Is Morocco Safe for Black Women Travelling Solo?

It’s interesting because as someone who has both travelled to and lived in Morocco, I’m often taken aback by the conversations I see online around Morocco and the question ‘is Morocco safe for Black women travelling solo?’ I often review to get peoples take on things.

I often see these conversation mainly from Black women, who often speak negatively about Morocco as a country. Now don’t get me wrong, the question ‘is Morocco safe for women?’ is certainly worth asking and answering, and I certainly don’t want to discredit anyone’s travel experiences when they are travelling to Morocco or any part of the world.

Because any or your experience is real (trust me I have been there myself) and it is important to me as well as it is important to you too. However, as someone that has lived and travelled through Morocco as a Black woman myself, (often solo). I did want to share my experiences with you and truly share my perspective with you while also giving you some some solo travel tips for Morocco with some advise on the best Morocco tours for women I’ve been on that you can also book in the process.

I have travelled solo across multiple cities in Morocco, places like Tangier, Fez, Casablanca and Marrakech, where I often took trains between cities all on my own. And faced minimal problems. Travelling to Morocco can be one thing if you are going for a few weeks or days, but living there and having to navigate everyday life really gave me a different perspective. Did I ever experience a bit of catcalling here and there, people beeping while driving? Absolutely, but this is no different to what I have experienced living and navigating life in London.

In this post, I will speak honestly and answer the question: is Morocco safe for Black women travelling solo? And as a Black women myself I want to go ahead and answer ‘is Morocco safe for Black women travelling solo?’ By the end of this post, you will have a list of Morocco tours for women, solo travel tips for Morocco, as well as have enough information to answer is Morocco safe for women to travel.

Also read: 16 Best Countries for Black Women to Solo Travel (Safe & Real Experiences)

So is Morocco Safe for Black Women Travelling Solo?

If I answer this question quickly ‘is Morocco safe for women’, I would openly say yes. But for this post I want to do a deeper dive and say from my own experience, the answer is not just a simple yes. When I knew I would be moving out to Morocco for a post to work there, I was like many Black women unsure of my safety and so I did also ask is Morocco safe for Black women? Well I actually asked what would my experience be like there.

And trust me I was unsure if I could ask this but I thought to myself I’m sure people ask ‘is Morocco safe for families?’ So I thought why can’t I ask about my safety as a Black woman. Also I was moving to a country for a few years. So yes I did ask despite travelling to Morocco before questioning how I would be received coming out there as a Black British woman. Because with me working there, I felt like it was an important question to ask. Lucky for me my manager and my team took this question very seriously.

From my experience and speaking to other Black women, Morocco was certainly seen to be safe for Black women travelling solo, but I was unsure despite travelling there myself before. Now that I have lived there I will say like most countries and cities around the world you have to move with a little caution, which also applies to when you’re in Morocco. I like to say you need a level of ‘street smartness’ to you. As someone who grew up mostly in London I have always had a level of alertness when moving around solo around the city. This I would say has given me a level of confidence to navigate most places environments around the world solo.

When travelling solo in Morocco, I can say that of course there were moments where I felt completely safe, in fact I would say most of the time. I often took taxis when I was living in Casablanca to meet friends, colleagues and just run errands. I often walked to the local mall that was about 15 minutes away and faced no problems. And when I travelled solo between cities, I mostly did this by train, by myself where I stayed in riads and explored during the day and on the occasion at nights too. What I am saying is I became very comfortable moving around Morocco by myself, even across different cities.

But there were also moments where like most places I had to be more aware. I know from my own experience that some cities in Morocco can be intense. For example cities like Marrakech although they are very touristy they can be quite overwhelming for a new traveller and even at times for a solo traveller. Marrakech is busy, people are persistent with their selling techniques. This I can imagine can be or feel overwhelming if you’re not used to it.

What It Is Like Living and Travelling in Morocco?

As a Black woman, travelling and working in Morocco, I found that there were a lot of Black people already living and working in Morocco. Many of them are Francophone of course who have come to either work, or study in Morocco. So for me I felt a lot of the time that I somewhat didn’t really stand out. I was often invited by my Moroccan colleagues to go out for dinners welcomed to their homes and it just felt like I was family.

I will admit that I did sometimes experience attention. There was a few racial comments here and there where I was in a rural area, but most of the time it was’t negative. It was noticeable, but not earth shattering and I never felt unsafe to the point I wanted to leave the country while living there.

Most of the time I was welcomed with warm hospitality and if I did receive unwanted attention I would just be pretty direct, but most of the time I would simply just ignore. After travelling over 60+ countries and living across three continents I have learned that some people don’t always see people that look like us and ‘ignorance is bliss’ and for me no answer is a response.

Overall, I can hand on heart say that I was never in a situation where I felt unsafe while travelling or living in Morocco. I even recall the first time I went to Morocco in 2016/17 I was not always dressed appropriately. I had a boob tube dress (see below) and in some occasions had wore vest tops and the only time I received a lot of catcalling was when I went to the market, but it was nothing that made me feel at any point in any danger.

Today I would dress a lot more appropriately in the countries I visit or live in because I’m older and more mature. I now take the time to understand the environment I’m in and I am more open to learning how to navigate it.

Read more –Moving Abroad to Morocco? A Step-By-Step Guide

Solo Travel Tips for Morocco

If you are planning a solo trip to Morocco, here are a few things that genuinely helped me while living there and travelling through the country. I think I have written a guide for every city I visited and I have shared how I took the train to different cities too.

• Use Google maps to help you move around and move with confidence and intention, even if you feel unsure at first. It is worth noting that there is no Uber in Morocco so you will need to download apps like Careem and InDrive to have taxi services. These are pretty helpful but you will need to have some basic French to get around.
• Stay in well-reviewed riads in central locations. I have written a guide on the best hotels I stayed when I lived in Morocco –The 6 Best Hotels to Stay in Morocco
• Use trains to travel between cities, they are reliable and easy to navigate and easy to book via ONCF. You can read up on it more here.
• Don’t feel pressured to engage with everyone you can say no and keep walking. In fact I would highly recommend just not engaging with people if you don’t want to.
• Book tours via GetYourGuide and Viator so that you are if it makes your experience easier, especially for your first visit
• Always carry cash with you, while many places in the inner cities take card. It’s always good to have cash for when you are travelling around Morocco. I would advise having minimum 500+ Dirham to be on the safe side.
• Get yourself the essentials like travel insurance with SafetyWing and/or a e-sim card with Airalo use

Where to Stay in Morocco as a Solo Traveller

Now where you stay when you travel to Morocco is entirely dependent on a few things. How long you are going to Morocco for, what cities you will be visiting and Of course your budget. Typically people tend to go visit only Marrakesh, however, I would suggest spending some of your time in Marrakesh and then spending your time in other cities like Essaouria, Tangier and even the Blue city Chefchaouen and even the capital Rabat. I wouldn’t advise anyone going to just Marrakech and making up their mind about the whole country. That’s not representative nor is it fair.

If you are staying only in Marrakesh stay in hotels. From my experience, I would advise that you stay in riads as they typically tend to have other solo travellers, are more private, and feel more secure. If they are in secluded areas just be mindful of going out at night and just know where you are.

If it’s your first time, I would recommend staying somewhere central and well-reviewed (map for accommodation below). It makes navigating the city much easier and removes unnecessary stress. You can locate hotels via Expedia and Booking.com.

What I Loved About Morocco

I don’t want this post to just focus on safety, because Morocco is honestly so much more than that. And while question may still pounder on your mind “is Morocco safe to travel for women” I still think it’s important to shed some light on why I loved Morocco.

I’ve always been honest about my views on the food in Morocco. The food for me in Morocco was not all the way there for me, but I am a big lover for real spices so the Moroccan food didn’t always hit for me.

However, Morocco has culture amazing architecture, and certainly a country that stays with you for life. I was so welcomed in Morocco as a woman living out there solo and it’s something I am forever grateful for. I made friends for life whilst living out there and coming back now I wish I could relive my time out there all over again.

Of course, there were so many moments where I missed home here and there. But Moroccan have a way of making you feel like family. I celebrated Eid as well as Iftar during Ramadan with many of my Moroccan colleagues, got to see places that the average person doesn’t always get to see in Morocco. Take the trains between cities and experiencing everyday life in a completely different environment. And for me, that’s what made it so special for me.

Final Views: Is Morocco Safe for Black Women Travelling Solo?

Yeah it actually is safe. Morocco can certainly be safe for Black women travelling solo. It requires a lot of awareness and intention of course but it certainly a country that you can ease yourself in if it’s the first time travelling to Africa.

I will admit when people ask is Morocco safe for women or is Morocco safe for families I will always say yes. It’s not a destination where you completely switch off, you do have to be alert and aware of surrounding, but isn’t that anyone where you go in the world. You can’t honestly tell me that where you are right now is the safest in the world can you?

So again, yes Morocco is safe to travel solo and it is safe for Black women travel solo too. I hope these Morocco solo travel tips have been helpful you can read up on on all my travels around Morocco here. And if you have any questions send me an email over at info@mybreakingviews.com

What do you think have I convinced you? If someone asked you is Morocco safe for women what would be your honest answer. I would love to hear your views in the comments below.

Speak soon,

Adebola MBV x