Is Morocco Expensive? My Honest Cost Breakdown After 24 Days
Before we went, I genuinely could not work out whether Morocco was going to be a cheap trip or an expensive one.
Everything I read said it was one of the most affordable countries you can visit, and then the riads I was looking at were A$200 a night and the desert tour had a price on it that made me pause. So which is it?
We were there for 24 days, from 13 November to 7 December 2025, and we tracked every single thing we spent. Not estimates, not "roughly". Fifty individual transactions with the GPS still attached to them, plus a full day that I filmed and totalled up on camera. Here is exactly what Morocco cost us.
Is Morocco Expensive? My Quick Answer
No. Morocco is genuinely cheap, and it is cheap in the way that matters, which is the everyday stuff rather than just the headline flight.
We averaged A$63.95 per person per day on food, coffee, groceries and everything else on the ground, and A$47.03 per person per night on accommodation across 20 paid nights. That is a country where you can eat well, stay somewhere beautiful and still spend less than a quiet weekend at home!
The one thing that will move your number is what you choose to do rather than where you eat or sleep. A three day Sahara tour or a nice riad will cost you more than a week of lunches. I will break all of that down below.
What Morocco Actually Cost Us: The Full Breakdown
This is every tracked transaction, grouped. Twenty four days, two of us, November and December 2025. The exchange rate through our trip sat between 5.96 and 6.10 dirham to the Australian dollar, averaging 6.03.
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| Category | Transactions | Dirham | AUD, per person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash withdrawals | 9 | 4,300 | 713.69 |
| Restaurants | 16 | 3,158 | 522.86 |
| Groceries | 9 | 644 | 128.57 |
| Coffee | 12 | 476 | 79.19 |
| Transport within Morocco | 1 | 115 | 19.09 |
| Drinks | 1 | 45 | 7.52 |
| Total on the ground | 48 | 8,738 | 1,470.92 |
That is A$1,470.92 each over 23 tracked days, which is where the A$63.95 a day comes from. Accommodation and the desert tour sit on top of that and I have broken them out separately below, because that is how you should budget them.
1. Cost of Accommodation in Morocco
We paid for 20 nights and were hosted for 2, and this is the category where Morocco really shows off.
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| Where | Nights | Total | Per night | Per person, per night |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marrakech, Airbnb in the medina | 2 | A$188 | A$94 | A$47 |
| Marrakech, Palais Andara Riad & Spa | 1 | A$184 | A$184 | A$92 |
| Tamraght, Blue Surf House | 4 | A$379 | A$94.75 | A$47.38 |
| Tamraght, Airbnb | 11 | A$963 | A$87.55 | A$43.77 |
| Marrakech, Riad Zehra | 1 | A$91 | A$91 | A$45.50 |
| Marrakech, near the airport | 1 | A$76.30 | A$76.30 | A$38.15 |
| Total | 20 | A$1,881.30 | A$94.07 | A$47.03 |
A$47.03 per person per night, averaged across the whole trip. And that includes a night in a riad that cost A$184 on its own, which tells you how cheap the rest of it was!
Our longest stay was 11 nights in an Airbnb in Tamraght on the surf coast at A$87.55 a night for a place with a full kitchen, a courtyard and a washing machine. If you are staying anywhere for more than a week, the weekly and monthly discounts in Morocco are worth chasing hard.
Both riads are bookable right here, so you do not have to go hunting.
Palais Andara Riad & Spa
A$184 a night with breakfast, which is A$92 each. About a 10 to 15 minute walk to a main souk, with a courtyard pool, a roof terrace and a hammam. The chef hand delivered every plate at every meal and the food was the best we ate in Morocco.
Riad Zehra
A$91 a night with breakfast, which is A$45.50 each. Smaller and about 30 minutes walk out in a quiet local area, and they upgraded us to a suite on arrival without being asked. Black and white tiled courtyard, a plunge pool, and food just as good as the expensive one.
For what you actually get at each price point, I compared them properly in my honest review of the two Marrakech riads we booked.
2. Cost of Food and Eating Out in Morocco
Restaurants were our single biggest on-the-ground category at A$522.86 each across 16 meals out, and looking back that is because we chose to eat out well rather than because it was expensive.
Here is the real spread, every one of these from our own receipts:
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| What | Where | Dirham | AUD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken wraps | Tamraght | 42 | 6.97 |
| Local dinner | Tamraght | 125 | 20.82 |
| Lunch | Tamraght | 132 | 22.04 |
| Breakfast out | Tamraght | 140 | 23.16 |
| Dinner, pasta | Tamraght | 150 | 25.04 |
| First Moroccan meal, tagine and couscous for two | Marrakech | 180 | 29.73 |
| Dinner at a nicer spot | Marrakech | 242 | 40.18 |
| Hotel buffet dinner for two | Taghazout | 495 | 82.00 |
| Safran, dinner and a show for two | Marrakech | 680 | 111.81 |
A proper sit-down Moroccan meal for two runs about 180 dirham, which is A$30! Two of us, tagine each, bread, mint tea. That is the number to hold in your head.
The two big numbers in that table are both choices. The 495 dirham buffet was at a resort, and the 680 dirham was Safran, which is a famous Marrakech restaurant with a live show. Cocktails there were about A$14 each, the lava cake was the best I have ever had, and it is expensive for Morocco and worth it once. Both of those are optional. Neither is what Morocco costs.
Groceries came to A$128.57 each over the whole trip, which is barely anything, and that is because for 15 of our nights we had a kitchen. A week of basics ran us about 215 dirham, or A$35.78.
3. Cost of Coffee in Morocco
I am giving coffee its own section because honestly, it deserves one!
Twelve coffees came to A$79.19 across the trip, and the cheapest was 19 dirham, which is A$3.13. A normal coffee sits at 25 to 45 dirham, so A$4 to A$7.50. A matcha at our favourite cafe in Tamraght was 45 dirham.
Dan is the coffee person of the two of us and he rated Moroccan coffee 10 out of 10, which he does not say lightly. The cafe culture on the coast in particular is excellent and so much more of a thing than I expected before we arrived!
4. Cost of Getting Around Morocco
We never hired a car and we never needed one. Here is every journey we took, and these prices are for both of us.
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| Journey | How | Cost for two |
|---|---|---|
| Tarifa, Spain to Tangier | Ferry | A$120 |
| Tangier to Marrakech | Train | A$80 |
| Marrakech to Taghazout | Bus | A$40 |
| Taghazout to Marrakech | Private van | A$90 |
| Marrakech to Seville | Flight | A$175 |
A$80 for two people on a five hour train right across the country! The Moroccan rail network genuinely surprised me, and the bus down to the coast was A$20 each for three and a half hours.
Taxis are cheap and you should agree the price before you get in. A taxi back to Tamraght from Taghazout was 100 dirham split between three of us, so about A$5.50 each.
5. Cost of Tours and Activities
This is the category that will actually decide your budget.
The Sahara desert tour was A$214.97 each for two nights and three days from Marrakech, including transport, both nights of accommodation, all breakfasts and dinners and the camels. On top of that we spent 1,055 dirham as a couple, about A$172, on the three lunches that are not included, entry fees, snacks and tipping.
So the desert came to roughly A$301 each all in, which is more than four days of everything else combined. It was also the best thing we did in Morocco and I would pay it again tomorrow! If you want the full breakdown of every stop and what is and is not included, that is in my guide to the Marrakech to Merzouga route.
Marrakech to Merzouga, 3 day desert adventure
A$214.97 each for two nights and three days, including all transport, a private hotel room on night one, the desert camp on night two, every breakfast and dinner, and the camels in and out. Budget about A$86 each on top for lunches, entry fees and tips. This is the one we did, not a lookalike.
Smaller things we paid for:
- Sunbeds on the beach, 30 dirham for the day, about A$5
- Surfboard hire, 80 dirham for three hours or 100 for the day, so A$14 to A$17
- A week's gym pass in Tamraght, 100 dirham, A$16.40
- A mat Pilates class, about 130 dirham, roughly A$21
What a Day in Morocco Actually Costs
I filmed a completely normal day in Tamraght and added it up on camera, and I think this is more useful than any average.
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| What | Dirham | AUD |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | included in our accommodation | 0 |
| Matcha at our favourite cafe | 45 | 7.50 |
| Sunbeds for the day | 30 | 5.00 |
| Kombucha on the walk back | 45 | 7.50 |
| Lunch, poke bowl with extra protein | 80 | 13.30 |
| Dinner, main plus a drink plus a shared starter | 105 | 17.50 |
| A cookie from the famous cookie place | 30 | 5.00 |
| Taxi home, split three ways | 100 total | 5.50 each |
| Total for the day | 368 | 61.30 |
A$61.30 for a full day with two meals out, a coffee, a beach day and a taxi!
Here is the part I love. Dan tracks every transaction separately and his average across the whole trip came out at A$63.95 a day. My filmed day came out at A$61.30. Two people, two completely different methods, A$2.65 apart! That is how confident I am in these numbers.
Do You Need Cash in Morocco?
Yes, and more than you think.
Cash was 48.5% of everything we spent. Almost half! We took A$713.69 out across nine ATM withdrawals over 24 days.
A lot of places simply do not take card, and plenty of the ones that say they do have a machine that does not work. This is especially true on the desert tour, in the souks, in taxis and at the smaller cafes. I would rather carry too much than get caught out at a lunch stop three hours from anywhere.
The dirham is a closed currency, so you cannot get hold of much before you arrive. Withdraw at the airport or in town and take out larger amounts less often, because the per-withdrawal fees are what get you.
We use the Wise card for travel, which is what we withdrew on the whole way through, and it is the reason our exchange rate stayed between 5.96 and 6.10 the entire trip.
How Much Money Should You Take to Morocco?
Based on what we actually spent, per person, per day, excluding flights:
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| Style | Per day | What that looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | A$45 to A$55 | Hostel or shared Airbnb, cooking some meals, local cafes, buses |
| How we travelled | A$65 to A$75 | Private room or nice Airbnb, eating out twice a day, coffee habit |
| Comfortable | A$110 plus | Riads every night, restaurants, private transfers |
Add the desert tour at about A$301 each on top of whatever line you pick, because it does not fit inside a daily average.
For a two week trip travelling the way we did, I would budget around A$1,100 per person on the ground, plus A$700 accommodation, plus the tour. Take at least half of your daily spending in cash.
Watch What We Actually Spent It On
Numbers on a page only get you so far. If you want to see what A$30 buys you for dinner, what the souks are actually like to shop in and what Safran is like on a Tuesday night, the full Marrakech vlog is here.
Watch the Marrakech vlog on YouTube and subscribe to Ell's Passport for the rest of Morocco, including the Sahara and the surf coast at Taghazout.
If you like a desert, here is our guide to Taghazout and Tamraght.
FAQs About Morocco Costs
Is Morocco cheap or expensive?
Cheap, genuinely. We averaged A$63.95 per person per day on the ground and A$47.03 per person per night on accommodation across 24 days in November and December 2025. A sit-down Moroccan meal for two is about 180 dirham, which is A$30, and a coffee is A$3 to A$7.
How much does a trip to Morocco cost?
For the way we travelled, budget around A$65 to A$75 per person per day on the ground, plus about A$47 per person per night for accommodation, plus any tours. Our 24 days came to roughly A$1,470 each on the ground and A$940 each on accommodation, with the Sahara tour a further A$301 each.
How much spending money do I need for a week in Morocco?
Around A$450 to A$530 per person for a week, based on our A$63.95 daily average, and that covers food, coffee, local transport and small activities. Accommodation and any big tour sit on top. Take at least half of it in cash.
Do you need cash in Morocco?
Yes. Cash was 48.5% of everything we spent, and we withdrew A$713.69 across nine ATM visits in 24 days. Many places do not take card at all, and card machines frequently fail where they exist. Fewer, larger withdrawals keep the fees down.
How much is food in Morocco?
A full sit-down Moroccan meal for two runs about 180 dirham, which is A$30. Casual lunches were 80 to 140 dirham, so A$13 to A$23. A coffee is 19 to 45 dirham, A$3 to A$7.50. A famous restaurant with a show, like Safran in Marrakech, was 680 dirham for two, about A$112.
What is the currency in Morocco?
The Moroccan dirham, written MAD or DH. When we were there in November and December 2025 it sat between 5.96 and 6.10 dirham to the Australian dollar. It is a closed currency so you generally cannot buy it before you arrive, and you withdraw once you land.
Is the Sahara desert tour worth the money?
Completely. It was A$214.97 each for two nights and three days including transport, accommodation, most meals and the camels, plus about A$86 each in extras. It cost more than any other single thing we did in Morocco and it is still the thing I would tell you not to skip.
Is Morocco cheaper than Egypt?
They are close, and Morocco felt slightly cheaper day to day for us. Our Morocco average was A$63.95 per person per day on the ground. You can see the Egypt numbers side by side in what we spent in 15 days in Egypt.
Final Thoughts: Is Morocco Expensive?
No, and I would go further than that. Morocco is one of the best value countries we have been to out of more than 40!
The thing that makes it feel expensive when you are planning is that the good stuff is visible and the cheap stuff is not. You see the A$200 riad and the A$300 desert tour when you are researching, and you do not see the A$30 dinner for two, the A$3 coffee, the A$5 sunbeds or the A$80 train right across the country.
Spend on the desert. Spend one night in a nice riad. Then let the rest of the trip cost almost nothing, because it will!
A$63.95 a day, twice measured, two people, A$2.65 apart. That is what Morocco actually costs.
