Fes el-Bali is the largest living medieval city on earth — a UNESCO-listed medina of some 9,400 lanes, Marinid madrasas, the world's oldest university and the famous Chouara tanneries. Where Marrakech dazzles, Fes immerses: it asks for a good guide, unhurried days and real curiosity. Many travellers pair the two imperial cities on a single Moroccan loop.
In this guide
What are the unmissable sights in Fes?
Nothing fixes Fes in the memory like the Chouara tannery — a sprawling open-air grid of stone dyeing pits where hides have been worked the same way for the best part of a thousand years. You take it in from the terraces of the leather shops that ring it, usually free of charge if you tolerate a gentle sales pitch on the way out; the sprig of mint pressed into your hand at the door is there to soften the smell. Come in the morning, when the tanners are at work and sunlight pours straight into the vats. A short walk away, the Bou Inania Madrasa is the country's most complete piece of Marinid architecture — fretted cedar screens, deep stucco carving and a clock tower that still marks the call to prayer.
The University of al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri and recognised by UNESCO as the oldest continuously running university in the world, sits at the medina's core; non-Muslims cannot go inside, but its great doorway and the surrounding Qarawiyyin quarter are absorbing to walk. The mellah, Fes's old Jewish quarter, breaks from the medina pattern with wrought-iron balconies and a fine synagogue — the Ibn Danan, one of North Africa's oldest, welcomes visitors.
- Chouara Tannery — view from leather shop terraces; arrive before 10am.
- Bou Inania Madrasa — Marinid masterpiece; the finest interior in Fes.
- Attarine Madrasa — ornate 14th-century school next to the Qarawiyyin.
- Musée Batha — regional museum of traditional art in a riad palace.
- Borj Nord — artillery fort with panoramic medina views from the hillside.
- Mellah and Ibn Danan Synagogue — Jewish quarter with a distinct architectural character.
- Merenid Tombs — ruined 14th-century tombs; best at sunset for cityscape views.
Why do you need a guide in Fes's medina?
The talk of Fes el-Bali being a labyrinth is not exaggeration: those 9,400 alleys are mostly unnamed and, frankly, unmapped — phone navigation routinely fails inside the densest quarters where GPS cannot find the sky. This is the one Moroccan medina where a licensed guide is not an indulgence but the difference between a frustrating morning and a revelatory one. Fes runs a long-established guides association, and a good one opens the layers as well as the lanes: the hidden foundouks (old caravan inns), the workshops behind unmarked doors, the residential quarters tourists rarely reach. If you found Marrakech navigable on your own, treat Fes as a different proposition.
Licensed guides carry a government badge and are regulated through the national tourism office (ONMT); a half-day private city guide runs roughly US$60–100. Book through your riad or a reputable agency, where guides are vetted — the ones who fall into step with you near Bab Bou Jeloud offering to 'help' are almost always unlicensed.
What crafts and workshops should you see in Fes?
Fes is the artisan capital of Morocco in a way that goes beyond the souvenir trade — several crafts have run here in unbroken succession since the Middle Ages, each still clustered in the quarter it has held for centuries. The coppersmiths ring the Place Seffarine, where you can stand and watch brass and copper trays being hammered out in workshops that open straight onto the lane. The woodworkers' souk still turns cedar furniture and boxes on traditional lathes, and the scent of fresh-cut cedar carries through the surrounding alleys.
Across the medina to the south-east lies Ain Nokbi, the potters' quarter — skipped by most itineraries but mesmerising for watching Fassi blue-and-white ware travel from raw clay to glazed finish. Nearby, the dyers' souk (Souk Sabbaghin) is pure colour: skeins of freshly dyed wool and silk hung dripping across the narrow lanes that run down to the tanneries. The craftsmanship here is a step beyond the souvenir souks of Marrakech, and prices at source can be keener too.
- Place Seffarine — coppersmiths and brass workers; active from mid-morning.
- Ain Nokbi pottery quarter — Fassi ceramics production; rarely visited.
- Souk Sabbaghin — dyers' souk; vivid hanging skeins of silk and wool.
- Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts — fountain square and foundouk museum.
- Chez Rachid (leather tannery adjacent) — reputable leather shop with honest tannery-terrace access.
What are the best day trips from Fes?
Meknes, the quietest of Morocco's imperial cities, sits 60 km away and slots neatly into a full day. Its Bab Mansour is arguably the grandest gate in the country; the royal granaries and stables are cavernous and atmospheric; and the medina ambles along at a pace that feels gentle after Fes. Just 35 km north of Meknes lie the Roman ruins of Volubilis — among the best-preserved in Africa, with intact floor mosaics, a triumphal arch and a colonnaded high street — so the two pair up logically on a single excursion.
Chefchaouen, the blue city, is a 4–5 hour drive north through the Rif and rewards an overnight rather than a dash there and back. Closer in, the cedar forest above Azrou (about two hours south) makes a cool half-day, with Barbary macaques in the trees and mountain air that comes as a relief after the medina. Travellers running the classic imperial-cities loop often arrive in Fes from Marrakech and continue north from here toward Chefchaouen and Tangier.
Where should you eat and stay in Fes?
The finest tables in Fes are set inside the riad-palaces that open their dining rooms to non-guests, usually by reservation only. Riad Fes, Dar Roumana and Palais la Cigogne come up again and again for Moroccan fine dining staged in genuinely extraordinary rooms. For lunch without ceremony, the lanes around the Rcif quarter hide small kitchens turning out set menus — soup, salad, tagine, dessert — for 60 to 100 MAD, honest cooking at honest prices.
Fes riads span simple guesthouses (MAD 400–800 a night) up to palace conversions with their own hammams, roof terraces and chef-cooked dinners — often grander, and better value, than their Marrakech equivalents. Drivers struggle with medina addresses, so most riads arrange a meeting point at a main gate (Bab Bou Jeloud or Bab Rcif) and walk you in on foot. Choose one that runs a guide service or can introduce you to its trusted licensed guides.
Frequently asked
How many days do you need in Fes?
Two full days is the floor for the medina's essentials with a guide — the tanneries, the madrasas, the souks and the crafts quarters. Three lets you add a Meknes-and-Volubilis day and walk the medina at a slower pace. Four days makes room for Chefchaouen or the Azrou cedars without rushing. Pairing Fes with Marrakech on one trip typically wants a week or more in total.
What is Fes most famous for?
The Chouara tanneries, the vast medieval medina of Fes el-Bali, the Bou Inania Madrasa, the al-Qarawiyyin university and its peerless leather and ceramic crafts. It is the most architecturally intact of the imperial cities and the most rewarding for travellers who come for history and handwork rather than the rooftop-and-souk glamour of Marrakech.
Is Fes safe to visit?
Yes — Fes is safe for visitors. The real pitfalls are getting hopelessly lost in the medina alone and the unlicensed 'guides' who attach themselves to you and then demand payment. Engage a licensed guide from the start and the medina becomes one of the most rewarding places in Morocco to spend your days.
How do you get from Marrakech to Fes?
Three ways. By train, you change at Casablanca for a total of roughly 7–8 hours. By private driver, the route over the Middle Atlas or up the Ziz Valley takes about 8–10 hours but turns the journey into part of the trip. Or fly: domestic carriers link the cities in about an hour, from Marrakech Menara (RAK) to Fes-Saïss (FEZ).
What is the best time to visit the Fes tanneries?
Mornings, hands down — arrive before 10am and you catch the tanners shifting hides between the vats under direct light. By early afternoon the pace drops and some pits sit empty. The dyeing runs strongest from autumn through spring, when the vats hold their most vivid colour.
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