Rabat: Useful Information
- Tourist Offices and Guides
- Transportation
- Money, Banks
- Post Offices
- Embassies and Consulates
- Health and Emergencies
- Warnings and Dangers
Tourist Offices and Guides
Délégation régionale du tourisme
22, Avenue d'Alger.
037 66 06 63.
Note: Although official guides can be contacted through this office, Rabat can really be visited all by yourself, with a good guidebook under your arm.
Transportation
Petit taxi
In Rabat, the petit taxis are colored in blue. The minimal price for a ride is 5 Dh and a ride from Agdal to the centre will cost you about 15 Dh. In some districts that are a bit distant from the centre, like Souissi and Hay Riad, finding a taxi in the evening and during the night is almost impossible.
The taxi drivers in Rabat are really honest and you will rarely be cheated — they will always turn the taximeter on. The only way that some of them will try to earn a little extra cash from you is to take a longer route to your destination, but that's really rare and not something to be upset about.
Note: petit taxis cannot take you to Salé, which is across the river from Rabat. Only the grand taxis can do this. As you will notice, the petit taxis in Salé are of a light ochre color, unlike those in Rabat. Although the two cities are separated only by a short bridge, you will never find a single petit taxi driver who will take you across it, be it from Rabat or Salé.
Grand taxi
Grand taxis have defined routes through all of Rabat, and are departing for Casablanca, Fes, Meknes and Kenitra. They are also stationed near the Rabat Central train station (Gare Rabat Ville) and can take you to the airport from there.
Bus
The price of a bus ride is about 3 Dh. The main companies operating inside Rabat are Rahabus, Soctraba and Latrabus. Taking a bus in Rabat is not recommended, because most of them are in a really bad shape and not safe and also because you could get robbed. With Rabat being a safe city, there have been a few cases of people getting robbed on buses. A word of advice: take a petit taxi, they are really cheap and much better than the buses.
Money, Banks
ATMs can be found in nearly every district in Rabat, there is really no shortage of them — nearly all shopping centres have them too. Banks can be found everywhere, especially in the city centre and Agdal.
All the banks work from 8.30am-4pm. If you happen to get stuck with foreign currency and no dirhams, you can try the money exchange office in Avenue Mohammed V, which has longer working hours than the banks: 8am-8pm. Although this money exchange office is situated on one of the busiest avenues in Rabat, it is safe, because there is always a guard around. You will notice that there are locals hanging in front of it and offering you to exchange money. They are, of course, offering the deal at an exchange rate that suits them better (if the banks give 11 Dh for a euro, for example, these street money-exchangers will give you 10 Dh). Although no problems have been encountered with these people and the fact is that they can come in handy if you need dirhams when the banks are closed, you are doing this at your own risk.
There is also a small money exchange office at the Rabat Hilton hotel. Just enter the hotel and go straight along the reception and you will find it.
Post Offices
Central Post Office (Poste Centrale)
Avenue Mohammed V (Rabat city centre)
Working hours: On weekdays, 8.30am-4pm.
Embassies and Consulates
With all the foreign embassies being situated in Rabat, we will display just the ones that concern the biggest tourist groups that visit the Moroccan capital here.
French Embassy in Rabat
3, Rue Sahnoun (Agdal)
037 68 97 00, fax: 037 68 97 01
French Consulate General in Rabat
49, Avenue Allal Ben Abdellah (between city centre and Agdal, near the future Moroccan National Library)
037 26 91 81
Spanish Embassy in Rabat
Rue Ain Khalouiya, Km 5,3 Route des Zaers (Souissi, near the Casablanca-Rabat-Meknes highway)
037 63 39 00, fax: 037 63 06 00
US Embassy in Rabat
2, Avenue de Mohamed El Fassi
037 76 22 65, fax: 037 76 56 61
UK Embassy in Rabat
28, Avenue S.A.R. Sidi Mohammed (Souissi)
037 63 33 33
Russian Embassy in Rabat
Km 4, Avenue Imam Malik (Souissi)
037 75 36 09, fax: 037 75 35 09
Italian Embassy in Rabat
2, Rue Idriss El Azhar (Hassan district)
037 21 97 30, fax: 037 70 68 82
Dutch Embassy in Rabat
40, Rue de Tunis (Hassan district)
037 21 96 00, fax: 037 21 96 65
German Embassy in Rabat
7, Rue Madnine
037 70 96 62, fax: 037 70 68 51
Canadian Embassy in Rabat
13 bis, Rue Jaafar Assedik (Agdal)
037 68 74 00, fax: 037 68 74 30
Chinese Embassy in Rabat
16, Avenue Ahmed Balafrej (Souissi)
037 75 40 56, fax: 037 75 75 19
Health and Emergencies
Pharmacies
A huge number of pharmacies can be found all over Rabat. There are more than 20 pharmacies in Agdal alone. Each one of them has a notice with the current night pharmacy displayed on the entrance, along with the address.
Hospitals
Hôpital Ibn Sina (aka Hôpital Avicenne)
Avenue Ahmed Balafrej, near the Place Ibn Iznassen roundabout (Agdal)
037 67 28 71, emergencies: 037 67 44 50, 037 67 28 74
Clinique des Nations-Unies
Corner of Rue Ibn Hanbal and Rue Abou Derr (Agdal), near the Avenue des Nations Unies
Note: Very good clinic, with a lot of specialist doctors and treatments available, clean, tidy rooms, liked by Moroccans and expats alike.
Medical Emergencies
Poison treatment center: 037 68 64 64
Samu de Rabat (private Rabat health emergency) : 037 66 14 74, 037 73 73 73
S.O.S. Médecins: 037 20 20 20
Dentist for emergencies: 037 70 53 44
Useful Numbers in case of an Emergency
Police: 19
Firefighters (pompiers): 150
Gendarmerie Royale: 177
Ambulance: 150
Warnings and Dangers
Being the capital, with the Royal palace in it, Rabat is possibly the safest city in whole of Morocco. That being said, like in other Moroccan cities, you shouldn't wander around at night. If you are going to a restaurant or a discotheque, be sure to have transportation available to and from the place where you are going to spend the evening.