Fès-Meknès · Morocco
Where to stay in Fez
Fez is a city in Fès-Meknès, Morocco, home to about 1,168,000 people. This guide covers 1 hotel in Fez.
- Places to stay in this guide
- 1
- Best months
- March to May, October and November
- Nearest airport
- FEZ13 km · Fes Saïss International Airport
- Currency
- MADMoroccan dirham
- Time zone
- Africa/Casablanca
- Language
- Arabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight
About
About Fez
Fez or Fes is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fez-Meknes administrative region. It is one of the largest cities in Morocco, with a population of 1.256 million, according to the 2024 census.
Fez is the medieval capital of Morocco, and a great city of high Islamic civilization. Fez has the best-preserved old city in the Arab world, the sprawling, labyrinthine medina of Fes el-Bali, which is incidentally also the world's largest car-free urban zone. Transport of goods is provided by donkeys, carriages, and motorbikes. The city has just over 1 million inhabitants.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Fez
See
- The Tanneries
- Bou Inania Madrasa
- Al Attarine Madrasa
- Andalusian Mosque
- Borj Nord
- Borj Sud
- Merenid Tombs
- Moulay Idriss II shrine
- Al Quaraouiyine mosque and library
- Mosque and Mausoleum of Sidi Ahmad al-Tijani
- Nejjarine Museum
- Dar Batha Museum
Do
One of the most fascinating activities to do in Fez is a trip in the medina (Old City). The medina is so complex to navigate that sometimes it is easier to simply lose yourself in the hustle and bustle of the various markets, and find your way out once you have had enough of all the sights, sounds, and smells that will overwhelm your senses. You will eventually find your way out via lots of dried fruit, leather goods, ceramics, textiles and food stalls! Get a shave in the medina, nowhere is it cheaper than here, and they really pay attention, even trimming your hair.
- Sofitel Palais Jamai terrace
- Fez Stadium
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Places to stay in Fez
1 place to stay from the chains this guide covers, each linked to its own website.
| Place to stay |
|---|
| Barceló Fès Medina hotel |
Schematic: the city centre in orange, each place to stay as a dot, distance rings in kilometres.
Where to stay
Which part of Fez to stay in
Most visitors to Fez will want to stay in the Fez El Bali (Old Fez, or Medina) as the main tourist sights are located there and where many local residences operate as guesthouses. Also, the new town is quite a distance from the medina, so you will be relying on taxis to take you in and out every day.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
More hotels in Fez
182 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata; the 40 best known are shown, by the number of Wikipedia editions that cover them. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Across Hotels & Spa | 0.6 km | |
| Algilà Fes Riad Medina Charme Hotel | 3.1 km | |
| Aparthotel Les Oliviers Suites & Spa | 3.3 km | |
| Bab Al Madina | 4.0 km | |
| Casa Aya Medina | 3.2 km | |
| Dar Al Andalous | 2.7 km | |
| Dar Al Madina Al Kadima | 2.7 km | |
| Dar Al Safadi | 3.1 km | |
| Dar Aliane | 1.0 km | |
| Dar Anebar | 4.0 km | |
| Dar Anne | 3.0 km | |
| Dar Arsama | 3.1 km | |
| Dar Attajalli | 3.5 km | |
| Dar Berrada | 3.0 km | |
| Dar Bhija | 3.3 km | |
| Dar Borj | 2.9 km | |
| Dar Chourouk | 3.1 km | |
| Dar Chrif Idrissi | 3.5 km | |
| Dar D'or Fes | 2.7 km | |
| Dar El Mathaf | 2.8 km | |
| Dar El Ouedghiri | 3.1 km | |
| Dar El Yasmine | 3.0 km | |
| Dar Elbalia | 3.3 km | |
| Dar Essoaoude - Fes Nejjarine | 3.4 km | |
| Dar Faracha Fes | 2.9 km | |
| Dar Fes Medina | 3.0 km | |
| Dar Fes Tresor | 3.0 km | |
| Dar Gnaoua | 3.3 km | |
| Dar Hafsa | 3.1 km | |
| Dar Houdou | 2.9 km | |
| Dar Labchara | 3.1 km | |
| Dar Lalamoune | 2.8 km | |
| Dar Lalla Mina | 3.2 km | |
| Dar Lalla Wafae | 2.7 km | |
| Dar Merzouga | 2.8 km | |
| Dar Mfaddel | 3.4 km | |
| Dar Mounadim | 2.9 km | |
| Dar Naima | 3.2 km | |
| Dar Nejma | 3.3 km | |
| Dar Nour | 2.6 km |
When to go
The best time to visit Fez
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Fez are March to May, October and November. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 33 °C; December is the wettest, with about 74 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Fez: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Fes Saïss International Airport (FEZ), about 13 km from the city centre in a straight line.
Getting around
The main street is the Talaa Kbira, which runs from Bab Boujeloud to the Kairouine mosque in the heart of the medina. The Talaa Sghira also begins at Bab Boujeloud and eventually merges back into the Talaa Kbira. Once you get into the narrow, winding heart of the medina, you can also find your way out again by constantly heading downhill, which will eventually lead to the Place R'cif, a dropoff for buses and taxis, where you can get a petit taxi out of the medina. For more detailed tours and directions, look for the book Fez from Bab to Bab (Hammad Berrada).
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
FEZ · Fes Saïss International Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Fez
Eat
The markets near the 'main' gate of Bab Boujeloud (near to Hotel Cascades) are full of yummy food. It is worth just wandering through them, buying random bits of food. Street food is very cheap and is often safe. Restaurants, even cheap ones, will often be up to twice the cost of street food, and the quality can be the same. In the medina it is difficult to find cheap food other than in the Bab Boujeloud area. There are only a very few tourist restaurants where you will get ripped off and some food stalls down in the food market near the R'cif place.
Drink
Almost all drinking establishments in Fez are hotel bars. The rest are local bars that women and anyone without a good command of Arabic might be uncomfortable entering. In bars of either type, prostitutes are frequent but mostly ignore western travellers. Fes is a much more traditional town than Casablanca or Marrakesh, and it is illegal to drink in public. Purchasing alcohol or seeming intoxicated are sure to draw stern looks from passersby.
Stay safe
Fez is somewhat safe, but crowded. Take standard precautions against pickpocketing. If you hear "Belek! Belek!" behind you, stand aside because a heavily-laden donkey is bearing down on you! Appear to know where you are going, even if you don't, or you will get offers from false guides. False guides are not dangerous but they can be exasperatingly tenacious. Best technique is to not even acknowledge their presence. That is rude and they won't be pleased, but it is better than to have them walk with you for half an hour.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Questions
Fez: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Fez?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Fez are March to May, October and November. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 33 °C; December is the wettest, with about 74 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Fez?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Fes Saïss International Airport (FEZ), about 13 km from the city centre in a straight line.
What currency is used in Fez?
Moroccan dirham (MAD).
Nearby
Destinations near Fez
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.