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Illustrative photo of Fes — property galleries are on each booking page.

Where to stay in Fes

Fes el-Bali is the oldest of Morocco's imperial medinas and, by most counts, the largest car-free urban area on Earth — here's what that's actually like to stay in, and every riad we'd book ourselves.

Fes el-Bali is the old walled city of Fes, founded in 789 CE by Idris I and substantially expanded by his son Idris II in 808 — making it, by most measures, the oldest of Morocco's imperial medinas. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 1981, and it's widely cited as the largest car-free urban area in the world: an estimated 9,000-plus narrow alleyways across roughly 300 hectares, navigable mainly on foot, with donkeys and handcarts still doing the heavy lifting where no vehicle can pass. Only one paved road penetrates the medina, following the Oued Fes river down to Place R'cif near the centre.

Where Marrakech's medina is a single dense ring around one square, Fes el-Bali is a sprawling river valley of eighteen historic quarters split between the Qarawiyyin side and the Andalusian side, connected by a spine of covered souk streets running from the gates to the Qarawiyyin Mosque. It feels older and more residential — fewer souvenir stalls, more sounds of artisans actually working: hammering copper, carving cedar, dyeing leather. Getting lost here is close to unavoidable and, for most visitors, part of the experience.

Things to do in Fes

University of al-Qarawiyyin

founded in 859 CE, recognised by UNESCO and Guinness World Records as the oldest continuously operating educational institution in the world — closed to non-Muslims inside, but its monumental gates can be viewed from the street.

Bou Inania Madrasa

built 1350-55, one of the only religious sites in Fes open to non-Muslim visitors and the only Moroccan madrasa that also functioned as a full congregational mosque.

Chouara Tannery

carved into the medina in the 11th century and still in daily use — view the dye and lime pits from the rooftop terraces of surrounding leather shops, who hand out mint sprigs to offset the smell.

Bab Boujloud

the ornate blue-and-green tiled gate built in 1913 marking the main entrance to Fes el-Bali — blue tiles face the new city, green (the traditional colour of Islam) face the medina.

Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts

housed in a restored 18th-century fondouk once used to lodge travelling merchants and their goods; the carved-wood building is as much the exhibit as what's inside it.

Tala'a Kebira

the medina's principal souk artery running from Bab Boujloud down toward the Qarawiyyin, lined with spice stalls and metalworkers — walking its length is the fastest way to feel how the medina fits together.