Travelling Morocco on a Budget: Tips for Affordable Adventures

Last Updated on 22nd January 2026 by Jessie

From shared taxis and street food to affordable riads and off-the-beaten-track adventures, Morocco is one of the best destinations for travellers on a budget. This guide is packed with practical tips to help you see more, spend less, and travel smarter.

Morocco is a cheap holiday destination in relation to trips to Western Europe or adventures Down Under. With that said, you can live large in Maroc if you want to. There are gorgeously lavish riads in every city and all-inclusive holiday packages that will cater to your every whim.

No shade on either of those options; if you’ve got the money, then being pampered like an Arabian prince sounds like an ideal way to spend it. But I’m acutely aware that we’re not all so financially blessed, and thus I’m sharing my tried and tested tips for travelling Morocco on a budget. (Whilst also enjoying your time).

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1. Stay at Hostels – If Travelling Solo.

This isn’t anything groundbreaking. Hostels have always been the preferred haunts of budget backpackers. But unlike some of the sketchy dorms that I’ve rested my head in throughout Europe, the hostels in Morocco aren’t skint. With some absolute gems for less than €15 a night, you can still rest comfortably in Morocco on a budget. From beautiful old riads complete with a swimming pool in the centre, to dorm rooms laden with handwoven Moroccan rugs and cushions, looking like an image pulled straight from Pinterest.

Most hostels include breakfast and often a family dinner for a little extra. And more often than not, the home-cooked food served at your hostel will surpass anything you eat out at restaurants. Partaking in a full Moroccan breakfast spread is an absolute must during your travels, and most hostels will go beyond.

Whether travelling in Morocco on a budget or not, it goes without saying that hostels will also be your best bet for finding mates to explore with. A lot of hostels offer localised tours for great prices. You can grab some surf lessons or sign up to a trip to the desert for far less than you’ll find advertised online.

For those visiting the surf coast, check out this list of the best hostels in Tamraght.

2. Rent an Apartment – If Travelling with a Group.

If you’ve managed to wrangle together a group of friends to travel with (ideally, all on the ‘Morocco on a budget’ train), then I advise skipping the hostels and renting an apartment instead. First of all, the logistics of everyone booking their individual dorm beds can be a bit like herding cats. But more importantly, you can get far more bang for your buck by splitting an apartment.

For €61 a night, you and five friends could rent Azawan House – a dreamy three-bedroom apartment in Tamraght. You’re guaranteed all of the freedom and privacy of a home to yourselves. Plus, most apartments will come equipped with all of the amenities for cooking and laundry: thus stretching your precious Dirhams that little bit further.

There are loads of Moroccan holiday apartments available for daily and monthly rent on Booking.com that are well within reach of those visiting Morocco on a budget. If you’re travelling to Tamraght, I have done the hard yards for you and put together a list of the best apartments available for rent.

For longer stays, check out my tips for renting an apartment long-term.

*Bonus tip for staying at apartments without washing machines: Wash your clothes in the shower. Most Moroccan homes will come equipped with a large plastic tub. Place your dirty duds in it, fill with soapy water and use your hands to do your best washing machine interpretation, rinse, wring out and hang on the balcony. Et voilà, Bob’s your hadga aunt.

For solo female travellers, see my guide on how to stay safe in Morocco.

3. Catch Buses Between Towns and Cities.

Regional buses are super reliable and affordable in Morocco, and your best bet for traversing Morocco on a budget. There are two main bus companies: CTM and Supratours. Both offer regular routes throughout the whole of the country, and both can easily be booked online or at a bus station.

The bus trip from Marrakech to Agadir will cost between 100-135dh (€10-13.50). Whereas a private taxi making the same voyage will charge upwards of 1000dh (€100) for the car. So even if you split the ride with friends, you’re still forking out more than you need to.

Plus, catching long-distance buses is an adventure in itself. There’s the ever-changing scenery through mountains, deserts and villages that you would struggle to pronounce. Or playing the game of ‘will my bladder hold until the next undetermined rest stop?‘ Or my personal favourite, a little spin at roadside roulette: treating myself to a 10dh kefta sandy and wishing my belly the best of luck.  

Some trains travel between the major cities in Morocco. But for regional travel, buses are your best bet. You do need to pay an additional fee for stored luggage, but this is peanuts. Usually 10-20dh (€1-€2) per item.

See my guide to catching buses within Morocco.

4. Catch Collective Taxis Within Towns. Or Walk.

Within towns and cities, your most affordable transport option will be your own two feet. A mode of transport I’m particularly fond of. Free, reliable, great company, loads of time to daydream; it ticks all the boxes. Or for a few dirhams more, you can catch a collective taxi.

Collective taxis allow you to pay only for your seat (sharing the ride with whomever else happens to be going your way), rather than the whole car as with a private taxi. As such, they are far more cost-effective and a good shout for travelling in Morocco on a budget. Far gentler on the environment too.

In rural areas like Tamraght or between villages, the collective taxis are the big yellow and white ones. Within cities, they tend to be the small orange sedans. Both private and collective taxis look the same. The only way to differentiate is by asking the driver.

Often in places where there are popular routes, you can find collective taxis waiting at designated spots, leaving as soon as the car is filled. For example, at Batoire taxi station in Agadir, there are collective taxis making the journey to Tamraght and Taghazout all day long, for only 10dh per person (€1). Alternatively, a private taxi may cost you 100-150dh (€10-€15).

For more of my helping hand, check out this post on navigating the Moroccan taxi system. And for a few phrases to make the whole process a little smoother, see my Moroccan Darija language guide.

5. Buy a Filtered Water Bottle.

“Can I drink the tap water in Morocco?” – This has got to be one of the most frequently asked questions in preparation for travel to this golden land.

The verdict’s mixed on this one. Most locals drink the tap water without getting sick. And, the Moroccan government insists that the country’s water is treated to a high quality, and absolutely safe to drink. Yet, most hostels and travel guides still insist on opting for bottled water to avoid undesirable bacteria.

I can’t verify either argument. All I can give is my highly subjective, anecdotal evidence. Personally, I mostly drink filtered water. However, on many occasions, I have drunk straight from the tap and suffered no immediate negative consequences.

Nevertheless, I am going to offer my advice: buy a filtered water bottle prior to your trip to Morocco. The benefits are threefold: for those travelling Morocco on a budget, the investment will prevent you from wasting money on plastic water bottles each day; you will have the peace of mind of knowing your water is 100% safe; and your conscience can rest easy knowing you’re not adding to the burden of plastic waste that Morocco already has to deal with.

Check out my recommended packing list for Morocco’s surf coast.

6. Shop for Groceries Locally.

As a general rule, if you shop, eat and move like the locals do, then you will inevitably have no trouble travelling Morocco on a budget. Any cafe, shop or hotel that caters predominantly to Western comforts is going to come with a Western price tag.

When it comes to grocery shopping, always choose the minimarkets and local souks over one of the internationally owned supermarkets like Carrefour. For starters, you’re cutting out the fat cat middlemen and offering your money directly to the pockets of the Moroccan farmers, producers and store owners. But you will also save loads of money in doing so.

Import tariffs are expensive in Morocco, so international products are going to come with a hefty markup in comparison to local goods. I.e. the Milka choccy bar will be double the price of the off-brand Moroccan one. And triple or quadruple the cost of the locally made biscuits sold fresh at the mini market.

As for fruit and veg and other fresh produce, the local souk will be your treasure trove. Most cities and villages will have souks (open-air marketplaces) that operate either daily or weekly. You will find piles of fresh fruit and veg laid out in crates; stalls selling fresh honey, eggs, dates and amlou; and flatlays of teapots, dish soap and all other household knick-knacks.

Everything is as fresh as it can get, locally sourced, and a fraction of what you would pay in a chain supermarket. It’s also a great way to eat seasonal (hugely beneficial to both our bodies and the environment).

I should add that this tip goes with the assumption that you cook your own food (low-hanging fruit for trying to travel Morocco on a budget). See my collection of Moroccan recipes for souk and minimarket-friendly meal ideas.

See details for Anza Souk, Tamraght Souk, Sidif Ifni Souk and Mirleft Souk.

7. Eat at Local Cafes and Restaurants.

Following on: Shop local AND eat local. Do not fret, my culinary-challenged friends; you can still dine out in Morocco on a budget. In fact, you can feast like a king in Morocco on a budget.

Family-owned cafes and restaurants targeted towards locals will always be far cheaper than tourist-centric venues. Keep an eye out for the no-frills eateries serving only Moroccan cuisine. You’re looking for the side-of-the-road pitstops on bus journeys and the hole-in-the-wall restaurants with a single menu on the wall.

If you’re lucky enough to stumble upon a crèmerie, give that a whirl. These are small restaurants selling Moroccan staples at local prices, e.g. Berber omelettes and harira (lentil soup), and sometimes tagines. The quality of the food usually surpasses the Moroccan dishes served in tourist venues, and with all the complimentary fresh khobz, you can guarantee to roll out of there satiated.

For the real bargain-savvy diner, you want to hunt down the local street food carts. Wherever there’s a lot of foot traffic in a town, you can often find a selection of street vendors cooking al fresco.

Each vendor will exclusively sell their one specialty. Whether it’s kefta sandwiches, fried calamari rolls or fresh msemen, quite often these cooks will be the GOATs of their respective crafts. So for 10dh a pop, you can eat the finest fish sandwich in town, day in and day out, without breaking the bank. L’humdulilah.

For the best local eateries on the surf coast, check out my recommendations for cafes and restaurants in Tamraght and Taghazout.

8. Buy Second-hand Clothes.

Morocco is a goldmine for second-hand clothing. The local souks are your bountiful excavation sites. But the role of optimistic goldminer – getting your hands dirty, sifting through all of the dirt to find your items of treasure – is completely yours.

Alongside fresh produce and household trinkets (including the aforementioned plastic laundry tubs), most souks also sell pre-loved clothing. At the particularly prosperous markets (See: Anza souk), you can find rows of tables piled high with used clothes, shoes and linen. Most items go for a set price of 20 or 30dh (€2 or €3), an absolute steal when you find the perfect vintage bikini or tie-dye dress. I assume the clothes come offloaded from European charity stores, because the Zara and Tommy Hilfiger labels are rife.

Thrift shopping in Morocco isn’t just for the trendies, or for those travelling Morocco on a budget. Souks are where many locals go for all of their clothes shopping. Which is epic to see, because as with thrift stores back home, so many of the items are barely – if at all – worn. In a country that struggles with garbage disposal, the perpetual awareness of all our consumerist waste is unavoidable. If that doesn’t motivate you towards more sustainable shopping practices, I don’t know what will.

Sometimes you may also stumble upon makeshift pop-up stores on a sidewalk. In which an entrepreneurial local has laid out an assortment of 5-10 well-loved items. Perhaps a Russian fur hat or an Amazigh bangle, the potential for prospecting in Morocco knows no bounds.

Check out my guide to thrift-shopping in Morocco.

9. Go Free-Range Exploring.

There are some incredible activities and tours in Morocco that are well worth your money. For example, surf lessons with a local instructor or guided trips to the Sahara Desert. But still, you don’t necessarily have to spend money to fully experience the place. You can don your personal travel-guide hat and chaperone yourself on your own adventure.

The streets of Morocco will likely be far different to those of your hometown, and thus simply setting off on an aimless wander through a village can inspire a sense of novelty and wonder. It’s often far more rewarding to allow your curiosity to reveal the elements of a place or a culture that most interest you, rather than to follow an itinerary comprised of the ‘most popular local activities.’ Plus, it’s free.

From the desert to the sea, the landscape of Morocco is incredible. Whilst some places will require a guide (like hiking in the Atlas Mountains), there is plenty of terrain that can be explored on your own.

For instance, in Tamraght, there is nothing stopping you from taking a hike (loose definition) up the hill and marvelling in the mountainous rural vista. And you can spend a whole day lizarding out at Paradise Valley for free (minus transportation costs). Or you can forgo the adventures altogether and just laze at the beach, turning your exploring inward instead. Move over Dora.

Or better yet, connect with the locals and gain a first-hand perspective of Morocco over a pot of mint tea. As is the paradoxical way of life, when you slow down, you experience the most.

See the top day trips from Taghazout.

Travel thriftily, but always with heart.

I think it’s important to remember that travelling Morocco on a budget by no means necessitates the exploitation of others. All of these tips can be reframed as ways to support the local economy, respect the Moroccan people and protect the local environment.

You can travel cheaply whilst also prioritising the things that are worthy of your money. Bartering is expected, but always consider the value of what you are bargaining for. Whether it’s a taxi driver trying to make a living or a craftsman selling a handmade souvenir that would go for 10x the price back home. Spend your money whenever it’s deserved.

L’humdulilah.

More tips:

• Essential Moroccan Travel Tips
• Best Surf Camps in Tamraght
• Best Hostels in Taghazout
• Best Budget Stays in Mirleft
• 10-Day Travel Itinerary for Morocco’s Surf Coast
• Moroccan Travel Planning

For more Maroc info and a little less of my own opinions, I’ve created a travel wisdom-sharing hub over on Reddit. Join the group here.