Attraction
Bou Inania Madrasa
A 14th-century Marinid madrasa near Bab Bou Jeloud, built for Sultan Abu Inan Faris and known for its marble courtyard, carved cedar and minaret.
There are more things to do in Fes than its maze of lanes first suggests. Fes el-Bali, the walled medina founded in the 9th century and listed by UNESCO, is one of the largest car-free urban areas in the world, and its madrasas, shrines, souks and workshops still follow rhythms that go back centuries. Beside it stands Fes el-Jdid, the Marinid royal city with the Royal Palace and the Mellah, and beyond the walls lies the Ville Nouvelle, the modern district with wide avenues, hotels and the train station.
Fes is known as the culinary capital of Morocco, so set time aside for slow-cooked Fassi dishes, cooking classes and rooftop meals over the medina. Most visitors stay in a riad inside the old city, where restored palaces offer courtyards and terraces at every budget. Allow at least two full days to see the main sights and get lost in the medina, and three or four if you want a cooking class, a day trip to Meknes and Volubilis, and time to simply watch the city from a rooftop at sunset.
Attraction
A 14th-century Marinid madrasa near Bab Bou Jeloud, built for Sultan Abu Inan Faris and known for its marble courtyard, carved cedar and minaret.
Attraction
A small Marinid madrasa built between 1323 and 1325 beside the Qarawiyyin, often admired for the density and quality of its tile, stucco and cedar decoration.
Attraction
The tiled 1913 gate that forms the main western entrance to Fes el-Bali, blue on its outer face and green on the side facing the medina.
Attraction
A late 19th-century royal palace near Bab Bou Jeloud that reopened in 2025 as a museum of Islamic arts, with Fes ceramics, historic minbars and a…
Attraction
An 18th-century merchants' inn on Place Nejjarine, restored in the 1990s and opened in 1998 as a museum of Moroccan woodwork and carpentry.
Attraction
The shrine of Idris II, the ruler regarded as the founder of Fes, with the tallest minaret in the old city and a green-tiled roof seen…
Café
A café and cultural space off Tala'a Kebira, home of the camel burger, with a roof terrace, nightly live music and classes in cooking, oud and…
Café
A café-restaurant beside Bab Bou Jeloud with a rooftop overlooking the medina entrance, serving coffee, fresh fruit smoothies, burgers and Moroccan dishes.
Café
A rooftop café-restaurant above Tala'a Kebira near Bab Bou Jeloud, known for small plates, shakshuka and an orange-blossom and cinnamon lassi.
Café
A simple café-restaurant just behind Bab Bou Jeloud, with a rooftop terrace and a menu of breakfasts, juices, harira and tagines.
Café
A colourful garden café beside the Jnan Sbil gardens, with tables under trees and parasols, popular for fresh juice and mint tea.
Café
The tea room in the Grand Patio of Palais Faraj, a calm poolside spot in a 19th-century palace hotel on the edge of the medina.
Hotel
A Relais & Châteaux hotel in a restored 14th-century palace in the medina, with two pools, a spa, a rooftop terrace and the Gayza restaurant and…
Hotel
A contemporary five-star hotel on a hill above Fez, designed by Christophe Pillet, with a spa, rooftop lounge and Moroccan, Italian and Lebanese restaurants.
Hotel
A 19th-century palace on a hill at the edge of the medina, opened as a hotel in 2012, with suites, a pool, the Essencia Spa and…
Hotel
A family-run 21-room hotel in the former home of a prominent Fassi family, with the Eden restaurant, a bar, a cooking school and a hammam.
Hotel
A boutique riad in a 17th-century house in the Andalous quarter, with suites named after winds, a restaurant, a hammam and a MICHELIN Key.
Hotel
A boutique riad in a 17th-century palace with eight rooms and suites around an orange-tree courtyard, plus a roof terrace, hammam and restaurant.
Bar
A late-opening Lebanese restaurant and bar at Hotel Sahrai, with wine, cocktails and a terrace on the hill above Fez, open nightly until 2am.
Bar
The rooftop lounge bar of Hotel Sahrai, with a fireplace, Moroccan wines and views over Fes, a relaxed spot for sunset drinks.
Bar
The bar of Riad Fès in the medina, serving Moroccan and international wines and signature cocktails among orange trees and running water.
Bar
A cocktail and tapas lounge at the Fes Marriott Hotel Jnan Palace in the Ville Nouvelle, open every night from 7pm to 2am.
Bar
A whisky and cigar lounge at the Fes Marriott Hotel Jnan Palace, open daily from 3pm to 2am with a smart casual dress code.
Bar
A lounge bar near Bab Bou Jeloud whose rooftop terrace overlooks the Jnan Sbil gardens, serving tapas and cocktails to an electro soundtrack.
Restaurant
The fine-dining restaurant of Riad Fès, where a long-serving Fassi chef and a Meilleur Ouvrier de France create French and Moroccan menus.
Restaurant
The garden restaurant of Le Jardin des Biehn, where chef Hicham Moufid cooks a daily market menu blending Mediterranean and Moroccan flavours.
Restaurant
The rooftop restaurant of Palais Faraj, serving refined Moroccan and Mediterranean cooking in a garden setting with wide views over the medina.
Restaurant
The signature Moroccan restaurant of Hotel Sahrai, serving gourmet Fassi dishes in a beamed dining room with screened tables and a lute player.
Restaurant
A long-established restaurant in a family house at Batha, serving traditional Moroccan recipes handed down through the El Abbadi family.
Restaurant
A small restaurant with rooms in a traditional dar, where chef Younes Idrissi cooks a changing Mediterranean-Moroccan menu around a tiled courtyard.
Thing to do
The main street of Fes el-Bali, running downhill from Bab Bou Jeloud past souks, workshops and madrasas to the Al-Attarine Madrasa near the Qarawiyyin.
Thing to do
A small medieval square near the Qarawiyyin where coppersmiths still hammer pots and trays, framed by the Qarawiyyin Library and the Saffarin Madrasa.
Thing to do
The historic Jewish quarter of Fes el-Jdid, with balconied houses on Rue des Mérinides, restored synagogues and a historic cemetery.
Thing to do
Ruined 14th-century royal tombs on the hill above Fes el-Bali, the city's favourite sunset viewpoint and a place to hear the call to prayer.
Thing to do
An annual festival founded in 1994 that brings sacred and spiritual music from many traditions to palaces, gardens and squares across Fes, usually in late spring.
Tour operator
A Fes-based company, trading as Plan-it Morocco, that runs food tours, cooking classes, medina and craft tours and day trips to Volubilis and the Middle Atlas.
Tour operator
Cooking classes and culinary tours led by Fes chef Lahcen Beqqi, starting with a souk shopping trip and cooking in a restored medina riad.
Tour operator
The cooking school of Palais Amani, running hands-on Moroccan cooking workshops with a chef-led tasting tour of the souks and a meal in the riad.
Tour operator
A family pottery and zellij workshop in the Ain Nokbi craft district outside Bab Ftouh, offering workshop visits, hands-on classes and worldwide shipping.
Tour operator
The classes programme of Café Clock in the Fes medina, covering traditional Moroccan cooking, baking and patisserie, oud, calligraphy and Moroccan culture.
Two full days cover the main sights of the medina and Fes el-Jdid; three or four days allow a cooking class and a day trip to Meknes, Volubilis or Chefchaouen.
A riad inside Fes el-Bali gives the most atmosphere, with the Bab Bou Jeloud and Batha areas easiest for first-time visitors; hotels on the hills or in the Ville Nouvelle suit drivers and those wanting pools and space.
Taxis wait at Fès-Saïss Airport and take around half an hour to the medina gates; many riads also arrange private transfers with a porter to carry luggage through the lanes.
Fes is generally good value, with cheap street food and local cafés, while luxury riads and hotel restaurants charge international prices.
Fes is generally safe, but the medina is confusing, so use a map or a licensed guide, ignore unofficial guides and touts, and keep valuables out of sight in crowded lanes.