If you need to travel from Essaouira to Casablanca in Morocco, you have several options. When travelling around Morocco, there are several options. Each of these options range in price. You also need to consider the comfort & quality of the transport type, as well as the amount of time that each option will take to get you from Essaouira to Casablanca.
Essaouira
The town of Essaouira in Morocco is located on the Atlantic coast, which is on the western coast of Morocco. Essaouira is a seaside town, with an old walled Medina and a wide and long, sandy beach, which is perfect for Walks and Camel rides. Essaouira is popular with tourists who appreciate the town’s traditional layout, being a town which is smaller and quieter than it’s neighbouring tourist hub of Marrakech.
Casablanca
The city of Casablanca is a large, sprawling city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. The city has an attraction for tourists, due to it’s architecture and history.
The Essaouira to Casablanca journey
When travelling from Essaouira to Casablanca there are a few options for you to choose from. Each option has it’s own merits, based upon price, quality of transport and how long the journey will take you to complete.
Essaouira to Casablanca by Train
A journey from Essaouira to Casablanca by train is a difficult and long journey. Because Essaouira is off the beaten track of Morocco’s national train network, it is needed to travel from Essaouira to Marrakech by Bus or by taxi. This journey takes around 3 hours.
Once you reach Marrakech, you then need to go to the Marrakech train station, which is located in the centre of Marrakech. From here, you can take a train to Casablanca.
Seeming as this method of travelling from Essaouira to Casablanca is not direct, it will definately add a large amount of time to your journey. However, if you have not yet visited Marrakech, it could have it’s advantages.
Marrakech Train station is conveniently located adjacent to the Marrakech Supratours bus station. So, taking the Supratours bus from Essaouira to Marrakech, and then the train from Marrakech to Casablanca is possible. Additionally, there are 2 hotels located next to both Marrakech Train station and Supratours bus station. Namely, these are Ibis Marrakech Centre Gare and Red Hotel. If you wish to go a little more upmarket, then you should check out Opera Plaza Hotel.
Staying in any one of these 3 hotels will make your journey easier – You get off the Supratours Bus almost opposite your Hotel. The next morning, you exit your Hotel and Marrakech train station is literally 1 minute walk.
Essaouira to Casablanca by Bus
Travelling from Essaouira to Casablanca by Bus, is rather more easy than trying to travel from Essaouira to Casablanca by train.
Firstly, because Essaouira is not connected to the Morocco train network, both of the national bus companies of Morocco operate buses from Essaouira. The 2 national bus operators are Supratours and CTM buses.
Essaouira to Casablanca with CTM Buses
The journey from Essaouira to Casablanca with CTM Buses takes a duration of between 5 hours & 20 minutes, to 7 hours & 20 minutes of travel time. The exact travel time depends upon which time you start the journey. CTM Buses usually have 4 departures each day for their buses from Essaouira to Casablanca. Each journey stops off at other towns along the route, which can include Safi & Oualidia.
Currently, the price of a ticket to travel from Essaouira to Casablanca with CTM buses varies according to the exact bus departure time that you choose.. Tickets for CTM buses can be purchased from any CTM bus station in Morocco.
Essaouira to Casablanca with Supratours buses
Taking a Supratours bus from Essaouira to Casablanca is equally as easy as it is to take a CTM bus for this journey. The journey duration time is similar, with CTM buses quoting 6 hours and 5 minutes as the total duration. Currently, CTM buses have 5 departures each day for this route.
However, note that instead of having stops in such towns as Oualidia and Safi, CTM buses take the route of travelling to Marrakech and then onto Casablanca. You will usually have to change buses in Marrakech and there is most usually a connection time of 35 minutes. This is quite helpful as the Marrakech CTM bus station has some good facilities, such as toilets and a Cafe serving hot food.
Essaouira to Casablanca by taxi
The most direct way of travelling is to take a taxi from Essaouira to Casablanca. This option has the natural benefit that you could be picked up directly from your Hotel (or a location nearby if you are staying inside Essaouira Medina). At the other in of the journey, in Casablanca, you should be dropped of directly at your Casablanca Hotel.
There are many choices available for taking a taxi.
The first option, and, the most economical choice, is to take a seat in a Grande taxi. The Grande taxis in Morocco are usually fairly old Mercedes cars. The disadvantages of this option is that unless you pay for extra seats, you are probably going to be squashed up in the vehicle. Grande taxis in Morocco seat 4 passengers in the back seats and 2 passengers in the single front passenger seat. For more about this, you can read our Essaouira taxis article and see the quality of the Grande taxis.
The next taxi from Essaouira to Casablanca option is to arrange a private transfer. There are many options for this, and you can travel in a range of many types of vehicles, varying in quality and comfort, depending upon how much you are wanting to pay. Note that this is the higher cost option for the journey, but you do improve the quality and comfort greatly.
Taking a taxi directly between Essaouira and Casablanca city, you can expect a journey time of approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes. It is also possible to take a taxi or transfer direct to Casablanca Airport.