Fes travel guide

Where is Fes?

Imperial city · Northern Morocco. 530 km from Marrakech by road, about 6 h 30 min without stops.

by road from Marrakech, 530 km

6 h 30 min

UNESCO World Heritage: Medina of Fez

1981

private tours come here

6

places in our guide

23

nearest airport: Fès-Saïs (FEZ)

FEZ

About Fes

Fes is the oldest of Morocco's four imperial cities, founded in 789 AD, and the northern hub for day trips most travellers overlook. The medina itself — Fes el-Bali, a UNESCO maze of more than 9,000 car-free alleys — needs a full slow day on foot with a guide. But Fes also puts the Roman ruins of Volubilis and the imperial gates of Meknes within an easy day's reach (about an hour each), and the cedar forests of Ifrane and Azrou, with their wild Barbary macaques, sit just over an hour south. Stay inside the walls in a restored riad and use Fes as your base for the north.

Drive from Marrakech with normal stops

7:15 with two motorway stops

How long to stay

2–3 days

Nearest airport

Fès-Saïs (FEZ)

Getting there

Fly into FEZ, or 4h drive from Tangier, 7h from Marrakech

Where to stay

Inside the medina in a restored dar or riad

Dress code

Respectful — shoulders and knees covered near religious sites

Highlights of Fes

• Fes el-Bali medina, a full day on foot

  Walk the Talaa Kebira from Bab Boujloud down through the souks to the Karaouine — the world's oldest continuously operating university (859 AD). Plan a whole day; you cannot rush it.

• Chouara tanneries

  The famous pigment vats viewed from a leather-shop terrace — best in the morning when the light hits the pits, an easy add-on to a medina walk.

• Medersa Bou Inania & el-Attarine

  Two 14th-century Marinid madrasas with carved cedar, stucco and zellige at its finest — quick, rewarding stops between the souks.

• Volubilis & Meknes day trip

  The standout day out from Fes: Roman mosaics at Volubilis, then lunch and the imperial gates of Meknes, roughly an hour from the city.

• Pottery quarter & blue gates

  Watch cobalt-and-white Fassi ceramics thrown, glazed and fired across the river — a half-hour detour with a great workshop view.