If you’re organising a trip with friends, Fez is a city full of history and places to enjoy as a group. The old city, its walls, its souks and its famous doorways are things you won’t want to miss. But it’s also a great idea to go to a hammam together, or to travel to other neighbouring cities. This is a guide to the attractions you really mustn’t miss on a trip with friends.
A selection of ideas
A visit to the Medina
Fes el Bali, with its thousands of streets and hundreds of districts, is considered to be the largest medina in the world, and a unique place to wander around in good company. If you don’t want to miss any of the city’s secrets, you should ideally hire a local guide, but if you prefer adventure, the best approach is to take the two main streets, Talaa Kebira and Talaa Sghira, and wander at will, discovering small corners, squares, and souks with stalls grouped by guild.
Rainbow Street Art
Very close to Bab Bou Jeloud, as you follow Talaa Sghira, there is one of the most colourful spots in the whole medina, known as Rainbow Street Art. It all began as an initiative by the artist Omar Rahali, who began to fill his shop with colours and went on to paint the whole street in a vivid rainbow.
This is a magical spot that has become one of the most photographed places in the medina, and which should not be missed on any visit with friends.
Go shopping at the souks
Haggling, the practice that governs shopping in Fez, is much more fun if you’re in company, although it can descend into madness if everyone talks at once. In Fez, the number of souks is into double figures, and they are organised into guilds, depending on the goods they sell. There’s the Henna souk, with beauty products; the Atterine souk, full of spices; the Chemainne souk, with nuts and sweets; the Nejjarine souk with objects made from wood, and the stalls in Place Seffarine, full of metal goods such as teapots, couscoussiers, and tea caddies.
There is also a souk, Ain Allou, that specialises in leather goods, but in the shops around the Chouara Tannery you can find any leatherwork item you care to mention: wallets, slippers, bags, pouffés, and more.
Find the most beautiful doorway
The doorways at the Royal Palace are definitely the most photographed. Seven fabulous entrances that symbolise the seven stages of the monarchy. But this Moroccan city and its medina are full of fantastic doorways, 12 of which provide access to the city itself through the city wall, while others lead to madrassas, mosques, palaces or mansions where the stunning decoration of the entrance contrasts with the otherwise subdued appearance of the outside.
Whether gilded, blue, or brown and carved from wood or metal, or made of tiles, such doorways are everywhere in Fez.
The Chouara Tannery
This is one of the most famous images of Fez: dozens of brown and white vats where the skins of camels, goats, sheep and cows are prepared in the traditional manner, as they have been for centuries. The spectacle of Fez’s biggest tannery is unique, and the best way to see it is from the terrace of one of the shops in the blocks that surround the tannery square.
The shopkeepers will happily let you through, and they will even give you a bunch of mint, which you will need to withstand the smell as you watch the men working in the vats.
If you don’t buy anything from the leather goods shops at Chouara, you should leave a tip at the end of your visit.
Go to a hammam
Enjoying the famous Moroccan ritual at a hammam is a unique experience when you’re with friends. Not only is it a way of seeing how the residents of Fez socialise: it is also a place where you can relax and cool down after the bustle of the medina and its souks.
You need to bear in mind that there are separate public hammams for each gender, and that they are much cheaper than the private hammams. Having said that, you do have to bathe with other members of the public who attend.
Friday is the busiest day, as it is the Muslim holy day.
If you choose a private hammam, it will be much more expensive, but you can all go in together — and even if you are a large group, you will not have to share with others.
A trip to Meknes
Meknes is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco, located just 65 kilometres from Fez, making it an enjoyable destination for a day trip.
The so-called “city of a hundred minarets” has the largest port in Morocco, Bab Mansour, along with 40 kilometres of defensive walls that have protected Meknes and its rich cultural heritage over the centuries.
The Lalla Aouda esplanade, which connects to the famous Hedim square via the great gateway, is the perfect place to feel the energy of the city. If you want to go shopping, the best place is the souk in the Dar Kebira neighbourhood.
Cookery classes
Many of the restaurants in Fez that have a terrace and views of the city have started running classes in Moroccan cooking for groups — a trend that is really taking off in the city. This activity can be great fun if you’re with a group of friends who are all gastronomic aficionados.
The classes (which usually last about four hours and are followed by a meal) are a great way to discover the secrets, not only of Moroccan cuisine but also of Fez’s culture, where a simple tea must be prepared with the correct ritual so that it is both enjoyable and helps the conversation along.
Visit the Arms Museum
To go up to the Borj Nord tower is a unique experience, not just to visit the sixteenth-century military fortress that protected the city against attacks from the north, but also because the terrace of the Arms Museum affords such fantastic views over the city.
In addition, the exhibition is one of the most important of its kind in the whole continent, and you can see weapons from Europe and all of Asia although, obviously, the most important displays are of Moroccan arms.
Swords, arquebuses, lances, richly embellished daggers, guns, and standards are just a few of the artefacts that can be seen here, along with a five-metre cannon that, according to the museum, was used in the Battle of the Three Kings.
Sample the food in the new part of the city
This is the part of the city where the French influence is strongest, an area packed with restaurants, cafés and cake shops where you can eat at any time of the day. It is divided by two great avenues, Avenue Hassan II and Boulevard Mohammed V, and here you can find countless gardens, fountains and places to enjoy a cup of tea.
In this area, which is populated by foreigners and more affluent Fez residents, traditional Moroccan restaurants can be hard to find. More common are international and, particularly, fast-food establishments. But it can be a good idea to visit here if you want to see the young people of Fez at play.
Stay in Fez
One of the best places to stay in Fez, thanks to both its location and its standard of comfort, is the Barceló Fès Medina, situated very close to the old city.
With 134 guest rooms, this modern building fitted with designer furniture provides every comfort and convenience, both in the rooms themselves and also in terms of facilities: an outdoor swimming pool, a spa, a sauna, and a traditional hammam where you can pamper yourself with one of the treatments on offer.
Moreover, the hotel complex is very close to the airport (about 20 minutes away) and only five minutes from the railway station, making arrival and departure easy.
The hotel also has an international restaurant, whose menu includes typical Moroccan dishes, and a Jazz Bar serving cocktails and alcoholic drinks — a good place to round off the day.
