Parc de la Ligue Arabe

Parc de la Ligue Arabe, the Arab League Park, is the green lung of central Casablanca. It was laid out early in the French protectorate by the landscape architect Albert Laprade, working under the urban planner Henri Prost, and today covers about 30 hectares between Boulevard Hassan II, Boulevard Brahim Roudani and Rue d'Alger, with Boulevard Moulay Youssef running through the middle. Palm-lined avenues give it a formal, slightly grand character that fits the protectorate-era buildings around it.

The park went through a long renovation that began in 2016 and cost around 100 million dirhams, funded by the city and regional authorities. It reopened to the public on 11 May 2021 after technical checks on the water and electricity networks. One historic feature to look for is a pergola supported by arches that were brought from the old Portuguese prison of Anfa, a reminder of the city's much older past.

The park works well as a pause between sights. Its lawns, paths and long avenues suit a family outing, an early-morning run or an evening stroll once the heat has gone out of the day. Solo travellers will find it a calm place to rest with a book, and it gives a welcome break from the traffic of the surrounding boulevards. It is a public park with free entry, but opening times are not published, so plan to visit during daylight.

Allow from 30 minutes for a stroll to an hour or more if you want to sit in the shade. There are benches throughout, and the flat paths make it one of the easier places in the city for pushchairs and visitors with limited mobility. Bring water on hot days, and keep valuables out of sight as you would in any large city park.

The Sacré-Cœur stands on the park's western edge, so the two make a natural pairing. Mohammed V Square and its public buildings are about ten minutes away on foot, and the Abderrahman Slaoui Museum and the Art Deco streets of the centre are close by. The cafés of the nearby Gauthier district are a good choice for lunch afterwards.