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Fez: Things To Do

The bulk of Fez’s most interesting sites are located in the medina’s swirling streets. Even with a good map you’re bound to get lost, but that’s part of the experience. Everywhere you turn in this maze of covered markets and arched alleys, vignettes of the day-to-day – kids running bread to the public bakeries, mothers washing up at a fountain or haggling for oranges – give a glimpse of life in Fez.

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Dar Batha Museum Just outside the medina gates, this Hispano-Moorish palace houses a fine collection of Moroccan tiling, woodcarving, and plasterwork salvaged from medina buildings. Concerts are sometimes held on the museum’s tranquil grounds. Medina; Place d’Istiqlal; 011-212-35-63-41-16
architecture | historic | great value | gardens

Kairaouine Mosque Only Muslims can enter this revered site, but tourists can glance through the bronze doors into one of North Africa’s largest mosques. More than 20,000 worshippers fit inside the Kairaouine, with its 16-aisle prayer hall, 270+ marble columns, and green pyramidal roof. Medina; Place as-Seffarine
historic | mosque | medina

Medina Walking Tour It’s entirely possible to do a self-guided walking tour of the medina thanks to informational signs hung in touristy areas (they’re color-coded, too, so you can opt to stick to monuments and souks or arts and crafts interests). Medina
family | tour | great value | historical

Merenid Tombs Take a taxi from the medina’s main gate to the Merenid Tombs. The tombs themselves are little more than ruins and rubble – it’s the vistas of the medina and surrounding hills peppered with olive trees that are the main draw. Ville Nouvelle; Route de Tour de Fez
views | ruins | historical | medina | walking tour

Moroccan Cooking Try your hand at cooking Fassi specialties such as B’stilla (pigeon pie laced with cinnamon) or lamb and date tajine with lessons from the professional chef and owner of Dar Roumana, a restored riad in the medina. Medina; Dar Roumana, 30 Derb el Amer; 011-212-35-74-16-37; www.darroumana.com
smart splurge | cooking class | course

Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts Place Nejjarine is home to one of Fez’s most beautiful tiled fountains as well as a museum of woodworking tools and techniques; the building housing the museum was originally an inn for traveling merchants. Medina; Place an-Nejjarine; 011-212-35-74-05-80
architecture | museum | historic | views

Tanneries Morocco’s finest leather goods hail from Fez. Watch tannery workers in the medina soaking animal hides in cement pits brimming with colored die. The smells are as overwhelming as the sights, but shop owners are quick to offer mint sprigs to mask the odors. Medina; near Place as-Seffarine
tour | views | leather | family friendly | handicrafts

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