Explore with Amie

This blog post concludes my three part travel guide series on Morocco, covering the cities that I visited on a recent trip. It started with Marrakesh, the most well-known of the cities, then moved to Tangier which felt very different, almost Mediterranean in feel and finally we have Fez (or Fes) which is arguably the most traditional Moroccan experience of the three. Here is everything you need to know for a trip there.

Fez was thought to have been founded in the 8th century under the Idrisid rule when it consisted of two separate autonomous regions. Then in the 11th century, Almoravid Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin united the two and it became the Medina aka old town of today’s Fez. The Medina is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is one of the largest and oldest pedestrian zones in the world, meaning no cars can enter. The city is much larger now than just the Medina but, it is here that tourists flock to each year and where you’ll get a true sense of traditional Arabic culture.

Getting there

As I mentioned, our visit to Fez was part of a larger trip to the country and so we travelled from within Morocco. We arrived from Tangier via train which was very easy as we booked the tickets using a machine in Tanger Ville Railway Station which had an English translation button. This cost 480 MAD which is around £38 for four people, so you’re looking at under £10 each for a 4 hour journey across the country. You don’t get prices like that in the UK. You can also arrive by train from other nearby cities such as Casablanca and Rabat. If you’re travelling from further afield in Morocco though, like Marrakesh or Agadir, flying is the best option.

Fez is served by Fès–Saïss Airport which has many flights from international destinations as well as within Morocco itself. We flew out of this airport and it’s very small! The departures area and the gates are in one room so you don’t have to go far. It’s very easy to get to an from the airport, just hop in an official taxi. You’ll likely pay more than a local or, you could barter should you wish to.

Accommodation

There are many accommodation options including hotels and hostels. However, because of my allergy, we wanted to get a place that had cooking facilities and some of the hostels didn’t have that. Instead we opted to use Airbnb. The place was chose was fantastic. I highly highly recommend this apartment. The small space was so well used with stairs and ladders galore – I wouldn’t recommend this if you have bad knees or struggle with stairs at all. But, it was that layout that made this such a fun place to stay! The kitchen was well equipped and the balcony was a fantastic place to have lunch in the morning. The host, Violetta, went above and beyond, collecting us from a pre-arranged meeting point and taking us there with all of her children in tow because the men were watching the football. If I was to go back to Fez, I would stay here again.

Things we saw and did

In all of the other posts, I have split the ‘thing to do’ section based on our itinerary however, we only spend one day in Fez. We arrived from Tangier at around 7pm and by the time we had arrived at the accommodation, it was too late to do much exploring. Then, on the second day, we departed for the airport at around 5pm and that was plenty of time! You really wouldn’t need longer than two nights here so, let’s get into it.

Sadly, after a lovely welcome from our Airbnb host, our visit to Fez didn’t get off to the best start. It was the Africa Nations Cup during our time in Morocco and they were hosting the football tournament. The evening we arrived in Fez, it just so happened that Morocco were playing and so the streets were empty and everything was closed. We ventured out at around 8pm to try and find some dinner. All of the shops in the Medina seemed to be close and we were the only people walking about other than some of the locals. Unfortunately, this meant that we were a prime target to be bothered with people asking to give us directions, take us to specific Souks or even to have dinner with their family. Of course, we declined all this as, whilst seeming friendly, money was certainly the objective. We retreated back to the accommodation instead.

I don’t say this to put you off as I think that this was mainly caused by the specific circumstances. Had the football not been on, we probably would have been completely fine. We were fine going back to our accommodation and it was mainly because we didn’t want to have to keep going through the same thing, rather than feeling in any short of danger. These kinds of things do happen in Morocco but, when it’s busy you can say no and carry on you way. Don’t let this put you off but, I did want to share my full experience in the city and sadly, that’s the way it started.

Because of that, I was a little apprehensive the next day about heading out and it made us suspicious the next day of everyones intentions. However, when I say that Fez was my favourite of all of the cities we visited, you’ll understand that things really did turn around.

The day began by visiting a tannery which Fez is famous for. In particular, we visited the Tannerie Chouara which is the largest in the city and also one of the oldest. Instead of heading to the tannery itself, it is better to go to one of the many shops offering a ‘free’ visit to their shop balcony to see the tannery. They obviously do this to get you into the shop so that you buy something however, you also do get the best view from above. Tanneries are where leather made. The animal skin is stripped of it’s fur and then dyed using natural ingredients such as turmeric before being dried and used to make the leather products sold around the Medina. The people in the shop told us about the history of the tannery and also gave us mint. Tanneries famously smell terrible but…I didn’t think it was all that bad. We did go fairly early in the morning though by Morocco’s standards – things don’t tend to get going until midday.

Alex’s brother and his wife, who went with on this trip, bought some leather slips from the shop we used and so, I can’t say if you would have been asked to pay had we not bought something. I do still think it’s worth it though, if they ask.

Then, we immersed ourselves in the city and it’s Souks in search of our next souvenir. Alex and I were looking to buy some ceramic bowls to take home and so we explored the narrow streets. This is truly the highlight. I have been nowhere else in the world that is pedestrian only (with the exception of some mopeds and donkeys) and it is incredible. The narrow streets are very easy to get lost in so keep an eye on where you are and where you’ve come from but really do immerse yourselves in the streets. The shops spill out onto the paths selling a range of items from bowls and slippers to straw animals and classic souvenirs like snow globes and fridge magnets.

As part of you exploration, be sure to pass the University of al-Qarawiyyin not far from the tannery. The university was founded as a mosque in 857 to 859 AD and so became one of the leading spiritual and educational centres in the Islamic Golden Age. This historic building is beautiful to look at. Tourists aren’t allowed inside but you can still appreciate it as one of the oldest places of learning in the world. If you’d like to enter a religious place, Mausoleum of Moulay Idriss II is one of the places that non-muslims can enter. Here is the tomb of Idriss II, who ruled Morocco in the early 800s.

Surrounding the Souks and the Medina as a whole, are arched gateways into the city. One of the most famous of these is the Bab Boujloud or the “Blue Gate”. This was built by the French colonialist administration during 1913 to serve as a grand entrance to the city and it is certainly that! The blue titling is incredibly ornate and beautiful. This marks the western entrance to the city and cars aren’t able to enter the city beyond this point. Other examples of these throughout Fez include Bab Ftouh, Bab Khoukha and Bab el-Hadid.

We used the Bab Chorfa gate to exit the city and head to my favourite spot in Fez. From here we headed to the Borj Nord Museum which is a war museum but, we didn’t go inside. Instead, we walked around the edge of the building and were graced with the most incredible views of the Medina and the Atlas Mountain behind. One of the great things about this was it was a pure escape from the hustle, bustle and chaos of the Souks and main streets. It was quiet and peaceful and potentially my favourite moment of our entire trip to Morocco. I highly recommend heading up here. The other options for a viewpoint across the city is Borj Sud which is an ancient military tower which is free to stand outside and appreciate the view. We opted for the Borj Nord but, you could do both if you had more time.

We focused mainly on things to do and see inside the Medina itself, or just surrounding it on our day in the city and I don’t feel like we missed out. I think we got an excellent feel of the city although, you could still fill a full weekend there with other things too. So, here’s a brief look at the things we didn’t get the chance to see.

The Royal Palace is located outside of the Medina and is only a brief stop off as you can’t actually enter the palace. This is however a well-loved photo spot in the city due to grand entrance to the palace with the beautiful tiling I’ve come to expect from Morocco. It’s important to remember too that every single one of these tiles will have been handmade and hand painted which you can’t even begin to fathom. How they managed to create such ornate patterns and so much of it…I have no idea. The skill involved is incredible.

The are also a few day trips that you can do from Fez one of which I mentioned in the Tangier Travel Guide as you can also do this from there. That one is Chefchaouen which is the “blue city” where all the houses are blue! It looks pretty cool and I’d probably want to go here if I was in the area again. The other options are a trip to the Middle Atlas Mountains to experience the traditional Berber villages and lifestyle, similar to the trip we took in Marrakesh, I would guess and to Meknes. This is a nearby city which we actually passed through on the train on our way to Fez so you could do this one on your own, outside of a Get Your Guide kind of thing. It looked nice from what I saw on the train!

That brings me to the end of this Fez Travel Guide. As I said, Fez was my favourite of the three cities we visited by the end and I definitely recommend adding it onto your Morocco itinerary if you can!

Are you planning a visit to Fez? What are you looking forward to the most?

Amie x