What you notice, explained.
Why riads feel cooler. Why there are cats. Why Google Maps fails. Derb is a reference for the infrastructure, architecture, and culture behind the everyday details of Morocco’s cities.
Guides
The Medina
A city inside a city
What a medina is, why GPS fails, why streets look sketchy, and how centuries-old infrastructure shapes daily life.
Getting Around
Nothing works the way you expect
Taxis, trains, buses, ride-hailing apps, plugs, and the tourist tax.
Social & Cultural
The unwritten rules
Tea, bargaining, dress codes, photography, time, cash, staring, and the social codes visitors encounter.
Food & Drink
The table is the centre of everything
Tap water, shared tagines, hammams, mint tea, vegan food, alcohol, and stomach adjustment.
Staying Safe
What to watch for
Henna scams, fake guides, tourist police, horse carriages, LGBTQ+ safety, and navigating the medina at night.
Religious Calendar
The rhythm beneath everything
Ramadan, Eid al-Adha, public holidays, and how the religious calendar shapes daily life.
The Cities
Each one is a different country
Marrakech mosques, Casablanca's Art Deco, Agadir's earthquake, Rabat as capital, and Taghazout's surf coast.
By category
Recently updated
What is the tourist tax?
A per-person, per-night city tax your riad collects at checkout — usually in cash.
How do I get a petit taxi to use the meter?
Say “compteur, s'il vous plaît” before the car moves — or agree the price before you sit down.
Why is the riad so hard to find?
Because a derb is a dead-end, house numbers restart in every one, and GPS can't see past the walls.
What does "Balak!" mean?
“Mind out” — and something large is about to occupy the space you're standing in.
Words you’ll hear
Darija — Moroccan Arabic — is the language of the street, the souk, and the riad. These are the words you’ll encounter walking through any Moroccan city.
alley / neighborhood
A small residential alley in the medina, or the neighborhood it defines. The basic unit of medina social life.
old medina
The historic walled city center. Narrow winding streets, souks, riads.
door / gate
The monumental gates of Moroccan cities — Bab Agnaou, Bab Doukkala. Used for navigation.
street / alley
The narrow streets of the medina. Used for addresses: zanqa X, derb Y.
riad
House with interior courtyard. From the Arabic for garden.
market / souk
The traditional market. Organized by trade — spice souk, leather souk, carpet souk.
corner shop
The neighborhood corner store. Sells everything from bread to phone credit. Every derb has one.
zellige tiles
Hand-cut geometric mosaic tilework. Found in riads, mosques, and fountains across Morocco.
courtyard
The central open-air courtyard of a riad. The heart of traditional Moroccan domestic life.
citadel / casbah
A fortified quarter or citadel. Historically where the ruler and garrison lived.
mint tea
THE Moroccan drink. Gunpowder green tea, fresh spearmint, and lots of sugar. Refusing is rude.
tagine
Both the conical clay pot and the slow-cooked dish. The most iconic Moroccan dish.
bread
Round flatbread, the staple of every meal. Never thrown away — given to the poor or fed to animals.
communal oven
The neighborhood bread oven where families send their dough to be baked. A social institution.
hello / peace
The universal Moroccan greeting. Used any time of day. Often followed by labas? (how are you?).
watch out!
You'll hear this constantly in the medina — from motorbikes, donkeys, and carts squeezing through.
taxi
Petit taxi (within city, by meter — in theory) and grand taxi (between cities, shared).
minaret
The tower of a mosque from which the call to prayer is broadcast. A medina landmark.
Explore 10,000+ words and 1,500+ phrases at darija.io — the Darija dictionary.