Travel guide
Tipping is part of daily life in Morocco and it is easy once you know the going rates. Here is what to give, in dirhams and dollars, plus everything you need to know about money: the closed currency, ATMs, cards and cash.
Tips (often called pourboire) are expected for good service and make a real difference to people’s income — many hotel, restaurant and transport jobs pay modestly. Nobody expects North American percentages everywhere, but small, frequent tips in cash are normal: rounding up a café bill, a few coins for a porter, a note for a guide at the end of the day.
Tip in dirhams where you can (US dollars and euros are accepted but less useful to the person receiving them), keep a small stash of 10, 20 and 50 MAD notes and coins, and hand tips directly to the person who served you.
| Service | Typical tip (MAD) | About US$ | About C$ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sit-down restaurant | 10–15% of the bill | — | — |
| Café or casual meal | Round up, or 5–10 MAD | 0.50–1 | 0.75–1.50 |
| Hotel porter | 10–20 MAD (per bag at larger hotels) | 1–2 | 1.50–3 |
| Housekeeping | 20–50 MAD per day, or about 100 MAD a week | 2–5 | 3–7 |
| Licensed city guide, half day | 200–300 MAD per party | 21–32 | 29–44 |
| Licensed city guide, full day | 300–400 MAD per party | 32–43 | 44–59 |
| Private driver-guide | 100–200 MAD per day for your party | 11–21 | 15–29 |
| Desert camp and camel team | 50–100 MAD per party | 5–11 | 7–15 |
| Hammam attendant | 20–50 MAD | 2–5 | 3–7 |
| Toilet attendant | 1–3 MAD | — | — |
Ranges from several travel sources and our own experience; conversions at the mid-market rate on 1 October 2026 (xe.com: US$1 ≈ 9.33 MAD, C$1 ≈ 6.83 MAD). Tips are always at your discretion.
For a private tour, the biggest tips are usually for your driver-guide and city guides. Many clients give the driver’s tip on the last day for the whole trip, in an envelope; that is perfectly normal. Tips are not included in our tour prices, so they stay entirely your choice.
You cannot buy dirhams before you leave Canada or the US, and you are not supposed to take them out of the country. Arrive with a card and some dollars or euros, withdraw or change money on arrival, and change any leftover dirhams back at the airport before you fly (keep your exchange or ATM receipts). Amounts of foreign currency worth 100,000 MAD or more must be declared on arrival and departure (UK FCDO).
ATMs are easy to find in cities and at airports, and much scarcer in mountain and desert villages — withdraw before you head south. Use machines inside banks or hotels: the Government of Canada notes that card fraud and ATM theft do happen. Your bank will charge a foreign-withdrawal fee, so take out larger amounts less often.
Visa and Mastercard are accepted in good hotels, upscale restaurants and larger shops in the cities; American Express less widely. Souks, cafés, taxis, small restaurants and tips are cash. If a card machine offers to charge you in dollars, choose dirhams — the conversion is almost always better.
On a private tour where hotels, transport, guides and listed entrance fees are already paid, most couples find 400–800 MAD (roughly US$45–85) a day comfortably covers lunches, drinks, tips and small purchases. Shopping for carpets, leather or ceramics is extra — larger shops take cards.
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