD | Solo or budget travellers near Agdal or Ville station |
| Grand taxi all the way 1 h 25 | €55 · 590 MAD | Travellers wanting a car without pre-booking |
How to get there
There's no direct train to Rabat — the ONCF from beneath the terminal runs into Casablanca, where you change at Casa-Voyageurs onto a frequent intercity service to Rabat-Agdal or Rabat-Ville. The whole chain is cheap, roughly 80–100 MAD all-in, but with bags it means two trains, a change on a busy platform and a wait that can stretch the door-to-door time well past the headline.
By road it's about 114 km, normally 80 minutes on the A1/A3 motorway — the toll is a few dirhams and the road is fast and modern. A private transfer straight from arrivals runs from around €60, met with a name board and driven non-stop to your address. Business travellers and anyone with a meeting almost always take the car: it's door-to-door, no escalators with a suitcase, and you can work or doze the whole way up.
Solo and unhurried, the train chain is the budget play; for two or more people, the direct transfer often comes out cheaper per head and a great deal simpler, especially after a long-haul flight when the last thing you want is to decode a Casa-Voyageurs departure board.
Arrival tips
A transfer takes you to the door, whether that's the ministries' quarter around Avenue Mohammed V, the Hay Riad business zone out west, or a riad tucked into the Oudayas where the lanes narrow and a car can only get you to the edge. If you ride the train, Rabat-Agdal is the modern, business-side station near the newer hotels, while Rabat-Ville drops you beside the medina, the walled old town and Avenue Hassan II — pick the one nearest your bed before you board in Casablanca, because crossing the capital again by petit-taxi undoes the convenience.
Once you've dropped your bags, Rabat rewards a slow first evening: the Kasbah of the Udayas glows at sunset over the Bou Regreg, the Hassan Tower and its ranks of broken columns sit ten minutes from the centre, and the Roman-then-Merinid ruins of Chellah make an easy half-day. The city winds down early and politely — it's a capital of civil servants, not a party town.
Plan your arrival
- Decide before you fly: train arrival or car arrival — for two or more people, or any flight landing late, book the direct transfer and skip the rest of this list.
- In arrivals, draw 800–1,200 MAD and sort your data (SIM or eSIM); you'll want both for the journey and for Rabat itself.
- For the train, take the escalator to the ONCF station under the terminal and buy a ticket toward Casablanca, then change at Casa-Voyageurs for Rabat-Agdal or Rabat-Ville.
- Choose your Rabat station by hotel: Agdal for the business side and newer hotels, Ville for the medina and the historic centre.
- If you booked a transfer, find your name board past customs and confirm the driver has your district and, for an Oudayas or medina riad, the exact gate to meet at.
- Tell the driver your district by name so they route around the ministry cordons, and have small notes ready for tolls, porters or the petit-taxi at a station.
Booking a transfer only to Casablanca and planning to "sort out Rabat there" — you end up paying twice and queuing for a second taxi at Casa-Voyageurs with your luggage. Book the through-journey to Rabat from the start, and you step off the plane into one car that doesn't stop until your riad.
Name your Rabat district to the driver before you set off — Hassan, Agdal, Hay Riad, the medina, Souissi — because the capital's one-way systems and the security cordons around ministries and embassies can add ten minutes of looping if the driver has to guess at the last junction. If your riad is inside the Oudayas or the medina walls, ask exactly which gate the car can reach and arrange to be met there; the lanes don't take vehicles and a address pin alone won't save you.
Good to know: The airport train reaches Rabat too, but a direct transfer skips the Casablanca change.
