Where to Buy Alcohol in Morocco: Shops, Prices and the Rules

Morocco is a majority-Muslim country with a functioning, legal alcohol trade aimed at tourists, hotels and a section of the local population — the two coexist through discretion rather than prohibition. You will not find beer in the fridge of a medina grocer or wine on the shelf of a neighbourhood hanout, but you will find both in the right supermarket, a dedicated wine shop, or any licensed bar, hotel or restaurant. The trick is simply knowing which outlets are licensed, because they are deliberately low-key.

That discretion shapes the whole experience. Supermarket alcohol is often tucked into a separate, sometimes curtained or walled-off section with its own till, away from the main aisles. Bars are frequently unmarked from the street or set inside hotels. Many tourist-facing restaurants are not licensed at all and are happy for you to bring your own bottle. None of this is furtive or illegal — it reflects a country balancing a tourism economy with local religious norms, and matching that discretion is the courteous way to drink here.

For the underlying legal question — who can drink, where, and the age rules — read whether you can drink alcohol in Morocco. This guide focuses on the practical follow-on: where you actually buy it, what it costs, and where you will come up dry. If you would rather skip alcohol entirely, Morocco's non-alcoholic drinks — mint tea, fresh juices, almond milk and more — are a genuine pleasure in their own right.

The dependable retail sources are the larger supermarkets in the main cities. Carrefour and its Acima and Carrefour Market branches, along with Marjane hypermarkets, run licensed sections stocking beer, Moroccan and imported wine and a range of spirits. These sections keep their own hours, are usually closed on Fridays in some locations and on religious holidays, and often shut entirely during Ramadan. For a wider or better wine selection, the French chain Nicolas has branches in Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakech, and some cities have independent 'cave' liquor stores.

The other everyday source is on-licence venues: hotel bars, rooftop bars, nightclubs and licensed restaurants serve by the glass or bottle, at a premium. Resorts in Agadir and the beach towns pour freely for guests. If you want wine with dinner at an unlicensed restaurant — common in the medinas — ask whether you can bring your own, and buy it from a supermarket beforehand. Finally, do not overlook duty-free: on arrival you can bring in a limited allowance (commonly around a litre of spirits plus a litre or two of wine — confirm the current customs limit), which is often the cheapest way to have a decent bottle in your room.

The table maps the options by city and outlet type so you can plan where to stock up. As a rule, the bigger and more tourist-oriented the city, the easier it is; the smaller and more conservative the town, the more you should buy in advance.

Prices split sharply between local and imported. Morocco makes its own beer — brands brewed domestically — and its own wine, chiefly around Meknes, and both are the sensible-value choice. In a supermarket, a can of local beer typically runs 15–25 MAD, and a drinkable bottle of Moroccan wine starts around 50 MAD and climbs to 120 MAD or more for the better estates. Imported spirits, by contrast, carry heavy duty: a bottle of imported whisky or gin can cost several hundred dirhams, so if you want spirits, duty-free on arrival is usually far cheaper.

Drinking out costs considerably more, because you are paying for the licence and the setting. A beer in a bar commonly lands at 40–70 MAD, a glass of wine similar, and a cocktail in a hotel or rooftop bar 80–150 MAD. That gap — a beer three to four times the shop price — is why many visitors buy from a supermarket for the riad terrace and save bar spending for the atmosphere. The table gives rough 2026 bands to budget around; confirm on the day, as prices vary by venue and city.

Morocco's wine deserves a mention beyond price. The Meknes region has a long viticultural history and produces reds, whites and the pink-ish 'gris' that suits the climate; several estates welcome visitors, as our Meknes wine route guide explains. A supermarket bottle of Moroccan gris chilled on a warm evening is one of the country's quiet pleasures, and a fraction of the cost of anything imported.

Availability is not uniform. Plenty of towns are effectively dry: Chefchaouen has almost no retail alcohol, the holy town of Moulay Idriss has none, and many smaller and more conservative places offer little beyond, perhaps, a licensed hotel. If you are heading somewhere off the tourist mainline and want a drink, buy it in the nearest city first and bring it with you — do not count on finding an outlet. Even in mid-sized cities like Fes, retail options are thinner than in Casablanca or Marrakech and concentrated in supermarkets and hotels.

Ramadan changes the picture markedly. During the fasting month, supermarket alcohol sections frequently close or restrict their hours, and shops generally will not sell to anyone who appears to be Moroccan or Muslim; some will serve foreign passport-holders, others suspend sales altogether. Bars and clubs may close or go quiet, though many hotels continue to serve non-Muslim guests discreetly. If your trip falls in Ramadan, plan around reduced availability and heightened sensitivity — our Marrakech during Ramadan guide covers the wider etiquette of visiting in the month.

Year-round, a little courtesy goes a long way. Drink in licensed venues, hotels, restaurants or private accommodation rather than in the street or in public view, where public drunkenness is both frowned upon and can attract police attention. Never offer alcohol to a Moroccan who has not made clear they drink, and especially not to anyone who may be fasting. If you are taking a bottle home or bringing goods back, check the customs and bringing goods home guide for allowances. Handled with a bit of discretion, buying and enjoying a drink in Morocco is straightforward and unremarkable.

If you would rather drink out than buy a bottle for the riad, the licensed-venue scene is livelier than first-timers expect — but it is concentrated in the bigger and more tourist-oriented cities. Casablanca has the broadest range, from old-school bars to smart rooftop lounges; Marrakech pairs hotel and rooftop bars in Gueliz and Hivernage with nightclubs; Tangier keeps a faded, literary bar culture alongside newer spots; and the beach resorts of Agadir pour freely for guests. Rabat and the coastal towns have a quieter but real licensed scene, while conservative towns have next to none.

Know the venue types so you can pick the right one. Hotel bars are the reliable fallback anywhere with tourists, open to non-residents and discreet. Rooftop bars are the sundowner experience, especially in Marrakech, and pitched at visitors. Dedicated bars and nightclubs cluster in Casablanca, Marrakech and the resorts. Many atmospheric medina restaurants, by contrast, are unlicensed and BYO — buy a supermarket bottle beforehand and ask if you can bring it. Prices out are well above shop prices, as covered earlier, so people often mix the two: a supermarket drink on the terrace, then out for the setting.

The table points you to the venue types by city. City-specific rundowns go deeper — see the Marrakech nightlife guide and the Casablanca nightlife guide for named districts and the current scene.

Duty-free on arrival is often the cheapest way to have a decent drink in your room, particularly for spirits, which are heavily taxed in Moroccan shops. Travellers may bring in a limited personal allowance — commonly cited at around a litre of spirits plus a litre or two of wine, though you should confirm the current customs limit before relying on it. Buy at your departure airport or on the plane, keep it sealed, and stay within the allowance to avoid duty on arrival.

Going the other way, Moroccan wine makes a genuinely good and inexpensive gift to take home, and the Meknes estates are the ones to seek out. Remember, though, that your home country sets its own duty-free import allowance, so check what you can bring back before loading up — and that any bottles in hand luggage must respect airport liquid rules, so pack wine and spirits in your checked bag. Our customs and bringing goods home guide covers allowances in both directions.

A couple of final practicalities. Carry bottles carefully wrapped in checked luggage, well padded against breakage, and declare anything over your home allowance rather than risk a fine. And if alcohol is not your thing at all, you lose nothing by skipping it here: mint tea, freshly pressed juices, spiced coffee and almond milk are woven through Moroccan hospitality and are, for many visitors, the more memorable drink of the trip.