Fes Medina

Overview:

The heart of Morocco’s spir­i­tu­al­i­ty, cul­ture, intel­lect and iden­ti­ty, the beau­ti­ful city of Fes and its famous Med­i­na is both a liv­ing muse­um and the embod­i­ment of tra­di­tion­al life with­in Moroc­co. With the city, except for mod­ern updates for plumb­ing, inter­net and hous­ing, remain­ing unchanged in its design and devel­op­ment since the 13th cen­tu­ry, which help it main­tain not only its true authen­tic feel, but with its maze-like net­work of alleys, stun­ning madrassa’s, and breath tak­ing sun­sets, make it a tru­ly incred­i­ble and unique won­der of the world.  

Set between the tow­er­ing Rif And Mid Atlas Moun­tain Ranges and sur­round­ed by gor­geous olive hills and mon­u­ments, the city of Fes was first estab­lished in 789 AD by the first Sul­tan of the Idrisid Dynasty, although it’s real expan­sion and devel­op­ment hap­pened dur­ing the rule of the Marinids dur­ing the 13th – 15h cen­tu­ry, where the three main sec­tions of the city; the old town, Fes el-Bali; Fes el-Jedid and the famous Med­i­na and mar­ket were devel­oped into the stun­ning sights that remain today. 

Con­sid­ered a cen­tre for tra­di­tion­al artists and designs – thanks in large to the stun­ning and still active Chouara Tan­nery process­es, Fes has served as Morocco’s cap­i­tal on three sep­a­rate occa­sions through­out his­to­ry and is also home to the world’s old­est and arguably most stun­ning uni­ver­si­ty in the Quaraouiyine, which with its famous green and blue mosa­ic tiles con­tin­ues to serve as the home of some of the bright­est minds on the plan­et.  

Sur­round­ed by great walls, and accessed by the impos­ing and beau­ti­ful Bab Bou­jloud Gate, the city of Fes is still home to some 200,000 res­i­dents and is also the home of both the world’s largest car free area in the world, and the Fes­ti­val of World Sacred Music – which com­bined with the pre­served beau­ti­ful squares, twist­ing alley ways, breath-tak­ing sun­sets and famous mar­kets ensure that not only that the her­itage, cul­ture and authen­tic iden­ti­ty of Fes that has stood proud for cen­turies remains, but also that this incred­i­ble city is a tru­ly spec­tac­u­lar and awe-inspir­ing won­der of the world.  

Where:

The most com­plete medieval; city of the Islam­ic world – which still retains all its charm, beau­ty and tra­di­tions Fes and its incred­i­ble Med­i­na is found in the won­der­ful coun­try of Moroc­co – in the north­ern cen­tre accom­pa­nied on either side by the Rif and Atlas Moun­tains..  

Getting there:

A stun­ning city, Fes is also incred­i­bly acces­si­ble and there’s a range of options to get there, with the eas­i­est and most direct being a flight into Fes’s main air­port.  

By Plane: Sev­ered all across Europe and from Mar­rakech, the charm­ing Fès–Saïs Air­port will be your main des­ti­na­tion and it’s eas­i­ly served by a num­ber of major air­lines – with prices often com­ing in at $40 Usd return from across the con­ti­nent – mak­ing flights to Fes an afford­able and effi­cient way to reach the beau­ti­ful city.  

Once at the air­port the route into the main city and the famous Bab Bou Jeloud Gate is either by local bus which costs as lit­tle as 1Usd or for a more direct and com­fort­able option you can sim­ply hop in one of the many taxis at the air­port that can you drop you off just out­side the main city from where it will be a short walk to your hotel.  

For those already in Moroc­co or who don’t fan­cy fly­ing in, there’s an abun­dance of options to get to Fes – includ­ing coach, train and of course self dri­ving.  

By Coach, regard­less if approach­ing from Moroc­co or from any­where on the African Con­ti­nent you have two options – the first is the old bus ter­mi­nal known as the Gare Routière – which while old­er and a bit bumpy drops you off in a great spot out­side the main old city – and from there you can either walk into the city or hail a taxi – be warned though you’ll like­ly be approached by numer­ous touts and scam­mers so be sure it’s an actu­al taxi you’re get­ting into – and if any­one invites you for ta be sure to polite­ly decline.  

The more mod­ern bus sta­tion and our pick for arriv­ing by bus is the CTM ter­mi­nal it’s more mod­ern and with­out the charm of the Gare Routière, but it’s much more prac­ti­cal and a much more pleas­ant expe­ri­ence as well as being more reg­u­lat­ed – so for those approach­ing by bus espe­cial­ly if it’s a long trip we’d advise head­ing to the CTM ter­mi­nal.   

By Train: For those who fan­cy tak­ing in the incred­i­ble scenery of the beau­ti­ful Atlas and Rif moun­tains on your way to the won­der – as well as enjoy­ing a relaxed and authen­tic expe­ri­ence then we’d advise you to head by train to the Fès-Ville on the edge of the city.  

You can find reg­u­lar trains run­ning from all over Moroc­co – and it’s a relaxed and great way to reach the won­der, with trains run­ning dai­ly from Mar­rakech that also call at the beau­ti­ful cities of Ouj­da and Tang­i­er on a direct route through the major cities of Moroc­co.  

Upon arrival, you can unfor­tu­nate­ly expect to be has­sled and approached by peo­ple once again – it’s just part of the expe­ri­ence – so be sure to walk away and polite­ly decline any offers and either walk into the beau­ti­ful city of Fes or hail a taxi to begin explor­ing the city.  

By car – Final­ly for those who want a true adven­ture expe­ri­ence and who are per­haps freer with bud­get and time – Fes is a great spot on a road trip across Africa and is eas­i­ly reached from the beau­ti­ful cities of Casa­bal­ance or Rabat along a main high­way.  

Trav­el­ling on the high­way you’ll get stun­ning views of the moun­tain ranges – and although you’ll have to leave your car at the Bab Bou Jeloud Gate or in the streets before it, arriv­ing to Fes by car is an incred­i­ble way to expe­ri­ence the con­trac­st between the mod­ern cities and the tra­di­tion­al prac­tices that will greet you when you enter this stun­ning won­der of the world.  

Get­ting around – Once with­in Fes and after you pass the beau­ti­ful Bab Bou Jeloud Gate the main way to get around is on foot – although there are a series of red taxis that can you take over the city.  

On foot, be sure to clock the main roads that take you into the city they run from the start of the city to the end and make a great ref­er­ence for when you get lost – and you will get lost on the many streets and alleys with­in the city – it’s part of the fun of explor­ing this beau­ti­ful city.  

If you are on foot you do have the option of hir­ing a local guide to take your round, but giv­en that such tours are often over­priced we’d advise com­ing pre­pared with a map and a GPS and bud­get­ing a bit more time to get around as this will give you plen­ty of time to explore the incred­i­ble sights and afford you enough time in the incred­i­ble Med­i­na as you explore the incred­i­ble won­der of the city of Fes. 

Best time to Visit:

There are two main sea­sons for vis­it­ing Fes and its incred­i­ble Med­i­na – the first is in the Spring from April to June – and the sec­ond being from August to Novem­ber.  

While these two peri­ods are con­sid­ered peak sea­son – mean­ing more peo­ple and high­er prices – it’s worth tim­ing your vis­it dur­ing time for the weath­er as you’ll be avoid­ing both the freez­ing win­ter and the harsh­ness of the Moroc­con sun – mak­ing for a much more enjoy­able expe­ri­ence.  

Our pick though it to time your vis­it for mid June to coin­cide with the incred­i­ble world sacred music fes­ti­val one of the high­lights of the glob­al fes­ti­val sea­son, and when you can see not only the beau­ty of Fes but this incred­i­ble fes­ti­val that real­ly does bring out the best of this stun­ning city.  

 

Explore:

A trip back through time, Explor­ing Fez Med­i­na is a jour­ney like no oth­er, with the famous stone streets, wind­ing alleys and bustling mar­kets hav­ing – with the excep­tion of mod­ern com­forts — remained almost unchanged in the last thou­sand years.  

Divid­ed into two main sec­tions, the 9th cen­tu­ry Fez el Bali (Old Fez) and the neigh­bour­ing 13th-cen­tu­ry Fez el Jdid (New Fez) – the las big expan­sion with­in Fez, the two areas com­bine the form the Med­i­na of Fez, a liv­ing bustling archi­tec­tur­al, archae­o­log­i­cal and his­tor­i­cal city which is home to hun­dreds of thou­sands of Moroc­cans and which is one of the most enjoy­able and thrill-seek­ing cities on the plan­et to explore.  

As with all tra­di­tion­al Islam­ic and his­toric Moroc­can cities, Fez Med­i­na is first explored by enter­ing through its his­toric gates – with the incred­i­ble archi­tec­tur­al and shin­ing main gate of Bab Bou­jloud mark­ing the way into Fez Med­i­na and allow­ing you to being its explo­ration. Although not the offi­cial entrace gate for Fez Med­i­na (the real gate lies next to Bab Bou­jloud) a jour­ney through the gate of Bab Bou­jloud while see you direct­ly onto the two main streets of the city and open you up into the heart of this incred­i­ble won­der. 

Hav­ing passed through the main gate – you’re into the heart of Fez med­i­na – and it’s enjoy­able and fun guid­ing streets. You’ll hear tales of them being unnav­i­ga­ble – but for us explor­ing the great streets of Fez Med­i­na is one of the fun­ni­est and most enjoy­able parts of this city – as you pass through the thou­sands of still active mar­ket stalls, thought the nar­row streets, stun­ning archi­tec­ture – and keep you eyes peeled for the tra­di­tion­al don­keys that fer­ry goods round Fez – and remem­ber if you do get lost the main streets lead through the heart of Fez and the small­er streets will take you to the res­i­den­tial areas ! 

Upon the streets you’ll pass through the pub­lic Plazas – includ­ing our favourite the Bab Mak­i­na Plaza – home to one of the great­est fes­ti­val in the world in the Fes­ti­val of World Sacred Music every June – and Plaza’s ded­i­cat­ed to cer­tain trades, such as car­pen­try, wax­ers and black­smiths – a tra­di­tion car­ried on from Fez’s estab­lish­ment as a major city, as well as stun­ning archi­tec­ture, incred­i­ble mosques and bustling mar­ket­places, with the below being out top picks of sights to see with­in the beau­ti­ful city of Fez Med­i­na as you make your way through its beau­ti­ful stone cob­bled streets: 

Bab Bou Jeloud (Blue Gate):

Start­ing with the famous Blue Fate the Bab Bou­jloud Gate, which serves as both a pop­u­lar meet­ing spot and as stun­ning archi­tec­tur­al entrance to this won­der of the world, the Bab Bou­jloud gate is not the offi­cial main gate – which you’ll see to the left hand side and which dates back to the 12th cen­tu­ry, but is the main entrance to Fez Med­i­na – hav­ing been con­struct­ed in the 20th Cen­tu­ry by France when they con­trolled Fez Med­i­na.  

Designed in a Moor­ish style and with unique carv­ings upon, the gate is one of the newest addi­tions to the city but still blends in with the rest of the archi­tec­ture and spir­i­tu­al­i­ty of Fez Med­i­na and is notable for it’s unique blue and green tile work that see’s it stand as a fit­ting and beau­ti­ful entrance into the heart of Fez Med­i­na – the Fes el-Bali 

Fes el-Bali:

The heart of Fez – and undoubt­ed­ly the most icon­ic spot in the whole of the won­der – Fes El-Bali refers to the old town or Med­i­na of Fez and is con­sid­ered one of the great­est pre­served his­toric liv­ing mon­u­ments of the Islam­ic world and is also one of the biggest car free zones on the plan­et – with the fas­ci­nat­ing and maze-like nar­row streets and squares adding to the unique charm and beau­ty of this stun­ning Med­i­na.  

Wan­der­ing through these streets, you’ll pass cave like shops, fan­tas­tic restau­rants and also feel your­self step­ping back in town as you explore the unique charm of this stun­ning old city and no doubt get lost in one of it’s 9000 alleys – and be sure to expe­ri­ence the local mar­kets – known as Souks – a series of bustling and vibrant mar­ket­places where the sound of sell­ers shout­ing, com­bine with the incense and smells that wind down the alleys and where hag­gling is the range for local goods — you’ll no doubt lose your­self in the incred­i­ble mar­ket­place and pick up some mom 

While the city’s streets are fas­ci­nat­ing and thrilling – you’ll also need to be warned to keep an eye out for pick­pock­ets, over aggres­sive hag­glers and of course Don­key carts – still com­mon­ly used to trans­port goods around Fez Med­i­na – and while charm­ing and affec­tion­ate don’t slow down when approach­ing peo­ple ! 

Chouara Tannery:

From the Fes El-Bali – the next stop is undoubt­ed­ly the tan­ner­ies – although you’ll have to get up ear­ly to see them. The tan­ner­ies refer to the place where work­men put ani­mal skins into liq­uids to soft­en them, dry them, colour them and then see them out in the sun to become leather– to tan – hence the name  — and they’re a major and beau­ti­ful fea­ture of Fez med­i­na which date back to medieval times, if in doubt as to where they are – sim­ply fol­low the smell as they tan­ner­ies while beau­ti­ful do give off the smell of dry­ing ani­mal skin.  

Of the tan­ner­ies the best and grand­est is undoubt­ed­ly the  Chouara Tan­nery, from where you can enter the leather shops to pur­chase leather and take in the beau­ti­ful leather dry­ing in the sun which makes for not only a fas­ci­nat­ing insight in to the prac­tices and cul­tures of Fez med­i­na but for a stun­ning pho­to as you take in the vast leather dry­ing in the sun as it has done for cen­turies in Fez Med­i­na.  

Quaraouiyine Mosque & University:

The most famous build­ing in Fez, the beau­ti­ful Quaraouiyine Mosque was built in 859 and is believed to be one of the old­est and largest wor­ship cen­tres in Africa. Although off lim­it to non-Mus­lims the Quaraouiyine Mosque con­tains a stun­ning library – which was opened to the pub­lic in 2016 that con­tains with­in it a 9th cen­tu­ry Qur’an mak­ing it a tru­ly spe­cial and sacred place for Mus­lims.  

Fea­tur­ing a series of large arched door­ways, you’ll also find the famous Quaraouiyine Uni­ver­si­ty – the old­est uni­ver­si­ty on the plan­et with­in the grounds of the Quaraouiyine Mosque – which while again off lim­its to non-Mus­lims is one of the key places for Islam­ic though and has been a key place for the evo­lu­tion and con­sid­er­a­tions of Islam­ic thought.  

Al Attarine Madrasa:

Our pick for the most beau­ti­ful build­ing in the whole of the Med­i­na, the Al Attarine Madrasa (school of Islam) is absolute­ly stun­ning.  

Dat­ing back to the 14th Cen­tu­ry, whose design was con­ceived by the Sul­tan Abu Sa’id Uth­man II, opens up into an incred­i­ble bright court­yard where a series of bright blue and green mosa­ic tiles com­bine to cre­ate an inspi­ra­tional and awe-inspir­ing and lets you take a peak into the halls and class­rooms of this holy site.  

Tak­ing time to stroll around and admire both the archi­tec­tur­al and tiles dot­ted on the walls of the court­yard, you’ll find your­self absorbed in the beau­ti­ful Maranid archi­tec­ture and carved wood­en car­pen­try and it’s even pos­si­ble to make the climb to the roof of the Al Attarine Madrasa – from where you can get sweep­ing views of this incred­i­ble city as you stand atop this beau­ti­ful Madrasa that is not only a stun­ning­ly beau­ti­ful archi­tec­tur­al won­der but which has also housed and still hous­es some of the best edu­ca­tion­al minds on the plan­et 

Bou Inania Madrasa:

An equal­ly stun­ning Madrasa, the Bou Ina­nia Madrasa is the sis­ter of the Al Attarine Madrasa – and is equal­ly stun­ning. Like­wise dat­ing back to the ear­ly 14th cen­tu­ry, the Bou Ina­nia Madrasa fea­tures not only stun­ning mosa­ic tiles adorned in blue and gree – but also a tow­er­ing brass entrance and a series of tra­di­tion­al Islam­ic cedar screens that add to the ambi­ence and rev­er­ence of this stun­ning Madrasa. 

Along­side the incred­i­ble court­yards, the Bou Ina­nia Madrasa also fea­tures a full and tow­er­ing mosque com­plete with a series of minarets that tow­er of the city of Fez Med­i­na. Best of all though, the Bou Ina­nia Madrasa is the only madrasa ful­ly open to the pub­lic, and gives you a great chance to stroll around this unique madrasa and take in not only the ambi­ence of the court­yards, but also the incred­i­ble his­to­ry, unique archi­tec­ture and stun­ning inspi­ra­tional beau­ty of this incred­i­ble tem­ple.  

Dar Al-Makhzen:

Trav­el­ling fur­ther around the beau­ti­ful build­ings of Fez Med­i­na, you’ll no doubt come across the stun­ning Dar Al-Makhzen – or the roy­al palace. Although the inside is off lim­its for under sta­ble rea­sons, espe­cial­ly as the palace is still vis­it­ed by the Gov­ern­ment and Roy­al Fam­i­ly,  the exte­ri­or of this place lights up the city, with the great tow­er­ing walls dec­o­rat­ed with a series of bright mosa­ic tiles and the grand bronze doors com­bined with the lush green gar­dens in front of the palace, mak­ing for an incred­i­ble place to not only take some stun­ning pho­tos and relax, but also admire the incred­i­ble and unique archi­tec­ture of the won­der of Fez Med­i­na.   

Merenid Tombs:

Sat atop of beau­ti­ful hill on the out­skirts of the city, the Merenid Tombs pro­vide not just sweep­ing views of the lush green hills on the out­skirts of Fes but also of the city itself. More impor­tant­ly how­ev­er they are also the final rest­ing place and tombs of the sul­tans and roy­als of the Merenid dynasty from the late 12th to ear­ly 15th cen­tu­ry – con­sid­ered by many to be the archi­tects of the mod­ern Fes and respon­si­ble for the cre­ation of the Fes el-Jdid 

While walk­ing among the tombs, you’ll notice and per­haps be dis­ap­point­ed by the decay in some of the carved tombs, the inscrip­tions remain and it’s pos­si­ble to see the lav­ish designs and unique archi­tec­ture that date back cen­turies and which still remain – along with a series of giant horse­shoe arch­es that once hailed the entrance to the tombs.  

Enshrin­ing the past lead­ers and archi­tects and Fez – we’d rec­om­mend head­ing to the Merenid Tombs at sun­set – from where you can get incred­i­ble views of the ancient city below along­side it’s fore­fa­thers – just be sure to watch out for touts and bring a flash­light for the trip back down.  

Borj Nord :

Trav­el­ling on from the Merenid Tombs, you’ll get a unique chance to tap fur­ther into the his­to­ry and unique make up of Fez, by explor­ing the great Mil­i­tary His­to­ry and the Borj Nord fort. Con­struct­ed dur­ing the late 16th cen­tu­ry, the Borj Nord com­bines with the Borj Sud to make the two main Forts of Fez and the main parts of the walls and secu­ri­ty that for cen­turies have pro­tect­ed the city.  

Built on an ele­vat­ed view­point – which offers great and sweep­ing view of the city below, you’ll find thou­sands of ancient weapons on dis­play, through­out the ages – includ­ing the per­son­alised cus­tom dag­gers of the kings and the mil­i­tary high­light of the great 12-ton Saa­di­an can­non from the famous bat­tle of the Three Kings – allow­ing you to take in not only incred­i­ble views of the city but a unique part of this won­der­ful cities his­to­ry.  

Borj Sud:

The beau­ti­ful fort sis­ter of Borj Nord, Borj Sud sits at the south of city and like­wise offers incred­i­ble views and a unique insight into the his­to­ry of Fez’s pro­tec­tion and secu­ri­ty. A lit­tle small­er and with­out the unique tow­ers on each cor­ner, the Borj Sud like­wise offers anoth­er fas­ci­nat­ing insight into the mil­i­tary his­to­ry of Fez and is a fan­tas­tic place to come to watch the sun­set over the city – with the ele­vat­ed tow­er giv­ing you a mag­i­cal place to reflect and take in the incred­i­ble won­der of the city of Fez below you.  

Sacred world festival:

Set in the beau­ti­ful square of Bab Mak­i­na, the Sacred World Music Fes­ti­val of Fes, cel­e­brates the diver­si­ty, artists and cul­ture of both local Moroc­can artists and inter­na­tion­al acts, with con­certs, per­for­mances and read­ings tak­ing place in the city’s his­toric plazas, ancient gar­dens and out­door squares.  

Held over the course of nine days in June, you can catch this incred­i­ble fes­ti­val in the late after­noon (timed to avoid the harsh African sun) and com­bine it with a trip to the beau­ti­ful city of Fez in the morn­ing, with the events often last­ing well into the ear­ly hours and events being both free and paid.  

Best of all though it’s a chance to expe­ri­ence Fez at it’s most vibrant and diverse, with the events – which include the famous Sufi Nights and both inti­mate and large scale con­certs being both free and paid, and, depend­ing on the venue, fea­tur­ing either tra­di­tion­al seat­ing or encour­ag­ing peo­ple to make use of the out­door space and pro­vid­ed rug – giv­ing you a unique chance to attend not just a world class music fes­ti­val, but a fes­ti­val that tru­ly cel­e­brates the diver­si­fied music from all over the globe as you explore the incred­i­ble city of Fez.  

 For more on the Sacred world fes­ti­val vis­it our guide — here.  

Volubilis:

Step­ping out­side the walls of Fes – and an activ­i­ty high­ly rec­om­mend­ed to be com­bined with the Sacred World Fes­ti­val as you wait for the activ­i­ties to com­mence in the evening is the beau­ti­ful ancient Roman city of Vol­u­bilis – which dates back some 2,000 years.  

Almost per­fect­ly pre­served, the beau­ti­ful city, which is eas­i­ly reached by train to the city of Mekenes, as vis­it to Vol­u­bilis allows you to step back in town and stroll through this large Roman town and vis­it the remains of the Basil­i­ca, arch­ways, tem­ples, man­sions of the wealthy – and of course the still pre­served and famous Roman Baths – with this excel­lent town mak­ing for a great half day trip both dur­ing the fes­ti­val and dur­ing any vis­it to the won­der­ful city of Fes. 

Jnan Sbil Gardens:

Ven­tur­ing out­side the walls again, but this time stay­ing close to the city and you’ll find the beau­ti­ful lush green gar­dens of Jnan Sbil – a great spot to get away from the has­sle and bus­tle of the mar­kets of Fez.  

Estab­lished in the late 18th cen­tu­ry by the Sul­tan Has­san, the cen­tre­piece of the gar­dens is the great foun­tain of Jnan Sbil that sits next to a large lake where you’ll be able to spot a vari­ety of fish and birds – or for those who fan­cy a break from the heat you’ve got the chance to grab a cof­fee and then relax and peo­ple watch under the beau­ti­ful shade of the giant cit­rus, orange of pine trees , before admir­ing the large beds of flow­ers that add not only to the incred­i­ble beau­ty of the Jnan Sbil Gardnes, but also cre­ate a heav­en­ly scent as you relax and explore the beau­ti­ful Jnan Sbil Gar­dens.    

Enjoy Sunset:

Final­ly no trip to Fez would be com­plete with­out tak­ing in the incred­i­ble sun­set over this stun­ning city, a tru­ly incred­i­ble way to cap off your days explor­ing this beau­ti­ful city.  

You will be almost spoilt for choice for the best spots, so we’d real­ly rec­om­mend a cou­ple of days for your trip to make sure you can grab sun­set from all of our favourite spots: 

Hôtel Cascade Rooftop:

The most obvi­ous – and per­haps the most com­fort­able and stun­ning, explor­ers can kick back and watch the incred­i­ble sun­set from the van­tage point of the Hotel Cas­cade – from where you will see the stun­ning sun set in true panoram­ic fash­ion of both the Bou Inani Madrasa and it’s tow­ing minarets and the great mar­ket of Fes el-Bali as you watch the sun­set light up the great blue gate of the Bab Bou Jeloud for an awe inspir­ing and roman­tic spot.  

Although it’s not a place we’d rec­om­mend for food in Fes, sip­ping on a cof­fee or a warm beer here and watch­ing the sun illu­mi­nate the incred­i­ble archi­tec­ture and won­der of Fes is tru­ly unfor­get­table and a great place to cap off your day.  

Mount Zalagh:

For those who fan­cy stun­ning sweep­ing views in the nature and hills of Fes and tak­ing in the incred­i­ble sun­set against not only the back­drop of the whole of the won­der of Fes but also a series of vine­yards, olive gar­dens and with the com­pa­ny of the occa­sion­al moun­tain goat – then mak­ing the steep climb up to the sum­mit of Mount Zalagh is for you.  

A tough ascent up, and you can expect the occa­sion­al tout at the top, the views from Mount Zalagh are unpar­al­leled espe­cial­ly those of the old city and it makes for an incred­i­ble place to wit­ness the beau­ti­ful sun­set over this unique won­der of the world – just be sure to bring a tourch with you for the jour­ney down.  

Borj Nord and Borj Sud:

Com­bin­ing a trip through the his­to­ry of Fes with sweep­ing views over the old and new cities – the fortress of Borj Nord and Borj Sud are a great place to go to enjoy not only the incred­i­ble his­to­ry of Fes but tak­ing in the incred­i­ble sun­set over the whole of the unique city.  

Best seen in our view from the Borj Nord on account of its tow­ers that let you stand on the edge of the fortress, the views from both cas­tles are tru­ly stun­ning and makes for a great place to top off your day at this won­der of the world while explor­ing the her­itage, archi­tec­ture and his­to­ry of Fes.  

The Merenid Tombs:

Not only one of our picks to see to explore the his­to­ry of the Merenid dynasty, founds of the new city of Fes and explore the incred­i­ble archi­tec­ture and ever­last­ing mau­soleum to the rulers of Fes, the unique posi­tion of the Merenid Tombs – perched on a hill on the out­skirts of the city – makes for an incred­i­ble place to take in sweep­ing views of the whole of Fes and watch the sun­set along­side the mon­u­ments of its fore­fa­thers.  

A great spot, and one sur­round­ed by lush green hills and val­leys, be sure to come pre­pared with a flash­light for the trip back down the hill, which can be chal­leng­ing and bumpy, the Merenid Tombs is a unique and awe-inspir­ing place and a great place to cap off your day explor­ing this incred­i­ble city as you watch the incred­i­ble sun­set light up the true won­der of the world that is the city of Fes and its famous Med­i­na.  

How long to stay:  

While you could cov­er all the high­lights of Fes in two quick paced days – and it’s cer­tain­ly an option for those con­strained by bud­get, time and trav­el win­dow — we’d rec­om­mend allo­cat­ing at least four days – and tim­ing your trip dur­ing mid-June World Sacred Music Fes­ti­val – this will not only let you take in the incred­i­ble fes­ti­val but give you plen­ty of time to explore the Med­i­na in all it’s glo­ry, take in the stun­ning sun­sets from var­i­ous spots and even fit in a trip to Vol­u­bilis – giv­ing you the absolute best of the stun­ning won­der of the world that is Fes.  

Top Tip:

While Fes is gen­er­al­ly safe – it’s nec­es­sary to take pre­cau­tions to pro­tect your valu­able and safe­ty when trav­el­ling round the city – being espe­cial­ly care­ful to look out for pick pock­ets or scam­mers in the mar­kets and keep­ing your belong­ings with­in eye­sight – the area is patrolled by police but giv­en the large crowds it’s unfor­tu­nate­ly some­thing you need to watch out for. 

You’ll also no doubt be approached by scam­mers and con artists, par­tic­u­lar­ly at the train sta­tions or major tourist spots, be wary of any­one who invites you for tea at a car­pet shop or who invites you to have a meal with their fam­i­ly – chances are they’ve lined you up for an over­in­flat­ed sale or tour – so polite­ly decline.  

For those explor­ing Fes at their own pace, there’s no doubt at some point you’ll get lost – it’s almost impos­si­ble to nav­i­gate the many streets and alleys – so just remem­ber the main streets run direct­ly through the city – and if you do get lost and find your­self with­out a gps or map appli­ca­tion, we’d advise nip­ping into a shop rather than ask­ing some­one on the street for direc­tions as again you want to avoid get­ting scammed.  

For a more pos­i­tive top tip, we’d real­ly advise tak­ing on Fes at your own pace (you nev­er know when the sun will hit you) and also com­bin­ing your trip to Fes with the Sacred World Music Fes­ti­val – yes it will mean prices are high­er and the crowds are big­ger but it real­ly is when Fes is at its best – and it’s a chance for you to expe­ri­ence one of the great­est fes­ti­val on the plan­et at the same time ! 

Final­ly as strange as it may sound, but you’ll no doubt see var­i­ous Don­keys troop­ing through the city – as they’re still used to car­ry goods across the city – but be warned while they are unde­ni­ably adorable, they don’t take note of traf­fic reg­u­la­tions or slow down for peo­ple, so if you some­one shout “Belek” be sure to get out of the street – or risk being run down by a don­key.  

Cost:

There are cost options to suit all trav­ellers when vis­it­ing Fes – it real­ly does depend on how much you want to indulge in the Med­i­na, where you’re com­ing from and whether you’re attend­ing at the same time as the sacred music fes­ti­val.  

For the main sights to explore, you have two main options – doing it through a guid­ed day tour which will set you back $25 USD but with a guar­an­tee you won’t get lost or tak­ing it on at your own pace – which we’d real­ly rec­om­mend as you nev­er know when you’re going to be hit by a spot of sun stroke – and of course it gives you the free­dom to explore the beau­ti­ful city and browse the med­i­na at your own pace – with out view being that get­ting lost is most def­i­nite­ly half the fun.  

Hav­ing got your­self to Fes and decid­ed on the approach you want to take to explor­ing – and of course your itin­er­ary (a trip to Vol­u­bilis is worth it but will add an extra cost as you trav­el out of the city) we’d advise bud­get­ing for $50 usd a day for those work­ing for a low­er bud­get (Hos­tels, street food and tour­ing the main sights) or $150 Usd for those with a much more flex­i­ble bud­get – that will see you put up in the best hotels in the city.  

For those who want to com­bine a trip to the won­der with the incred­i­ble World Sacred Music Fes­ti­val you can bud­get an extra $20 usd for a sin­gle act tick­et, $50 usd for a full day or $400 usd for the full nine day fes­ti­val – and expect prices to at least dou­ble for hotels dur­ing this peri­od – so be sure to book in advance.  

Fun Fact:

Along­side dat­ing back to 859 Ad and being a liv­ing embod­i­ment of the ancient ways of Islam­ic cul­ture – Fes Med­i­na is also famous for see­ing peo­ple get lost, very lost, try­ing to nav­i­gate its streets – a feat not helped by the many alleys – which total more than Nine Thou­sand (9,000) – so we’d advise to come with a stur­dy map and decent GPS to help you nav­i­gate the many alleys and streets of this won­der of the world.  

Best photo spot:

With cap­ping off a day explor­ing Fes Med­i­na with a sun­set view being one of top picks to do when explor­ing Fes, and an expe­ri­ence we’d real­ly rec­om­mend­ed when vis­it­ing this incred­i­ble won­der of the world, we’d first­ly advise when con­sid­er­ing your pho­to spots in Fes to be sure to make time to grab a sun­set pho­to from one of – or if you’re luck all of the above spots, which offer incred­i­ble panoram­ic and vary­ing sun­set views over Fes: 

Hôtel Cascade Rooftop 

Our pick for the most com­fort­able and stun­ning, any one want­i­ng a sun­set view over Fes is encour­aged to head to one of the many rooftops, with the van­tage point of the Hotel Cas­cade – from where you will see the stun­ning sun set in true panoram­ic fash­ion of both the Bou Inani Madrasa and it’s tow­ing minarets and the great mar­ket of Fes el-Bali as you watch the sun­set light up the great blue gate of the Bab Bou Jeloud for an awe inspir­ing and roman­tic spot – that’s a great place to cap off your day explor­ing the won­der of the world that is Fes.  

Mount Zalagh

For those who fan­cy stun­ning sweep­ing views in the nature and hills of Fes and tak­ing in the incred­i­ble sun­set against not only the back­drop of the whole of the won­der of Fes but also a series of vine­yards, olive gar­dens and with the com­pa­ny of the occa­sion­al moun­tain goat – then mak­ing the steep climb up to the sum­mit of Mount Zalagh is for you.  

A tough ascent up, and you can expect the occa­sion­al tout at the top, the views from Mount Zalagh are unpar­al­leled espe­cial­ly those of the old city and it makes for an incred­i­ble place to wit­ness the beau­ti­ful sun­set over this unique won­der of the world – just be sure to bring a tourch with you for the jour­ney down.  

Borj Nord and Borj Sud

Com­bin­ing a trip through the his­to­ry of Fes with sweep­ing views over the old and new cities – the fortress of Borj Nord and Borj Sud are a great place to go to enjoy not only the incred­i­ble his­to­ry of Fes but tak­ing in the incred­i­ble sun­set over the whole of the unique city.  

Best seen in our view from the Borj Nord on account of its tow­ers that let you stand on the edge of the fortress, the views from both cas­tles are tru­ly stun­ning and makes for a great place to top off your day at this won­der of the world while explor­ing the her­itage, archi­tec­ture and his­to­ry of Fes.  

The Merenid Tombs

Not only one of our picks to see to explore the his­to­ry of the Merenid dynasty, founds of the new city of Fes and explore the incred­i­ble archi­tec­ture and ever­last­ing mau­soleum to the rulers of Fes, the unique posi­tion of the Merenid Tombs – perched on a hill on the out­skirts of the city you’ll find your­self sur­round­ed by lush green hills and val­leys a trip up the Merenid Tombs – for which you’ll need a flash­light for the descent down is an incred­i­ble place to take in sweep­ing views of the whole of Fes and watch the sun­set along­side the mon­u­ments of its fore­fa­thers.  

Along­side grab­bing the icon­ic and tru­ly beau­ti­ful sun­set pho­to, we’d also rec­om­mend you cap­ture some of the beau­ti­ful archi­tec­tur­al sights on the ground, begin­ning no doubt with the icon­ic and beau­ti­ful blue entrance gate of Bab Bou Jeloud. Herald­ing the entrance to the city, you will no doubt be struck by the beau­ti­ful blue and green mosa­ic tiles, archi­tec­ture and carv­ings upon the face of the gate, and while you can grab great shots from the rooftops and ele­vat­ed views – tak­ing in the Bab Bou Jeloud gate up close and per­son­al and cap­tur­ing it with all its glo­ry is a great way to start your trip around this incred­i­ble won­der of the world. 

Along­side the great gate of Bab Bou Jeloud, you’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes to snap­ping the beau­ti­ful archi­tec­ture of the city, but one spot always stands out that of the incred­i­ble 14th cen­tu­ry Al Attarine Madrasa. Although only the main court­yard is ful­ly open to vis­i­tors, stand­ing inside this unique edu­ca­tion­al tem­ple is a true priv­i­lege made all the more so by the stun­ning court­yard and its famous mosa­ic tiles, which real­ly do rep­re­sent the beau­ty of the Maranid archi­tec­ture, and which see the court­yard lit up in a glow­ing ambi­ent dark blue colour. For an extra spe­cial shot – and for those trav­el­ling with friends – be sure to send your trav­el friend to the upper floor and then get a shot fo you stand­ing in the court­yard – it’s a beau­ti­ful shot that cap­tures the full beau­ty of both your­self and stun­ning Al Attarine Madrasa.   

 Final­ly no trip to Fes is com­plete with­out Fes would be com­plete with­out pho­tos of it’s stun­ning Med­i­na and in par­tic­u­lar­ly the stun­ning and icon­ic sights of the Chouara Tan­nery. Although you’ll have to put with the smells – and they can be some­what over­whelm­ing at time – the beau­ti­ful dis­play of mul­ti-coloured leather left out under the beau­ti­ful Moroc­can sun makes for an incred­i­ble pho­to and one that cap­tures the very essence of the stun­ning won­der of the world that is the Med­i­na of the beau­ti­ful town of Fes.