The Ultimate Guide: Morocco by train

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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SPEAKER_2 (0:30)

The Hard Shoulder with Ciara Kelly and Shane Colman, on Newstalk with Kia.

Shane Colman (0:39)

Now Fionn Davenport is here with his Ultimate Guide and you are taking us to beautiful Morocco, Fionn.

Fionn Davenport (0:45)

Indeed Shane, because just to talk about Africa's first and currently only high-speed train, which is the Al-Barak, which links Tangier, Rabat and Casablanca. So not only obviously is it interesting to have like a high-speed train in Africa, but it's you can explore all three cities in a single trip without a car. And Morocco is not a small country. So I think it's interesting. It opens up Morocco in a new way that most visitors just wouldn't have had access to in the past.

Shane Colman (1:22)

Let's start with the beginning. Is it easy to get to Morocco? Is it cheap to get to Morocco? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Fionn Davenport (1:27)

So, well, Ryanair has a Dublin to Rabat service. So that's really the most convenient starting point because it's year round, lots of availability throughout the winter.

Then from the Rabat Saleh Airport, you have to get a transfer into the city because the train goes from the Agdal station, not the airport. And what's good about flying into Rabat is that you're kind of getting to the railway between the two endpoints. So like one way is to do, spend a couple of nights in the capital, and then you can go to Tangier, then take Albarac south to Casablanca before then coming back to Rabat for your flight. So you can do all three cities. I'll talk about the different characteristics of all three cities. If you want to do the trip comfortably and get to experience all three, I'd say give yourself a week. Right.

Ciara Kelly (2:16)

I've been to Morocco, but I've only been to Agadir, which is obviously kind of beachy, coastal. I was subtly disappointed with it. I mean, I didn't have very high expectations, as in what all I mean is I was only planning to go and chill out and do very little, but it was a little bit sketchy in parts, I would have said.

Fionn Davenport (2:36)

Yeah. Well, these are port cities, and not to put too fine a point on it, but Tangier would be similar. Like these are, they're crossroads places, so and traditionally would always have like kind of a slight air about them.

Ciara Kelly (2:51)

Yeah.

Fionn Davenport (2:52)

To me, it makes them interesting, but I absolutely recognize exactly what you're saying is that, not that you have to keep your wits about you, and I think you do generally when you travel, but like there are places where you're sitting there going, oh, this isn't romantic Marrakech, for instance. These are busy workaday places. And like, look, Tangier, which is one of the cities on the route, this, as I said, it's a cross point between Europe, between Africa, between the Mediterranean, between the Atlantic, like literally countless cultures that have crossed through this port. So, from Romans to the Portuguese to the English, it really is. It's kind of a very interesting city for that. It's got an amazing Casbah or old town, like much, I think, more authentic than Marrakech.

I like Marrakech very much, but the old town in Marrakech is incredibly touristy. And as a result, it comes with all the issues with tourism. So it's like everyone hawking, trying to get something out of you. And then in the last few years, you've got like motorbikes racing through.

It really is, it could be quite disconcerting. But the Casbah is the highest part of the Medina, and it's really pretty, really, really interesting. There's a couple of interesting museums, but you've got views right onto the Straits of Gibraltar.

Shane Colman (4:14)

Before we get to the tree towns, tell us a little bit about the train.

SPEAKER_1 (4:17)

Oh, yeah, sure.

Fionn Davenport (4:18)

Oh, yeah, sorry.

So at its peak, it gets to 320 kilometers an hour. So that's the high-speed section between Tangier and Kenitra. And then it kind of travels on more conventional tracks from through Rabat and then on to Casablanca. So the full journey takes two hours and 10 minutes, which is nothing. Like it's so, so quick now. And then beforehand, like, so it's less than half. So it would have been five hours on a rickety old train. And now Tangier to Rabat takes about an hour and 20 So, I mean, like really, you're covering these distance in relatively quick, quick speed time. So what, so the train is a double decker train, has air conditioned first and second class carriages. It has reserved seating in both, which is important. Now, second class is extremely comfortable if you're on a relatively short journey. So first class is more spacious, and it also has access to the Albarak station lounges. So there's lounges in Tangierville, in Canitra, Rabat Agdal, and also Casa Voyager, which I love the name. It's the house of the travelers.