Things to Do in Fes: A First-Timer’s Guide
Fes tends to get treated as a stopover, either the start or end point of a desert route toward Marrakech, which undersells a city that many travelers who spend real time in actually rate as more historically dense than Marrakech itself. Fes el Bali, its old medina, is one of the largest car-free urban areas in the world, and it rewards more than a rushed afternoon.
Why Fes Feels Different from Marrakech
Things to do in Fes
Where Marrakech’s medina has adapted heavily to tourism, Fes’s old city remains, in large stretches, a genuinely working urban center: workshops, religious schools, and residential neighborhoods operating much as they have for centuries, with tourism layered on top rather than driving the whole economy. The result is a medina that can feel more disorienting for first-time visitors, narrower, denser, and less obviously signposted, but also more rewarding for exactly the same reasons.
The University of Al Qarawiyyin
Founded in the 9th century, the University of Al Qarawiyyin is widely recognized as one of the oldest continuously operating educational institutions in the world, predating universities in Europe by centuries. The attached mosque remains active and isn’t generally open to non-Muslim visitors inside, but the surrounding buildings and the institution’s historical significance make it a genuine landmark rather than a photo backdrop, and several viewpoints nearby allow a look at the exterior architecture.
The Chouara Tannery
Fes’s leather tanneries, most famously Chouara, are one of the most recognizable sights in the city: a series of stone vats filled with dye and treatment solutions, arranged in a honeycomb pattern and worked by hand much as they have been for centuries. Most visitors view the tanneries from surrounding leather shop terraces, which typically offer sprigs of fresh mint to hold near your nose, since the dyeing process produces a strong smell that catches most first-time visitors off guard.
Bab Boujloud and the Medina Gates
The Blue Gate, Bab Boujloud, marks one of the main entrances to Fes el Bali and is worth pausing at both for its own elaborate tilework and as an orientation point, since the medina’s layout is considerably harder to navigate mentally than Marrakech’s more tourist-adapted alleys.
Al-Attarine and Bou Inania Madrasas
These historic Quranic schools, both open to visitors, showcase some of the finest tilework, carved cedar, and stucco craftsmanship in the city, offering a quieter, more contemplative counterpoint to the medina’s busier commercial streets. Bou Inania in particular is notable for including a working mosque alongside the school, a combination that was relatively rare in Marinid-era religious architecture.
Shopping in the Fes Souks
Fes is particularly known for pottery, especially blue and white Fassi ceramics, along with metalwork, particularly engraved brass and copper pieces sold throughout the medina’s dedicated trade districts. As in other Moroccan medinas, souks here are organized loosely by craft, making it possible to find a concentrated area for ceramics, another for metalwork, and another for textiles rather than everything mixed together.
The Merenid Tombs and City Views
Ruined tombs on a hillside above the medina offer one of the best overall views of Fes, particularly at sunset, when the old city’s density becomes visually clear in a way that’s hard to appreciate from within its own narrow streets. It’s a short taxi ride from the medina and a popular, relatively uncrowded spot compared to similar viewpoints in Marrakech.
Navigating the Medina
Fes el Bali is genuinely more difficult to navigate independently than Marrakech’s medina, given its scale and density, and hiring a local guide, at least for a first orientation walk, is more commonly recommended here than almost anywhere else in Morocco. Unofficial guides sometimes approach visitors near medina entrances; confirming credentials or booking through a riad or established operator avoids most of the friction associated with this.
How Much Time to Spend in Fes
A single full day covers the essentials, the tanneries, a madrasa or two, and a walk through the main medina routes, but two days allows for a considerably less rushed pace and time to explore the quieter residential sections of the old city that most day-trip itineraries skip entirely.
Fes as Part of a Longer Itinerary
Fes works naturally as one end of a desert crossing toward Marrakech, meaning most visitors already pass through rather than needing to add it as a separate trip. Building in a full day or two here, rather than treating it purely as a transit point, is one of the more commonly cited regrets among travelers who rushed through on their first visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fes worth visiting if I’ve already seen Marrakech? Yes, the two cities offer distinctly different medina experiences, and Fes’s is generally considered the more historically intact of the two.
Do I need a guide in Fes? It’s not mandatory, but far more commonly recommended here than in Marrakech, given how much larger and less intuitively laid out Fes el Bali is.
Can Fes be seen in a single day? A single full day covers the main landmarks, but Fes rewards a slower pace more than most Moroccan cities, so two days is worth considering if your itinerary allows it.
Planning Your Time in Fes
Whether Fes is the start or end of a desert route for you, or a dedicated stop in its own right, it’s worth more time than a quick pass-through allows. Let us know how many days you can give it and we’ll help shape the visit around what matters most to you.