Renting a car opens up Morocco — the Souss, the coast road, day trips inland — and the driving itself is easier than first-timers fear. The friction is all in the details around the rental: a large card deposit, checkpoints on the road, fuel small print, and assertive town driving. Get those straight in advance and the rest is freedom. This is the practical tourist guide; when you're ready to book, compare on EconomyBookings or see car rental at AGA for picking up at the airport.
Licence and paperwork
A valid national driving licence is accepted for tourists. An International Driving Permit is recommended rather than required — it's a cheap translation of your licence that can smooth a checkpoint stop, but you can legally drive without one. Whenever you're in the car, carry your licence, your passport and the car's documents (the supplier gives you these at pick-up). Keep them together somewhere you can reach without rummaging, because you'll be asked for them.
The deposit and excess
This is what catches people at the desk. The supplier holds a sizeable refundable deposit on a credit card in the main driver's name — often the value of the insurance excess, which can run to several hundred euros. A debit card or a credit card without enough headroom is the single most common reason a confirmed booking collapses at pick-up, so check your card type and limit before you travel. The basic rate usually leaves you carrying that excess; a separate excess-waiver policy bought in advance is often cheaper than the desk's add-on and brings what you'd actually pay after a scrape down to little or nothing.
Fuel policy
Insist on full-to-full: collect the car with a full tank, return it full, pay only for what you burn. It's the fairest deal and easy to honour — fill up near the drop-off and keep the receipt. Steer clear of full-to-empty, where you prepay a tank at an inflated price and get nothing back for the fuel you leave in it. Fill up before long legs like the run to Marrakech rather than running low between stations.
Gendarmerie checkpoints
You'll meet checkpoints, particularly at town entrances and on main roads — they're routine, not a cause for nerves. Slow down on approach, stop if waved in, and have your licence, the car papers and your passport ready. A polite greeting goes a long way; most stops are a wave-through or a quick glance at your documents. Keep to the speed limits between them, because radar traps are common and fines are paid on the spot.
The roads and the rules
You drive on the right. Speed limits are about 120 km/h on motorways, 100 on open roads and 40–60 in towns, with radar speed traps frequent enough that it's not worth chancing. The toll motorways like the A7 are excellent; secondary roads are mostly fine but can be narrow, with pedestrians, mopeds, carts and the odd animal, so town driving rewards patience and a confident-but-calm style. Avoid the unlit rural stretches after dark where you can. The driving Agadir to Marrakech guide walks through a real long drive end to end.
Parking
In towns you'll often park on the street where a gardien — a man in a high-vis vest — watches the cars for a small tip of a few dirhams, more for an overnight stay. It's normal and worth it; pay him when you leave. Use guarded or hotel parking overnight rather than an unwatched street, and don't leave anything visible in the car. Keep small coins for the gardiens.
What to check at pick-up
Before you drive off, walk the car and photograph every existing scratch, dent and the tyres, including the spare, so nothing gets pinned on you at return. Confirm there's a spare wheel, jack and the warning triangle, check the fuel gauge matches the contract, and make sure the documents and insurance papers are in the car. A careful five minutes here is the best protection against a deposit dispute later. If your plans run to the pistes or the desert, a 4x4 from the airport is the version to book.