Public baths are an integral part of the way life is lived in Morocco. On any given day, you might see a group of women gathering outside the local hammam. They are all carrying a small plastic stool and bucket. Hammams in Morocco, which can be more than a little confusing to outsiders, have their own set of unspoken rules. To help you prepare for your own Moroccan hammam experience, here are a few tips.
In every major city and many of the country’s boutique hotels, there are numerous upscale, private and intimate spa experiences. These are generally a more contemporary, bespoke spa experience and a bit of a hybrid of the traditional Moroccan public bath or hammam. These more upmarket hammam experiences are wonderful, especially for couples.
However, for the culturally curious, a visit to the local Moroccan hammam is one of the more adventurous ways to get clean. This is not so much a private, intimate experience as it is a social one, where there is plenty of chat and gossip to be had during a good scrub. Our friend Amanda Mouttaki, an American, wrote about her first experience of a public hammam in Morocco. She was in the process of a family reunion with her husband’s family. Amanda’s story is one of many to be found in the collection of stories entitled Our Morocco: Lives, hopes, dreams and adventures shared by Moroccans and expats. You can read them here: https://saharamoroccotravel.com/
As Amanda has discovered, for many of us, entering a hammam and taking our clothes off is something of a disarming experience. Knowing a little about it will make the whole experience more relaxing – which is, after all, what it’s all about!
The traditional hammam has more to do with community and cleanliness than it does with Zen-inspired indulgence. It is essentially a practical event, designed to leave you invigorated, exfoliated and squeaky clean. You can participate in the bathing ritual and be part of a real cultural – and social – experience for just a few dirhams.
These local hammams in the neighborhoods of Morocco are always inexpensive (usually around Dh20 / $2), and they cater to the local population. Once or twice a week, many Moroccans visit their local hammam.
You can still find hammams in the old medinas of every major city in the country, with more modern versions of the originals regularly dotted around the more recently built parts of town.
Your guide to Moroccan hammams: Essential checklist
You will need to do a bit of shopping before you even enter the hammam. The hammams are a BYO soap affair. The small corner shops in and around the old medinas in any major city can supply most of the items on the list below. You can always stock up on a few sachets at the neighborhood shop, as many of the products come in disposable sachets (even the savon bildi). Once you’re in and ready to soak, the utilitarian nature of the list below should give you an idea of what to expect.
- a pair of flip-flops or sandals
- A plastic or wooden pail
- a cup (traditionally this would be a brass cup, but any kind of cup will do)
- Small mat, if you’re not sitting on the floor
- towels, or two if you have hair.
- A kis (the scrub glove for exfoliation)
- Savon bildi (a black soap with an olive base and a slightly greasy texture)
Rhassoul (a clay-based soap) - Shampooing and conditioning
- Shower gel or soap (basically anything you would use to shower or bathe at home)
- Something to cover your lower half (swimsuit or underwear, but remember they might get stained if you’re getting henna, or stretched out from the steam)
- Clean clothes to change into (and underwear – easy to forget!)
- Small change to pay to enter, scrub or massage
Your guide to the Moroccan hammam: How to hammam
So you’ve made your purchases, you’ve got your bucket and soap in hand, and you might be feeling a little self-conscious.
First things first – make sure you have the right times! Some hammams are exclusively for men or women. In most cases, however, there are specific times of the day for each. Make sure you know when you’re supposed to go before you sashay in! As a stranger and a foreigner in a local neighborhood hammam, you will stand out and you will be guided through the steps and told what to do and when to do it. Hammams are places of community, even sisterhood. Relax and go with the proverbial flow is the best advice.
The typical Moroccan hammam consists of four rooms: the changing, cooling, warming, and warming rooms. In the changing room, there will usually be someone on hand to guide you through the hammam ritual: soaping, rinsing, and scrubbing. They will also rub you down vigorously (if not a little violently) for a small fee of between 40 and 50 Dh. Most locals choose to do it all themselves. They usually go with a friend or family member for a chat and a helping hand in those hard-to-reach places.
It is probably easiest to pay a little extra for someone to guide you through the process if this is your first time.
You may also be asked to rub a stranger’s back. This is all part of the experience and to be expected.
When you first enter the steamy confines of the hammam, you will strip down to your swimsuit or underwear. Place your belongings in a cubicle in the changing room. Most Moroccans don’t strip completely. They leave their underwear on. But do what you feel comfortable with. Men are expected to wear underwear or a bathing suit to cover their genitals.
After the changing room, you’ll enter the first of (usually) three rooms. Each room is progressively warmer. The hottest water is in the innermost room. You will be given pails to fill and mix until the water is as hot as you want it to be.
Once that’s done, take your water and find an open space in one of the rooms. The idea is that as you wash with your bucket and cup, the temperature of the air and water will gradually increase as you move from room to room. Be prepared for the odd unexpected bucket of water to be dumped on you when you least expect it, if you have someone to do the rubbing and peeling with the kis glove!
A little hammam etiquette
Before beginning your bathing ritual, it is perfectly acceptable to take a moment to rinse off the floor. As soon as you are ready to start, douse yourself in hot water. (Dip your bucket into the larger one provided) and lather up.
It’s usually considered bad form to take more than two buckets of hot water unless you’re the only person there. In the same way, the floors of a hammam are all sloped towards a central drain. Take a moment to make sure that the water you’re rinsing off doesn’t end up in someone else’s washing area.
Give your area a final rinse after you have soaped, washed, rinsed, and washed again. Return your buckets and head back to the changing area to dry off and change clothes.
On the way home from Hammam
When you’ve finished, dried off, and are on your way out, you’re likely to hear the words ‘bssHa’ more than a few times. Roughly translated as ‘to your health’, Moroccans say this to anyone who has just come from a bath. Respond by smiling and saying ‘llay tik saH’, which means ‘and yours too’.
The hammam in Morocco is a warm and inviting place where women of all generations take time out to ritualize and socialize. It is one of the richest and cleanest experiences you can have in Morocco, especially for women.
Meet the team at Sahara Morocco Travel We offer several unique itineraries that allow you to experience the real Morocco. Our Eclectic Tour gives you an overview of the country’s cultural and scenic highlights, while our Imperial Cities Tour takes you to the most inspiring places, including museums, UNESCO sites, and more. We also offer a range of tours to the Sahara Desert in Morocco. We hope you enjoy our Moroccan hammam travel guide and quality articles and you can also join us on Facebook and Instagram..
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