Passion
Rabat, the white royal city
Morocco’s capital city: modern and green
Rabat, Morocco’s capital and royal seat, is around an hour’s drive north of Casablanca on the Atlantic coast. Morocco’s second-largest city, it is home to the royal palace and international embassies, and is the country’s administrative and educational centre. With many green spaces, it boasts one of the best qualities of life in Morocco. The new town has some impressive examples of modern urban planning. Marvel at the details of one of the most neatly arranged medinas and the heritage buildings that have been named UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Art. Sport. Shopping. Culture. Rabat is magical in its variety. Modern museums or historic buildings. Golf or paragliding. Jet-skiing or surfing on the Atlantic. Explore the wealth of local craftsmanship in the shops. Live it up however you wish.
Highlights
Onwards to the Top Sights in Rabat!
KASBAH OF THE UDAYAS
GIANT FORTRESS ON THE HILL
Highly impressive: the 10-metre-high Bab Oudaya gate. The magnificent 12th-century structure – adorned with artistic reliefs – stretches across the main street, Rue Jamaa, to a large terrace on the the kasbah, whose wall drops straight down to the sea. In the labyrinth of little streets, visitors find a peaceful oasis among snow-white and cobalt houses and little souvenir shops in the Andalusian style.
ANDALUSIAN GARDENS
PURE ROMANCE
The old kasbah leads to a palace with the splendid Jardin Andalous in its courtyard. While away the time and find inspiration for your dreams among the flowerbeds and shrubs. The gardens are also home to two museums with vast collections of Moroccan folk art and handcrafted everyday items.
CHELLAH
A TIMELESS NECROPOLIS
The Chellah, the sacred burial ground outside the city walls – with its huge walls and two octagonal towers by the main entrance – can be seen from far and wide. This is a bewitching place, an oasis of calm. Its combination of ancient ruins and medieval Moorish buildings, pagan antiquity and Islamic veneration of the dead is unique throughout Morocco.
HASSAN TOWER AND MOSQUE
RABAT’S ARCHITECTURAL LANDMARK
Rabat’s most important heritage building is the 44-metre-high Hassan Tower, the unfinished minaret of the grand mosque that Sultan Yaqub al-Mansur in the 12th century intended to become the world’s second largest mosque. On the opposite side of Hassan Tower – at the other end of today’s ruins – the burial place of King Mohammed V is made up of a mausoleum, a mosque and a small museum.
MOHAMMED VI MUSEUM
MODERN ART AND CHIC LIFESTYLE
Striking. Neo-Moorish. Futuristic. The vast, light-filled halls of the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, which opened in 2014, are the perfect showcase for Moroccan visual art from the 20th and 21st centuries. Avenue Allal Ben Abdallah, which runs adjacent to the museum, leads visitors to downtown Rabat with its chic shops, elegant terrace cafés and restaurants.
The perfect day
With the Private Concierge Service
Practical information from arrival to departure
For the royal city of Rabat
Location
Rabat is in north-western Morocco on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
Climate
Rabat has a Mediterranean climate with dry, hot summers – the average temperature in August is 23°C. In July it has over 10 hours of sun per day on average. Winters are mild – average temperature of 12°C in January – and very rainy.
Rabat – the white royal city by the Atlantic
Average daytime temperatures in Celsius
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12.6 | 13.3 | 14.9 | 16.5 | 18.4 | 21.1 | 22.8 | 23.4 | 22.3 | 19.9 | 16.4 | 13.7 |