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Travel guide
Fez
3 days · 5 things to do
Best time to go: March to May, and September to November
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Welcome
Fez, in a few days
Fez has one of the oldest and largest medinas in the world, thousands of lanes, the Chouara tanneries with their coloured pits, and the smell of leather and spices. It is Morocco's spiritual capital and its capital of crafts.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 1 thing
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The Fez el-Bali medina free · half a dayA UNESCO-listed walled old city founded in the 9th century, a maze of lanes closed to cars, best explored with a guide at first.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Ibis Fes ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€60 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The Chouara tanneries free · about 30 minStone vats of dye and lime where hides are still worked by hand, seen from the terraces of the leather shops around them.
- Afternoon · Al Quaraouiyine University free · a few minutesFounded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri and often cited as the oldest university still operating; non-Muslims can only look in from the doorways.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Ibis Fes ↗€60 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Bou Inania Madrasa · about 45 minA 14th-century Marinid college of carved cedar, stucco and zellij tilework, one of the few religious buildings in Fez open to non-Muslims.
- Afternoon · The monumental gates free · a few minutesThe gates in the city walls, above all Bab Boujloud, the blue and green tiled entrance to the medina built in 1913.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Tagine: slow-cooked in the clay pot it is named after (chicken and lemon, lamb and prunes).
- Couscous: traditionally a Friday dish.
- Pastilla: a sweet and savoury pie, chicken or pigeon, dusted with sugar.
- Mint tea: less a drink than the way hospitality is done.
- Street food: msemen, harira and skewers on Jemaa el-Fna.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Turn down the unofficial guides who attach themselves to you in the medina. Politely, and firmly.
- Haggle. Starting at a third of the asking price is normal, not rude.
- Ask before photographing people, and before photographing the tanneries.
- Do not drink the tap water. Bottled, with the seal unbroken.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Arabic
| English | Arabic |
|---|---|
| Hello | مرحبا (marhaba) |
| Thank you | شكرا (choukran) |
| Please | من فضلك (min fadlik) |
| Yes | نعم (na'am) |
| No | لا (la) |
| Excuse me | عفوا (afwan) |
| Goodbye | مع السلامة (ma'a salama) |
| Do you speak English? | هل تتكلم الإنجليزية؟ (tatakallam injliziya?) |
| I don't understand | لا أفهم (la afham) |
| How much is it? | بكم هذا؟ (bikam hadha?) |
| Where are the toilets? | أين الحمام؟ (ayna al-hammam?) |
| The bill, please | الحساب من فضلك (al-hisab min fadlik) |
| Help! | النجدة! (an-najda!) |
| Cheers! | في صحتك! (fi sahtak!) |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyMoroccan dirham (MAD)
BudgetAbout €55 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMarch to May, and September to November
PlugC/E · 220V
Tap waterBottled only
TippingAppreciated, around 10%
Emergency19 (police) / 15 (ambulance)
Entry90 days visa-free with a passport for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens.
HealthHepatitis A and typhoid are recommended. No malaria. The heat is the real risk: drink more than you think and cover up.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/fez
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.