Fès Medina Guided Tour

Overview

In short: The Fès el-Bali Medina Guided Tour is a 4–7 hour walking tour of the UNESCO-listed old medina of Fès, Morocco, with a licensed guide. Highlights include Bab Boujloud, Bou Inania Madrasa, Al-Qarawiyyin (founded 859), Al-Attarine Madrasa, Nejjarine Square, the Chouara tannery and the Merinid Tombs viewpoint.

Duration

Half or full day

Starts

Fès

Ends

Fès

Tour type

Private guided tour

Language

English or French; Spanish or Italian on request

Stops

8 places

Meeting point

Bab Boujloud (Blue Gate) or your riad in the medina

Difficulty

Moderate · steep lanes, steps and 6–8 km of walking

Best time

March–May and September–November

Entry fees (approx.)

Bou Inania Madrasa ~20 MAD · Al-Attarine Madrasa ~20 MAD · Nejjarine Museum ~20 MAD · tannery terraces free via leather shops

The first thing to know about Fès el-Bali is that your phone will not help you much. GPS drifts under the covered lanes, half the alleys are missing from the maps, and the ones that are there often end at somebody's front door. People who try it alone tend to spend the morning circling the same three streets near Bab Boujloud.

The second thing is that it is worth the effort. Fès was founded in 789 and the old city has been trading, praying and studying more or less without a break ever since. There are no cars. Goods still move by donkey and handcart, and the trades are still grouped the way they were centuries ago: coppersmiths around one square, dyers near the river, leather at the bottom of the hill.

We go in through the Blue Gate and work our way downhill, which is kinder on the legs, then take a car up to the Merinid Tombs for the view at the end.

Highlights

• Bab Boujloud
• Bou Inania Madrasa
• Talaa Kebira
• Nejjarine
• Al-Qarawiyyin and Al-Attarine
• Chouara tannery
• Fès Jdid and the Mellah
• The Merinid Tombs

Route

Street map of the visit (map data © OpenStreetMap contributors). The dotted line joins the stops in order. Open the route in Google Maps

The route, stop by stop

1. Bab Boujloud

   Built in 1913, so younger than it looks. Blue tiles on the outside for Fès, green on the inside for Islam. Through the arch you get your first look at the minarets.

2. Bou Inania Madrasa

   Built in the 1350s by the Merinid sultan Abu Inan, and one of the very few religious buildings in Fès that non-Muslims can enter. The carved cedar is as fine as anything in Morocco. Across the lane, look for the remains of the old water clock; nobody is completely sure how it worked.

3. Talaa Kebira

   The main street, if you can call it that. Bakers, butchers, babouche sellers and the communal ovens where families still send their bread to be baked. We stop wherever it smells best.

4. Nejjarine

   A small square with one of the prettiest fountains in the city. The old caravanserai beside it is now a museum of woodwork, and its roof terrace is a good spot for a glass of tea and a breather.

5. Al-Qarawiyyin and Al-Attarine

   The Qarawiyyin was founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri and is often called the oldest university still in use. Non-Muslims can only look in from the doorway, but the Al-Attarine Madrasa next door is open: small, quiet and lovely.

6. Chouara tannery

   You smell it before you see it. The best view is from the terraces of the leather shops around it, and they hand you a sprig of mint on the way up. You are not obliged to buy anything. Mornings are best, when the vats are full of colour.

7. Fès Jdid and the Mellah

   The “new” city, new in the thirteenth century. We pass the bronze doors of the Royal Palace and walk a little in the Mellah, whose wooden balconies look nothing like the rest of Fès.

8. The Merinid Tombs

   To finish, the hill above the medina. From up here the whole city fits in one look and you can pick out where you walked. Late afternoon is the time to be here.

Checked in October 2026. Prices and opening hours change, so we confirm them again when you book.

What’s included

Good to know

• Wear shoes with grip. Some lanes are steep and the paving is polished smooth.
• Covered shoulders and knees are appreciated here even more than in Marrakech.
• Around Friday midday prayer, a lot of places close for a couple of hours.
• Have bissara, the fava bean soup, at one of the tiny counters in the medina. It costs almost nothing and it is very good.
• If someone near Bab Boujloud insists you need a guide right now, you can politely say you already have one.

Tours that pass through Fès

This visit can be added to any of these private tours, usually on the day you arrive.

Day trips from Fès

With a free day, these guided day trips start from your hotel in Fès.

Read before you go

Questions about this trip