The Casablanca - Rabat coastal corridor is the most populated and commerical part of the country. Casablanca is Morocco's business hub and Rabat is the country's capital, but despite these important attributes, they are two of the more seldom-visited cities for foreign visitors. Casablanca, although largely unable to fulfil the promise of the film of the same name, does have a smattering of art-deco architectural gems, a grand mosque, a coastal corniche and some highly-regarded restaurants. For its part, Rabat offers a wealth of historical monuments and a pleasant, sedate, seaside ambience. 

Funded by the people of Morocco in a massive public donation project, the Hassan II mosque is the second largest mosque in the world, after Mecca. It is an extraordinarily lavish and impressive structure - the vast entry doors are made of titanium, the prayer hall holds up to 25,000 people and its minaret emits a green laser beam in the direction Mecca. But perhaps most notably for visitors, it is one of only two mosques in the Kingdom that non-Muslims can visit, and the other, Tinmal, is essential in ruin, making the Hassan II mosque a highly worthwhile place to discover. 

Rabat is a rather underrated place in our opinion. It is well-endowed with interesting historical sites, like the Hassan Tower, the Oudaya Kasbah, and the Mohamed V Mausoleum, and the charming Chellah garden, it has a compact and pretty medina, and a regal elegance that other cities in Morocco don't especially possess. It's a worthwhile overnight stop with a day exploring the city with a guide, and makes a good journey break between Marrakech and Fez. It also has good rail links to Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez and Tangiers.