Moroccan Baths: Visiting a Hammam Spa

The Moroccan hammam, (or spa) is known worldwide as a luxurious experience, though the exact ritual of the hammam remains a mystery to many. Lost somewhere in billowing clouds of steam, hand-crafted argan soaps, healing clay masks, exfoliating scrubs and intense massages, is the humble purpose of these public baths: to get clean.

Moroccan Hammam. Photo © iStock-typhoonski

You’ll find local hammams in pretty much every city in Morocco. A visit costs about a dollar (10 Moroccan dirhams), with different operating hours for men and women. For the uninitiated, the experience can be a bit confusing. Typically, you’ll navigate four rooms (changing room, cool room, warm room and hot room) in your bathing suit or underwear, first soaping yourself with savon bildi (black soap) in the warm room. Next up is the hot room, where you rinse, scrub, and breathe in the steam, before heading back to the warm room for a final soap-down (and maybe a massage). The final stop is the cool room, where the thing to do is sit for a little while, chat with a friend, and snack on a fresh mandarin or orange.

A note on etiquette: women can sometimes go totally nude (just look around to see if anyone else is stripping down to their birthday suits). Without exception, men are expected to keep their bathing suits on at all times. It might seem strange to keep your bathing suit or underwear on while washing, but this is the norm. You’ll also find that the local hammams can be pretty loud. Keep in mind, for many people, this is the place to go to gossip and share news with friends.

Couples or travelers looking for a quieter experience should prioritize one of the mid-range or high-end hammams found throughout Morocco. For 25 dollars on up (250 Moroccan dirhams) you can have an intimate, relaxing experience as attendants scrub, exfoliate and massage you for an hour. You’ll leave feeling fresh and invigorated—and at the same time, feeling a little like you could plop down for a really good nap.

For the local hammams, you’ll be expected to bring everything, which gives you a good excuse to go shopping for all the Moroccan bath treats you’ll want to take home! The most important are savon bildi and ghassoul (clay). Savon bildi is available in different scents, with eucalyptus, wild mint, orange blossom and argan oil being the most popular. Argan oil, in particular, has numerous benefits: it makes hair shine and reduces inflammation and scarring in the skin. Many men and women use argan oil to help with acne and stretch marks.

Moroccan soap, henna, and clay.
Henna, savon bildi, and ghassoul. Photo © Pauliene Wessel/123rf.

What to Bring

  • Flipflops or sandals
  • A plastic bucket
  • A cup (traditionally this would be brass, but any cup will do)
  • A towel
  • A kis (the scrubbing glove)
  • Savon bildi (black soap)
  • Ghassoul (clay)
  • Shampoo
  • Conditioner
  • Shower gel or soap bar
  • Something to cover your lower half (bathing suit or underwear, though keep in mind they might get stained if you’re going to have henna applied or might get stretched out because of the steam)
  • A clean change of clothes
  • An orange to eat while you are relaxing in the cooling room before you change into fresh clothes

Whether you dive in for the local hammam experience or opt for one of the trendy, high-end spas, the end result will be the same: you’ll be the cleanest you’ve ever been.


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Lucas Peters

About the Author

Writer and photographer Lucas Peters has spent much of the past two decades exploring and developing his love for Europe. He has sipped wine with the monks at the Rila Monastery in Bulgaria, squeezed through a melting glacier in Iceland, and awkwardly tried to dance in the hippest club in Berlin. He has busked on the streets of London, concussed himself snowboarding in the Alps, road-tripped with friends through most of Italy and discovered that not all roads lead to Rome (and that it is a very good idea to travel with an old-fashioned road map). He has ordered lunch in Czech, negotiated a car rental in Bulgarian, and talked himself out of a parking ticket in Granada using very, very broken Spanish. Today, from his base in Tangier, he often finds himself peering over the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain from his balcony, dreaming about tapas.

Lucas has written and photographed articles ranging geographically from Iceland to Bulgaria for outlets as varied as En RouteTransitions Abroad,Travel ZooThe Luxury BlogVerge MagazineVeg News, and Travel + Leisure. The author of Moon Grand European Journeys, Moon Morocco, and Moon Marrakesh & Beyond, he also recently contributed to Our Morocco: Moroccans and Expats Share Their Hopes, Dreams, and Adventure.

Today, Lucas lives in Tangier with his wife and two kids. Together, as a multi-lingual family, they continue to explore Morocco: the small towns dotting the national roads, the difficult-to-access mountain villages, and secluded beaches.

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Large empty pool inside a Moroccan spa. Pinterest graphic.