Fes 5 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps)
Five days is our 4-day plan plus a full day watching Fes actually make things, ceramics, weaving, and a real cooking class, still no day trip attached. If Meknes and Volubilis fit better as your fifth day instead, our Fes, Morocco guide covers that trip.
Book these before you go:
- A riad in Fes el-Bali : rooms inside the walls are limited, don’t leave this until you land
- A licensed medina walking tour : a badge-carrying guide beats a street hustler on day one
- A Fes cooking class : popular sessions fill up in high season, book a day or two ahead
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bab Boujloud, Bou Inania Madrasa, the souks, riad dinner |
| 2 | Chouara Tannery, Nejjarine Square, Borj Nord, Merenid Tombs at sunset |
| 3 | Al-Attarine Madrasa, Al-Qarawiyyin, Seffarine Square, the Mellah |
| 4 | Fes el-Jdid, Royal Palace gates, Ville Nouvelle, Dar Batha Museum |
| 5 | Pottery and weaving cooperatives, a cooking class, a hammam |
Day 1: Bab Boujloud and the medina’s first layer
Land at Fes-Saïss (FEZ), about 15km south of the medina, and take the posted fixed-rate grand taxi (roughly 150 MAD sedan, 250 MAD van) or insist on the meter for a cheaper 80-120 MAD ride; agree the fare before the car moves either way. Check into a riad inside or right at the edge of the UNESCO-listed Fes el-Bali ; staying outside it defeats the point of the trip.
Walk in through Bab Boujloud, the so-called Blue Gate, and note it’s actually 1913 French colonial work, not medieval, before heading to Bou Inania Madrasa (20 MAD), the only Fes madrasa with a working mosque and genuinely stunning zellige tilework and cedar carving. Spend the rest of the afternoon getting lost on purpose in the souks around Talaa Kebira; Fes el-Bali is the world’s largest car-free urban zone, and its 9,400-plus alleys are built to confuse you, not to punish you for it.
For dinner, book a riad courtyard meal in advance if you can. Many riads open dinner service to non-guests by reservation, and it beats hunting for a table on your first night.
Day 2: Tanneries, Nejjarine Square, and a sunset view
Head to the Chouara Tannery in the late morning, roughly 10:30am to 3pm, when the dye pits are actually being worked rather than sitting idle. You’ll be walked through a leather shop to a viewing terrace; take the mint sprig offered at the door, it genuinely helps with the smell, and know the 10-20 MAD tip afterward, if you’re not buying, is the real system here, not an official entrance fee.
From there, Nejjarine Square’s restored fountain and its Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts make a quieter counterpoint, the same artisan tradition in carved wood instead of dyed hide. According to visitmorocco.com’s Fez page , the medina’s craft quarters have worked this way for centuries, and little about the daily rhythm has changed. Late afternoon, climb to Borj Nord, a 16th-century fortress now an Arms Museum, and continue up to the Merenid Tombs for the best sunset view over the whole medina, free, always open, no ticket to plan around.
Is the Chouara Tannery worth the smell and the hassle? Yes, once, provided you go in knowing the tip is the norm here and not a scam dressed up as one.
Day 3: The other madrasa, the university, and the Mellah
Morning goes to Al-Attarine Madrasa (20 MAD), built 1323-1325 beside the spice market its name comes from, widely rated the finest surviving example of Marinid zellige tilework, carved cedar, and stucco in the city, arguably even more striking than Bou Inania. From there, walk to Al-Qarawiyyin’s main gate on Derb Boutouil: founded in 859 CE by Fatima al-Fihri and recognized as the oldest continuously operating educational institution on earth, though non-Muslims cannot enter the mosque or prayer hall, only glimpse the courtyard through the gates. The attached library reopened to visitors in 2016 and is worth trying on the day, though access is inconsistent in practice.
Seffarine Square, just past the university, is where Fes’ metalworkers still hammer copper and brass by hand; watch for ten minutes before lunch nearby.
Spend the afternoon in the Mellah, Morocco’s oldest Jewish quarter, dating to roughly the mid-15th century, its open balconies on Rue des Mérinides a visible break from the medina’s blank walls. The restored 17th-century Ibn Danan Synagogue looks out over the Jewish cemetery’s white tombs below, a quiet, affecting stop that gets a fraction of the medina’s foot traffic. A guided Jewish heritage walk through the quarter is worth arranging if you’d rather have the history filled in as you go.
Can non-Muslims enter Al-Qarawiyyin? No, not the working parts of it, though the courtyard view from the gates and, with some luck, the historic library are both genuinely worth the short walk.
Day 4: Fes el-Jdid and the modern half of the city
Day four moves out of Fes el-Bali into Fes el-Jdid, the “New Fez” the Marinids founded in 1276 as a royal citadel and capital, a separate walled district from the old medina. The Royal Palace, Dar al-Makhzen, is exterior-only for visitors: the brass-and-bronze gates are worth the walk and the photo, but nobody gets inside. Visitmorocco.com’s Fez destination page has the official overview of the district if you want background before you go.
From there, walk into Ville Nouvelle, the French-protectorate-era new town, for a genuinely different Fes: wide boulevards, working ATMs, and the official tourist office at Place Mohamed V, opposite Café la Renaissance, useful if you still need to book a guide for the rest of the trip. A half-day guided tour of the district is worth arranging if you’d rather not navigate it cold.
Spend the afternoon at Dar Batha Museum, a restored Hispano-Moorish palace built around a large Andalusian garden, home to the city’s “Fes blue” ceramics and traditional woodcarving and ironwork; admission figures vary by source, roughly 20-60 MAD, worth confirming at the door. Jnan Sbil, the botanical garden just outside the medina walls, is a free, shaded reset before dinner.
Is Fes el-Jdid worth a half day if you’ve already done Fes el-Bali? Yes, mostly for the contrast. It’s architecturally distinct and calmer, and shows you the Mellah’s open balconies and Ville Nouvelle’s Art Deco storefronts alongside the old medina’s blank walls, a version of Fes most two- and three-day visitors never see.
Day 5: Watching Fes make things
Day five is for watching Fes actually make what it’s famous for. A pottery cooperative near the potters’ quarter of Ain Nokbi turns the region’s grey clay into the hand-painted “Fes blue” ceramics you saw at Dar Batha the day before, and most workshops let you watch the wheel and the kiln for free, hoping you’ll buy on the way out, no obligation if you don’t. A weaving or carpet cooperative works the same way: free to watch, negotiable if you buy, and worth comparing two shops before settling on a price.
Book a cooking class for late morning or early afternoon; most cover a tagine and Fes’ signature pastilla, the sweet-savory pigeon or chicken pie under a dusting of cinnamon and sugar, and it’s a better souvenir than another rug you’ll need to ship home.
Close the day at a hammam: steam, a black soap scrub, and a firm scrub-down with a rough mitt that makes a real difference after four days of medina cobblestones. Dinner back at your riad, or a reserved table at another one nearby, both beat hunting for a table on a Fes side street after dark.
Before you go
The dirham (MAD) is a closed currency: you can’t buy it before you land, only get and spend it inside Morocco, and a roughly 2,000 MAD cap applies to cash carried across the border either direction. Keep small bills on hand, most of the medina runs cash-only. Dress modestly, shoulders and knees covered, especially near religious sites, and agree every taxi fare before the car moves, not after.