Fes
Morocco's oldest imperial capital, a walled city of some three hundred hectares where no car can pass, with a university founded in 859 at its centre.
- Arrival
- Fès–Saïss · FEZ
- To the city
- About 13 km to the centre by road
- Private jets
- Airport of entry at FEZ, open 24 hours
- Best time
- March to June · September to November
The city
A city that walks.
Fes el Bali was laid out by the Idrisid dynasty at the end of the eighth century, and under the Almohads it held some two hundred thousand people. Today its lanes, closed to cars, still carry mules and handcarts, and the whole quarter has been on the World Heritage List since 1981, together with the royal town of Fes Jdid beside it.
The hotels worth the journey are mostly old houses turned inwards on their courtyards, or newer buildings on the hills that look down on the roofs. Come in spring or autumn: July and August reach 33 °C, and winter afternoons stay near 16 °C with the year's heaviest rain.
Arriving
Thirteen kilometres from the gates.
Fès–Saïss lies about thirteen kilometres south of the city, with a single 3,200-metre runway. It is an airport of entry, with customs and a control tower open day and night.
- Ibiza 1 h 20
- Tunis 2 h 10
- Zurich 2 h 45
- Lagos 4 h 25
- Cape Town 10 h 35 long-range jet
When to go
March to June, and September to November.
High inland, with real seasons. Go in spring or autumn, March to June and September to November, when afternoons run from 19 to 30 °C. High summer touches 33 °C, and from December to February the days are cool and wet.
- 16° J 65
- 17° F 75
- 19° M 70
- 20° A 68
- 24° M 40
- 28° J 16
- 33° J 2
- 33° A 3
- 30° S 13
- 25° O 45
- 20° N 71
- 16° D 71
What to see and do
Days in and around Fes.
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Landmark
Al-Qarawiyyin
Founded in 859 and held by UNESCO to be the oldest university still teaching, in the centre of the medina.
-
Landmark
Bou Inania Madrasa
A Marinid college of carved cedar, stucco and tile, one of the great monuments of the old city.
-
Landmark
Chouara tanneries
Leather dyed in open stone pits, best watched from the terraces of the shops around them.
-
Culture
Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts
A merchants' inn of 1711, restored and opened as a museum in 1998, shows carved doors, instruments and Qur'an boards from across Morocco.
-
Culture
Al Batha Museum of Islamic Arts
Sultan Hassan I's palace, a museum since 1915, reopened in February 2025 after renovation, with over 6,500 objects and an Andalusian garden.
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Nature
Jnan Sbil Gardens
Laid out under Moulay Hassan I between the two old towns, these 7.5 hectares of fountains, norias and themed gardens reopened in 2011.
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Opera & music
Fes Festival of World Sacred Music
Concerts at Bab Al Makina and in Jnan Sbil each June; the 29th edition in 2026 brought more than 160 artists.
-
Golf
Royal Golf de Fès
Designed by Cabell Robinson and opened in 1994, this par 72 course of 18 holes lies off the Imouzzer road.
Where to stay
Courtyard houses and hilltop views.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Riad Fès A Relais & Châteaux house with a MICHELIN Key, owned by a Moroccan architect, with a pool, a hammam and a restaurant across three dining rooms.
- Hotel Sahrai Fifty rooms and a suite designed by Christophe Pillet, on a hill between the old and new towns, with an infinity pool and a Givenchy spa.
- Palais Faraj Suites & Spa Thirty-one suites on a hillside at the rim of the old city, several looking straight down over its roofs.
- Karawan Riad Seven suites in a seventeenth-century harem palace that took a decade to restore, with a French-Fassi kitchen and a MICHELIN Key.
- Riad Laaroussa Thirteen rooms around a courtyard of citrus trees and a fountain, each suite with its own wood fire; one MICHELIN Key.
Where to dine
The best tables in the medina.
No MICHELIN Guide covers Morocco’s restaurants. Two of these are in Fodor’s guide to Fes; the third is the restaurant of Riad Fès, a Relais & Châteaux house.
- Dar Roumana Fodor’s Choice Franco-Moroccan $$$ Fes el Bali, medina
- L’Amandier Fodor’s Moroccan and Mediterranean $$$ Palais Faraj, Bab Ziat
- Gayza Signature restaurant, Riad Fès French and Moroccan Riad Fès, Zerbtana, medina
Elsewhere in Morocco
More reasons to come.
Flying to Fes?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.