2 Days in Fes: The First-Timer Itinerary
Two days inside Fes el-Bali, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981 (official listing ), is enough for Bab Boujloud, one madrasa, the Chouara Tannery terraces, and a night in a riad courtyard, nothing more ambitious than that. Need a slower pace? Move up to the 4-day , 5-day , 6-day , or 7-day version of this same route.
Book these before you go
- Riad: compare Fes el-Bali availability on Booking.com , rooms inside the walls are genuinely limited
- A licensed guide: book your first morning through GetYourGuide’s Fez medina tour rather than a street tout near Bab Boujloud
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Bab Boujloud, Bou Inania Madrasa, souks, riad dinner |
| Day 2 | Chouara Tannery, Al-Attarine Madrasa, Merenid Tombs sunset |
Day 1: Into Fes El-Bali
- Morning: Enter through Bab Boujloud, the Blue Gate, built in 1913 by the French colonial administration and not the medieval structure it looks like. Walk Talaa Kebira, the medina’s main artery, into Bou Inania Madrasa, 20 MAD entry, the only Fes madrasa with a working mosque
- Afternoon: Wander the souks around Souk el-Attarine, spices, leather, and metalwork packed into alleys barely wide enough for two people to pass. Bargaining is expected everywhere, start around half the first asking price
- Evening: Dinner at your riad or a nearby courtyard restaurant. Pastilla, the sweet-savory pigeon or chicken pie under powdered sugar, is the dish worth ordering here, a real kitchen does it far better than any street stall
Is one day enough to see Fes el-Bali? Not really. One day covers Bab Boujloud and a single madrasa comfortably, but the souks and the tannery both reward a slower morning than that leaves room for. This 2-day version is the realistic minimum for a genuine first look at the old city, not a rushed pass-through.
Day 2: Tanneries And Sunset
- Morning: The Chouara Tannery has no ticket booth, walk up through one of the surrounding leather shops to the terrace overlooking the dye pits, best viewed 10:30am-3pm when the vats are actively worked. Take the mint sprig offered at the door, it helps more than you’d expect
- Afternoon: Al-Attarine Madrasa, 20 MAD, beside the spice souk it’s named for and the finest zellige tilework left in the city. Then Seffarine Square, worth a look at the Al-Qarawiyyin library entrance even though same-day access is inconsistent
- Evening: Climb past Borj Nord to the Merenid Tombs, free, always open, and the single best sunset view over the whole medina, minarets and all, then a final dinner back inside the walls
Where To Stay
A riad in Fes el-Bali beats a Ville Nouvelle hotel for this trip every time, waking up to a carved cedar courtyard and a call to prayer is the whole point of coming here. Book early, the medina has genuinely fewer rooms than a modern city center and the good riads sell out well before the mediocre hotels do.
Transportation
Fes el-Bali is entirely on foot, no petit taxi or private car enters most of the old city, and porters with handcarts move goods where nothing on wheels fits. Petit taxis (red, metered) cover Ville Nouvelle and the ride to your medina gate, insist on the meter, “compteur, s’il vous plaît,” before the car moves either direction. The official Fes tourism page has current transit and tourist-office details if anything here shifts.
Tips
- Dress modestly, shoulders and knees covered, Fes is Morocco’s most religiously conservative major city
- A firm “no thank you” ends tannery sales pressure fine, buying is never obligatory
- Getting lost in the 9,400+ alleys is normal, not a failure, ask a shopkeeper for a direction rather than pulling out a phone and marking yourself as lost
How much does 2 days in Fes cost? Budget $60-100 a day for a mid-range riad plus meals, figured off roughly 9.3 MAD/$1, less if you eat mostly at street stalls and skip a hired guide. The dirham is a closed currency, so withdraw or exchange it inside Morocco, never before you land.
Confirm your riad’s dinner reservation the night before if you want to eat in, courtyard tables fill up fast on a trip this short with no slack in the schedule.