Fes Travel Guide

There is a moment that almost every visitor to Fes remembers. You step through one of the old gates, the noise of traffic falls away behind you, and within a few paces you are in a different century. The lane narrows and tilts downhill. A mule loaded with gas bottles squeezes past, its driver calling a warning. The smell of cedar shavings gives way to mint, then to fresh bread from a communal oven, then to something sharper drifting up from the tanneries. Above you, a strip of sky shows between walls that lean towards each other. Nobody here is performing for tourists. This is simply how Fes lives.

Fes el-Bali, the old walled city, is one of the largest and best-preserved medieval urban centres in the Islamic world, and one of the largest car-free urban areas anywhere. Thousands of lanes, many of them no wider than outstretched arms, wind between mosques, madrasas, fountains, workshops, merchants’ inns and houses hidden behind plain doors. Its heart has been continuously inhabited for more than twelve centuries, and many of the trades practised here today, from tanning and weaving to copper-beating and tile-cutting, have been carried on in the same quarters for generations.

A city of three towns

Fes is really three cities in one, and understanding that makes everything easier. Fes el-Bali, “Old Fes”, is the original medina, founded at the end of the eighth century in a valley on both banks of a small river. Fes el-Jdid, “New Fes”, was built on higher ground to the west by the Marinid sultans in the thirteenth century as a royal and administrative town; it still contains the royal palace and the old Jewish quarter, the Mellah. And the Ville Nouvelle, the modern city, was laid out in the twentieth century during the French protectorate, with wide avenues, apartment blocks, cafés, banks and the train station.

Most visitors sleep in or near Fes el-Bali, spend their days exploring it, visit Fes el-Jdid for an afternoon, and pass through the Ville Nouvelle on the way in and out. Yet each of the three has its own rhythm, and the contrast between them is part of what makes Fes so fascinating.

The character of the city

For much of its history Fes was the intellectual and spiritual capital of Morocco. Its great mosque and university, Al-Qarawiyyin, drew students from across North Africa and beyond, and the city became famous for its scholars, judges, poets and saints. That learned, devout and somewhat reserved character is still felt today. People from Fes, the Fassis, have a reputation in Morocco for refinement: for elaborate cooking, careful manners, fine crafts and a particular accent.

Fes is also a working city. Behind the monuments lies an economy of artisans and traders, and the medina’s quarters are still organised partly by trade. You will walk through streets of coppersmiths, leatherworkers, weavers, carpenters, dyers, slipper-makers and spice sellers. Many of their workshops are tiny and open to the lane, and watching them work is one of the great pleasures of a visit.

It is fair to say that Fes can be intense. The medina is crowded, confusing and steep, and some people in it make a living from steering visitors towards shops. A first afternoon can feel overwhelming. But with a little preparation, which is what this book is for, the city quickly becomes manageable, and then wonderful.

Who Fes suits best

• History and architecture lovers, for the madrasas, gates, fountains and palaces of a dozen centuries.
• Travellers interested in crafts, who can watch tanners, potters, weavers and metalworkers at work.
• Food lovers, for one of the most refined cooking traditions in Morocco.
• Curious walkers who enjoy getting a little lost and finding their way again.
• Travellers on a wider route through the imperial cities, the Middle Atlas, the north or the Sahara.

If you want beaches, nightlife or easy relaxation, Fes is not the place for a long stay. And travellers with limited mobility should know that the medina is hilly, uneven and full of steps. But for anyone with a taste for history and a sense of adventure, there are few cities on earth quite like it.

How to use this book

The chapters follow the order in which most people plan a trip. We begin with the city’s long history, because the madrasas, gates and quarters you will see make far more sense once you know who built them and why. Then come the practical chapters on arriving, getting around and choosing where to stay, including how to find your way in the medina and how to deal with unofficial guides. After that come the sights, the hidden corners, ready-made itineraries, food, customs and shopping. The final chapters cover day trips, practical information, useful phrases and a checklist to help you plan.

Throughout the book you will find three kinds of highlighted box. Local tip boxes share the small things our team has learned on many visits to the city. Good to know boxes explain customs or practical details. Avoid this boxes point out common mistakes. We deliberately do not print exact prices, opening hours or phone numbers, and we do not recommend individual hotels, restaurants or shops: they change too often, and an out-of-date detail is worse than none. Instead we tell you what to expect and what to check locally.

Give Fes time and patience. It does not reveal itself at a glance. It reveals itself in the half-light of a madrasa courtyard, in the rhythm of hammers in a coppersmiths’ square, in a glass of tea offered in a workshop, and in the slow realisation, on your second or third day, that you have started to find your way.