Day 04 - Jay and I opted to abandon Casablanca for the day, catching the 9:35 train running up the coast. An hour and fifteen minutes later, we stepped onto the platform at Gare Rabat Ville. The city’s layout is mercifully straightforward; we simply pointed ourselves north and walked down the colonial spine of Avenue Mohammed V. Our ultimate destination was the Kasbah of the Udayas, an ancient fortress that stands watch over the estuary and the aggressively busy beaches below.
The history of the stones here forms a rather disjointed timeline. Rabat began in the 12th century as a fortified Almohad naval base intended for incursions into Spain. By the 17th century, it had morphed into the Republic of Bou Regreg—a highly profitable pirate state run by Morisco refugees exiled from Europe. The pirate economy eventually collapsed, and in 1912, the French arrived. Finding the historic capitals of Fes and Marrakech too volatile, they designated this quiet coastal town as their administrative hub. When Morocco gained independence in 1956, the government simply stayed put, inheriting the colonial bureaucracy.
After wandering the ramparts, we grabbed a quick lunch on the walk back down the avenue toward the station. We rode second class for the journey—with each one-way ticket coming in at less than $7 CAD—and caught the 14:01 train back to Casablanca. A perfectly executed, highly walkable day trip.
