Fez, old medina, tanneries, and a day at Volubilis

March, April, May, October, November

Comfortable temperatures, light long enough for late-afternoon medina walks. The heat in July/August is punishing in the medina alleys; January is cold inside the riads.

Tradeoffs: Ramadan moves on the lunar calendar, check the dates. Restaurants open later, the rhythm of the city changes, and some sites close mid-afternoon.

5 days ideal, 3 minimum

Three days does the medina and the tanneries. Five adds the Volubilis day trip, a calm afternoon in the Mellah, and time to actually sit in your riad rather than dash through it.

Flights

~£200

Check prices →

Accommodation

~£380

Check prices →

Activities

~£90

Check prices →

Ground transport

~£60

Food

~£150

Buffer

~£80

Total~£960

Mid-tier riad inside the medina (~£75/night), private guide for one half-day (£25), grand taxi for Volubilis day (£35). LGW/STN–FEZ on a budget carrier.

Estimate only. We don't see live prices.

1. 1

   Arrive, settle into the riad

   • Land Fez, taxi to your riad gate

   • Tea on the riad roof

   • Easy first dinner in the riad or Cafe Clock

   Sleeping in Riad inside Fes el Bali

2. 2

   Medina with a guide

   • Half-day guided walk: Bou Inania, Al-Attarine, the souks

   • Lunch at Restaurant Numero 7 or Nur

   • Slow afternoon

   Sleeping in Riad inside Fes el Bali

3. 3

   Tanneries + Mellah

   • Chouara tannery viewing terrace 09:00–11:00

   • Walk down to the Mellah (Jewish quarter)

   • Late lunch + rest

   Sleeping in Riad inside Fes el Bali

4. 4

   Volubilis and Meknes day trip

   • Early train Fes to Meknes (about an hour)

   • Meknes imperial city walkabout

   • Grand taxi seat on to Moulay Idriss for lunch

   • Short taxi or walk to the Volubilis gate

   Sleeping in Riad inside Fes el Bali

5. 5

   Fly home

   • Coffee in the medina

   • Taxi to airport

   Sleeping in Plane

• Add Chefchaouen

  Three more days through the Rif mountains to the blue town. Photogenic to the point of being a meme but the drive up is part of the appeal.

• Combine with the Sahara

  From Fez you can drive south through the Middle Atlas to Merzouga in 8 hours for desert camp nights. Adds 3 days but flips the trip from urban to landscape.

Fez is hard, in the best sense. The medina is a fully working city, not a museum. You'll get lost, you'll be pushed past on narrow lanes, you'll smell the tanneries. If you'd rather have a sanitised version, Marrakech's tourist quarters do that. Fez doesn't.

Visa

Visa-free for most Western passports for 90 days.

Vaccines

Standard kit. Hepatitis A and typhoid recommended for the food.

Safety

Very safe in terms of violent crime. The pressure is faux guides at the medina gates and overpriced shops. A firm 'la, shukran' (no thanks) handles most of it.

Money

Cash for the medina, card at the riad. ATMs at the Bab Boujloud gate work. Dirhams are technically restricted from export, spend them before you fly.

1. 1

   You can self-guide a loop from Bab Boujloud through the Bou Inania and Al-Attarine madrasas; entry fees come to about four euros and getting lost in the medina is the point.

2. 2

   You reach the Chouara tannery viewing balconies by climbing two to four flights through a leather shop; go in the cooler morning hours when the smell is more bearable.

3. 3

   Volubilis is a 2nd-century Roman provincial city and a UNESCO site since 1997; it pairs naturally with Meknes and Moulay Idriss as a long day trip by train and grand taxi.

Tap a numeral to preview the source.