Fes: A Complete City Guide

Last updated: September 2025

Fes is the city that makes Morocco make sense. The imperial cities each play a different role in the country’s self-image, but Fes is the one that has been continuously inhabited and continuously significant for over 1,200 years. The medina, Fes el-Bali, is the largest car-free urban area in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walking into it for the first time is disorienting in a way that no amount of preparation fully prevents.

The city rewards patience. Fes is not a place you conquer in a day. The medina’s 9,000-odd streets include lanes too narrow for two people to pass comfortably, hidden fondouks from the 14th century, tanneries that have worked the same way for a thousand years, and a culinary tradition that Moroccans across the country regard with genuine respect. Come with time and without a rigid agenda.

Fes el-Bali: The Old Medina

The medina of Fes el-Bali is not a living museum, it is an actual living city. Leather workshops, bread ovens, schools, mosques, and residential streets all coexist in something that predates almost everything in the Western world. The Qarawiyyin University, founded in 859 AD, claims the title of the world’s oldest continuously operating university. The Bou Inania Madrasa, a 14th-century theological college, is open to non-Muslim visitors and represents some of the finest Islamic architecture in North Africa.

Navigation is genuinely difficult. Most phones lose signal in the deep medina. A local guide for the first morning is not a tourist crutch, it is a practical decision that lets you orient yourself before going solo. The official guides attached to riads or arranged through the tourist office are generally reliable. Street guides who attach themselves to you near the main gates are a different story.

The Tanneries

The Chouara Tannery is one of those images so associated with Morocco that seeing it in person carries a slight unreality. The working tanneries seen from the terraces of the leather shops above them show stone vats in shades of ochre, saffron, burgundy, and white, with workers moving between them by hand. The leather shops themselves will let you onto their terrace for free in expectation that you might buy something. The pressure is moderate and browsable.

The smell is significant. The shops provide sprigs of fresh mint for a reason. Morning visits, when the tanneries are most active and the light is best, are worth setting an alarm for. The three main tanneries, Chouara, Sidi Moussa, and Ain Azliten, are each accessible from different parts of the medina.

Food in Fes

Fes is widely considered the gastronomic capital of Morocco, a claim backed by most Moroccan cooks outside Fes as well. Pastilla, the flaky pigeon or chicken pie dusted with powdered sugar, originated here. So did the best versions of harira, the lamb and chickpea soup, and the slow-cooked lamb dishes made with preserved lemons and aged olives that require both a clay pot and several hours.

The street food around Rcif Square and the Bou Khrareb river area is reliably excellent and genuinely cheap. A briwat (fried pastry with meat or cheese), a bowl of bissara (fava bean soup), or a skewer of kefta from a charcoal stand runs 5 to 20 MAD. For a proper sit-down dinner in an atmospheric riad restaurant, budget 200 to 400 MAD per person including wine.

Fes el-Jdid and the Royal Palace

Beyond Fes el-Bali lies Fes el-Jdid, the New Fes, built in the 13th century. The Royal Palace here has a set of ceremonial brass doors that are one of the most photographed spots in the city. The palace itself is not open to the public, but the plaza in front of it is grand and worth the walk. The Jewish mellah adjacent to the palace is one of the best-preserved historic Jewish quarters in Morocco.

Where to Stay

The traditional choice is a riad inside the medina. At their best, the Fes riads are genuinely extraordinary, quiet courtyards with fountain tiles and rooms that feel completely removed from the chaos a few steps outside. At their worst they are dark, cold in winter, difficult to reach by taxi, and overpriced for what they are. Research matters here. Middle-tier riads in the 600 to 1,200 MAD per night range often represent better value than the flagship properties.

Staying in the Ville Nouvelle, the French-built modern town, gives you easier access to restaurants, reliable wifi, and taxis. It is a less atmospheric base but a more comfortable one for longer stays or for people who want the medina in doses rather than immersion.

Navigating the Medina

Fes el-Bali is the largest car-free urban area in the world, and getting lost in it is not a possibility but a certainty on your first visit. The medina has over 9,000 alleys, many of which are unmarked and look identical. Google Maps works to a limited extent (it shows the general direction but not always the correct path), and offline maps like Maps.me are sometimes more accurate for the smaller alleys.

The most practical navigation strategy is to learn the main arteries. Talaa Kebira and Talaa Sghira are the two main routes descending from Bab Boujloud to the center of the medina. If you stay on or near these streets, you can always orient yourself. When you venture off them into side alleys (which you should, because that is where the real character lives), set a mental timer and retrace your steps after 15 minutes if nothing looks familiar.

Hiring an official guide for a half-day orientation walk is worth the investment. Licensed guides charge approximately 300 to 500 MAD for a half day and can show you the main landmarks, explain the neighborhood structure, and point out reference points you can use on your own afterward. Avoid self-appointed guides who approach you on the street. Official guides carry a metal badge issued by the Ministry of Tourism.

Day Trips from Fes

Meknes, the fourth imperial city, is just 45 minutes by train. It has a fraction of the tourists that Fes and Marrakech receive, yet its Bab Mansour gate, the Heri es-Souani granaries, and the medina are impressive. Combining Meknes with the Roman ruins at Volubilis makes for a full and rewarding day trip. Volubilis (Walili in Arabic) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with remarkably preserved mosaics and columns, located about 30 kilometers from Meknes.

The Middle Atlas town of Ifrane, known as Morocco’s Switzerland, is an hour’s drive south of Fes. The town itself is clean and quiet with European-style architecture, built during the French Protectorate era. The nearby cedar forests of Azrou are home to Barbary macaques (the only primates in Africa north of the Sahara). In winter, Ifrane receives snow and the nearby ski resort at Michlifen opens, though the skiing is modest compared to European resorts.

Accuracy note: Travel information, prices, and practical details in Morocco can change. This article reflects conditions at the time of writing. Verify current details before planning your trip.