Casablanca gets overlooked in favour of Marrakech and Fes, which is a mistake. Morocco's commercial capital is a proper city — confident, layered, and genuinely interesting — and this itinerary treats it as such. The through-line here is contrast: French colonial ambition alongside Moroccan Islamic grandeur, a working industrial port beside long Atlantic beaches, a Jewish heritage museum a short drive from one of the largest mosques on earth. It rewards the kind of traveller who wants to understand a city rather than simply photograph it.

Spend your first morning at the Hassan II Mosque, arriving early before the tour groups, then walk the Medina to get your bearings in the older city fabric. The Casablanca Cathedral — a remarkable 1930 Art Deco structure — anchors an afternoon that also takes in the Museum of Moroccan Judaism, which documents a community most visitors don't realise existed here at scale for centuries. On day two, join a port tour to see the industrial machinery that actually drives this country's economy, then decompress along the Corniche. Sindibad Beach Club is the locals' preferred stretch for an afternoon swim, and an evening session at Lalla Yacout Spa rounds things out properly. Two full days is the minimum; three lets you breathe. This is a city break, not a cultural sprint.