How much does a trip to Morocco cost? Real prices for 2026
Daily and weekly budgets by travel style, a sourced 2026 price list, hotel taxes and our own desert tour prices, with three sample budgets worked out line by line.
By Ismail9 min read
Not counting flights, a week in Morocco costs about €230–355 per person if you travel independently on a budget, €865–1,020 in mid-range riads with a private desert tour, and €1,280–1,615 for a private tour in 4-star comfort (two people sharing, autumn 2026 prices). Daily life is cheap: tea, street food, trains and coaches cost little. Riads and tours are the big items, and that is where your choices change the total.
Below, our team in Marrakech lists what things cost in 2026, each figure sourced, then builds three sample budgets line by line that you can adapt.
The short answer
| Travel style | Per person per day | Per person for a week |
|---|---|---|
| Independent on a budget | about 360–560 MAD (€33–50) | about 2,500–3,900 MAD (€230–355) |
| Mid-range riads + a private desert tour | about 1,360–1,600 MAD (€125–145) | about 9,500–11,200 MAD (€865–1,020) |
| Private tour in 4-star comfort | about 2,000–2,540 MAD (€185–230) | about 14,100–17,800 MAD (€1,280–1,615) |
These figures exclude flights, assume two travellers sharing a room, and use €1 ≈ 11 MAD, the rate in October 2026. Each one is added up from the price list below, not copied from other blogs.
Is Morocco expensive? Not for everyday things: mint tea, a bowl of soup or a train ticket cost a fraction of European prices. What pushes the bill up is Marrakech accommodation, restaurants aimed at visitors, and anything private: a driver, a guide, a tour. Those also make the biggest difference to the trip, so the real question is where you want to spend.
What things cost in 2026: a price list
| Item | Price in 2026 | In euros |
|---|---|---|
| 1.5-litre bottle of water in a shop | about 5–7 MAD | €0.45–0.65 |
| Mint tea in an ordinary café | about 6–15 MAD | €0.55–1.40 |
| Street food or canteen meal (soup, tagine, bread) | about 30–60 MAD | €2.70–5.50 |
| Dinner in a mid-range restaurant, per person | about 150–250 MAD | €14–23 |
| Jardin Majorelle, garden only | about 150–170 MAD | €14–15.50 |
| Majorelle garden + Berber and YSL museums | about 300–330 MAD | €27–30 |
| Bahia Palace or Saadian Tombs | about 100 MAD | €9 |
| Short petit-taxi ride in town, on the meter | about 15–20 MAD | €1.40–1.80 |
| Airport taxi to the nearest zone, per car | about 80 MAD by day, 120 MAD by night | €7 / €11 |
| Airport bus (line 19) | about 30 MAD | €2.70 |
| Train Marrakech–Casablanca, 2nd class (about 2 h 55) | about 90–140 MAD | €8–13 |
| Coach Marrakech–Essaouira, CTM or Supratours (about 3 h) | about 80–120 MAD | €7–11 |
| Diesel, per litre (since 1 November 2026) | about 16.3–17 MAD | about €1.50 |
| Local hammam / spa hammam with scrub and massage | about 15 MAD / 250–500 MAD | €1.40 / €23–45 |
What sits behind some of these lines:
- Monuments. The Ministry of Culture raised the entry fee of its Marrakech monuments from 70 to 100 MAD for foreign visitors in June 2024. Some guides still print the old price.
- Majorelle. Tickets are sold online only, on the garden's official site, tickets.jardinmajorelle.com; children under 10 go free. The 2026 guides we checked quote slightly different prices, so look at the official site on the day you book.
- Trains. ONCF fares have varied with demand since 2018. Book on oncf-voyages.ma: in summer 2026 ONCF offered 250,000 "Yalla Al Atlas" tickets at 49 MAD, for travellers who booked ahead.
- Airport transfers. Taxis at Marrakech airport run on fixed fares by zone, set by the province in 2024; the line 19 bus is paid in cash to the driver.
- Fuel prices are revised every fortnight. Diesel jumped by up to 1 MAD a litre on 1 November 2026, and now costs more than petrol (about 15–15.7 MAD).
Accommodation
Where you sleep is the line that varies most. In Marrakech, Lonely Planet's price lists give about €30 (330 MAD) for a simple budget room, €45–80 (500–900 MAD) for a double in a mid-range riad, and from €100 (1,100 MAD) for an upscale riad, with many charging far more. A bed in a hostel dorm costs about 100–250 MAD. Breakfast is often included in riads: check when you book.
Location matters too. A medina riad puts you a short walk from the souks, but cars can't reach most doors. Hotels in Gueliz, Hivernage or the palm grove are easier by car, at the cost of more taxi rides. Our guide to where to stay in Marrakech compares the areas.
Two taxes are added per night in classified hotels and guesthouses, as Hespress listed them in April 2026:
| Category | Tourist promotion tax, per night | Stay tax, per person per night |
|---|---|---|
| 3-star hotel | 5 MAD | 5 MAD |
| 4-star hotel or 2nd-category guesthouse | 8 MAD | 7 MAD (4-star) |
| 5-star hotel or 1st-category guesthouse | 11 MAD | 25 MAD (5-star, at most 10 % of the room price) |
Children under 10 are exempt from the stay tax, and unclassified guesthouses, campsites and youth hostels don't charge it. On booking platforms the two together can add up to about 50 MAD a night, so compare final prices, not headline ones.
Getting around
Public transport is cheap. Trains link Marrakech, Casablanca, Rabat, Fes and Tangier, and CTM and Supratours coaches cover most other towns, at the kind of fares shown in the table above. Our guide to getting around Morocco explains how to book each one.
A hire car costs about 500 MAD a day according to Lonely Planet, before fuel (diesel at about 16.3–17 MAD a litre in November 2026), tolls and parking. On the coast a car gives you freedom; on the long mountain roads to the Sahara, a driver who knows them lets you watch the scenery instead of the bends. Our article on driving in Morocco covers the rules and real costs.
A private driver costs more than a hire car, but the price is per vehicle, so it gets cheaper per head as the group grows.
Tours and activities: the biggest item
For most visitors, a Sahara tour is the largest expense after flights. There are two ways to do it:
- Shared group tours: you join other travellers in a minibus on a fixed programme. Cheapest per person, but you follow the group's timing and stops.
- Private tours: your own vehicle and driver-guide, and you decide where to stop. The price is for the whole group, so the cost per person falls as more people share it.
Our published prices show how this works, for our 5-day Marrakech to Merzouga tour (total for the group):
| Travellers | Standard (3-star), total | Per person | Superior (4-star), total | Per person |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €1,120 | €1,120 | €1,380 | €1,380 |
| 2 | €1,250 | €625 | €1,540 | €770 |
| 4 | €1,540 | €385 | €2,290 | about €573 |
| 6 | €1,920 | €320 | €2,900 | about €483 |
The price includes the air-conditioned 4x4 or minivan, fuel, tolls and all vehicle costs, an English-speaking driver-guide, pick-up from your accommodation, three nights' half board in hotels, a night with dinner and breakfast in a desert camp, and the camel trek. Lunches, drinks and tips are not included. A 30 % deposit secures the booking and cancellation is free up to five days before departure.
If you have less time, our 3-day Merzouga desert tour and 2-day Zagora tour are quoted on request, depending on your group and the camp you choose. Our page on Sahara tours from Marrakech compares the three.
Three sample budgets for a week
All three are per person, for two travellers sharing a room, seven nights, flights not included.
1. Independent on a budget: Marrakech and Essaouira
Four nights in Marrakech and three in Essaouira, by coach.
| Item | How we count it | Per person |
|---|---|---|
| Rooms | simple riad or guesthouse at 300–450 MAD a double × 7 nights ÷ 2 | 1,050–1,600 MAD |
| Food | street food and canteens, 100–190 MAD a day × 7 | 700–1,350 MAD |
| Transport | airport bus both ways (60), coach to Essaouira and back (160–240), petits taxis (about 100) | 320–400 MAD |
| Sights | Bahia Palace, Saadian Tombs, Majorelle garden, a local hammam | 365–385 MAD |
| Tips | rounding up, about 10 % in restaurants | 100–150 MAD |
| Total | about 2,500–3,900 MAD (€230–355) |
2. Mid-range riads with a private desert tour
Three nights in a Marrakech riad, plus our 5-day tour in Standard category for two (four nights on the road).
| Item | How we count it | Per person |
|---|---|---|
| Riad in Marrakech | 500–900 MAD a double × 3 nights ÷ 2 | 750–1,350 MAD |
| Hotel taxes | Marrakech nights | about 50 MAD |
| Food in Marrakech | 230–400 MAD a day × 3 | 690–1,200 MAD |
| Lunches and drinks on the tour | 80–150 MAD a day × 5 | 400–750 MAD |
| 5-day desert tour, Standard | €1,250 ÷ 2 = €625 | about 6,900 MAD |
| Taxis | airport and town | 130–220 MAD |
| Sights | Bahia Palace, Saadian Tombs, Majorelle combined ticket | 500–530 MAD |
| Tips | restaurants | 100–200 MAD |
| Total | about 9,500–11,200 MAD (€865–1,020) |
3. Private tour in 4-star comfort
The same plan with an upscale riad and the tour in Superior category, with the luxury camp.
| Item | How we count it | Per person |
|---|---|---|
| 5-day desert tour, Superior | €1,540 ÷ 2 = €770 | about 8,470 MAD |
| Upscale riad in Marrakech | 1,100–2,200 MAD a double (we count €100–200) × 3 nights ÷ 2 | 1,650–3,300 MAD |
| Hotel taxes | Marrakech nights | about 100 MAD |
| Food in Marrakech | lunch plus dinner in a high-end restaurant, 650–1,000 MAD a day × 3 | 1,950–3,000 MAD |
| Lunches and drinks on the tour | 100–200 MAD a day × 5 | 500–1,000 MAD |
| Taxis | airport and town | 150–250 MAD |
| Sights and a spa hammam | as above, plus scrub and massage | 1,000–1,230 MAD |
| Tips | restaurants | 250–400 MAD |
| Total | about 14,100–17,800 MAD (€1,280–1,615) |
None of the three counts tips for the driver-guide and camp staff, souvenirs or alcohol. In budgets 2 and 3 the tour makes up about half to three-quarters of the total, so group size changes everything: with four travellers instead of two, the Standard tour falls to €385 each, which takes about 2,600 MAD off budget 2. If comfort comes first, our private and luxury tours are built around your dates, pace and hotels.
When Morocco costs more
A few periods fill up every year:
- Easter holidays. Spring school holidays in Europe are Marrakech's high season, and the best-value rooms book up first.
- Christmas and New Year. Hotels, riads and guesthouses in Marrakech were fully booked from 27 December 2024 to 2 January 2025, Medias24 reported. If you want to see in the New Year in the desert, book the camp as early as the riad.
- August. Moroccans living abroad come home for the summer: more than 2.7 million had arrived by 5 August 2026 under Operation Marhaba. Cities and beaches are busy, and in summer 2024 many of these visitors complained about hotel prices in Marrakech, Agadir and Tangier.
- Big events. The Gnaoua Festival (24–26 June 2027) fills Essaouira, and the total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027 is expected to draw crowds to Tangier and Tetouan.
Our best time to visit Morocco guide goes month by month.
Saving money without spoiling the trip
- Eat where locals eat. A soup and bread or a canteen tagine costs a few euros and is often the best meal of the day. On Jemaa el-Fna, check prices before you sit down: our guide to the Jemaa el-Fna food stalls explains how.
- Take the train for long distances, and book early.
- Travel outside the peak weeks. Avoiding Easter, New Year and August often saves more than any bargaining in the souk.
- Share a private tour. On our 5-day tour, four travellers pay €385 each in Standard category, against €625 for two.
- Buy entry tickets on official sites. Resellers often charge more for a bundle with transport, and Majorelle warns that tickets bought on unauthorised websites won't get you in.
- Withdraw larger sums less often. Foreign cards usually pay about 30 MAD per ATM withdrawal, and when a machine offers your home currency, choose dirhams. Our guide to money in Morocco covers cards, cash and exchange.
- Plan for tips. They are part of daily life; our tipping guide gives amounts for guides, drivers and restaurants.
Not sure which style fits your budget? Tell us on WhatsApp how many you are, when you travel and the comfort you want, and we'll send you a price for your group.