Should you take your shoes off when entering a Moroccan home?

You're invited inside. The door opens to a tiled hallway. Your host is wearing slippers. You look down at your dusty trainers and hesitate.

**Yes. Remove your shoes.** This is one of Morocco's clearest domestic customs and one of the easiest to get right. When entering a Moroccan home, you take your shoes off at the door. The same applies to most riads, particularly when stepping onto carpeted areas or into living rooms. Your host may offer house slippers.

The logic is practical and cultural. Medina streets are dusty, sometimes wet, occasionally worse. Moroccan homes — with their zellige tilework, handwoven rugs, and low seating — are kept meticulously clean. Street shoes crossing that threshold is not just dirty; it signals a lack of respect for the space someone has prepared for you.

**Mosques require shoe removal** — you'll see rows of shoes at every entrance. Non-Muslims cannot enter most mosques in Morocco (the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is the notable exception, open for guided tours). But if you're invited to the threshold or courtyard of a neighbourhood mosque, shoes come off.

In shops and commercial spaces, shoes stay on — you don't need to remove them in the souk. Some carpet shops may ask you to step onto rugs in socks, which is about protecting their merchandise as much as custom. Hammams provide their own plastic sandals at the entrance.

The cue is almost always visible: a row of shoes near the door, a mat, or a slight change in floor level. If you're unsure, watch your host. If their feet are bare or in slippers, yours should be too. When in doubt, start removing your shoes — your host will either nod or wave you through.