Best Place to Exchange Money in Marrakech

Where to change money in Marrakech

Banks and recognised bureaux de change in Gueliz and around the medina change pounds, and Rough Guides rates them above the airport booths. Bank Al-Maghrib, the central bank, publishes its buying and selling rates for foreign notes, sterling included: the buying column is the one that applies when you hand over pounds, so treat it as your benchmark and walk on from any counter that falls well short. Ask for the slip, the bordereau de change, every time.

Changing money at the airport

Menara airport is the worst place to change money: Rough Guides says to skip the booths and Wise calls airports and hotels a costly convenience. If you need dirhams at once, change just enough for the ride into town.

Airport bus line 19 is the cheapest way in. Visit Marrakech, the regional tourism site, lists it at 30 dirhams a trip, from 6am to 21:30 about every 20 minutes (page updated December 2024), and Lonely Planet says it calls at Jemaa el-Fnaa and Gueliz and takes cash only. Airport taxis are regulated, according to Lonely Planet; Visit Marrakech gives 70 dirhams by day and 100 at night to the centre, so confirm the fare with the driver before loading your bags.

ATMs and cards in Marrakech

Cash machines are plentiful in Marrakech and normally take UK cards, says Rough Guides. Expect a ceiling of 2,000 dirhams a withdrawal, the figure given by both Lonely Planet and Morocco World News (February 2026), and 4,000 a card per day at most machines. Most banks charge foreign cards a fee, and your own bank may add one plus a currency mark-up, so fewer, larger withdrawals work out cheaper. If the screen proposes pounds or euros, refuse and take dirhams; Wise and Backpack Moments both say the converted rate is poor.

Cards are taken in big hotels, smarter restaurants and some shops, but Marrakech still runs mostly on cash, and souk stalls, cafes and taxis expect notes.

The Office des Changes, the exchange regulator, lets each traveller carry no more than 2,000 dirhams in notes into or out of Morocco, and the FCDO says foreign currency worth 100,000 dirhams (about £8,000) or more must be declared when you arrive or leave.

Paying for transport in Marrakech

Petit taxis must by law run the meter, but TelQuel reported in May 2026 that many Marrakech drivers ask for a flat price instead, so ask for the meter or fix the fare before you set off. With the meter on, Lonely Planet and Le Routard put an ordinary ride across town, such as the medina to Gueliz, at roughly 30 to 60 dirhams. Pay in cash.

City buses cost 4 dirhams a journey, according to both Visit Marrakech and Le Routard, so keep coins handy. Ride-hailing apps sit in a grey area: the transport ministry said in October 2025 that current rules do not cover them, and the government is studying how to legalise them. For trips out of town, CTM sells coach tickets online and lists Marrakech to Agadir among its most searched routes, and ONCF trains can be booked on the operator's website.

Good to know

• Tipping: Rough Guides suggests 5 to 10 per cent in cafes and 10 to 15 per cent in better restaurants; Lonely Planet notes that popular restaurants may already add a 10 per cent service charge, and suggests about 10 per cent for a guide.
• Bargaining is expected in the souks; Rough Guides suggests aiming for around half the first price.
• Small notes of 20, 50 and 100 dirhams save trouble, as stallholders and drivers are often short of change.
• Never write on or damage a banknote: the FCDO says defacing Moroccan currency is illegal and can lead to prison.
• Leftover dirhams: airport banks and bureaux will change back up to 2,000 dirhams per passport against your boarding card, and town banks up to 20,000 against an exchange slip in your name under six months old.