Fez, Morocco’s second biggest city, with a population of 1.1 million people.

Fès was the capital of modern Morocco until 1925, and it is currently the administrative center of the Fès-Meknès administrative area. Fes el Bali is the biggest of the city’s two historic medina sections. It is a World Heritage Site, and it is thought to be one of the world’s biggest urban pedestrian zones (car-free areas). The Institution of Al Quaraouiyine, established in 859, is the world’s oldest continually operating university. The city has been dubbed the “West’s Mecca” and the “Athens of Africa.”

Fez – Info Card

Tourism in Fez

Fez (فاس) (French: “Fès”) is a Moroccan city most known for housing the world’s oldest university, Qarawiyyin University. It has an old World Heritage-listed walled city, which many compare to Jerusalem’s walled city.

Fez is Morocco’s historic capital and a famous metropolis of high Islamic civilisation. The huge, labyrinthine medina of Fes el-Bali, which is also the world’s biggest car-free urban zone, is the best-preserved ancient city in the Arab world. Donkeys, carriages, and motorcycles are used to transport products.

Useful Tips

Fez demands a complete mindset shift for a North American traveler, otherwise the journey will be quite stressful! Shopkeepers and tour guides are abrasive, and you’ll need to get accustomed to saying “no” often. They may, on the other hand, be genuine and nice even while attempting to sell you something, which is a concept that is foreign to North Americans, who believe that a commercial relationship is the polar opposite of honesty!

Women traveling alone may face harassment in Morocco, as they do abroad.

Mosques are closed to non-Muslims, although medersas are open to them (religious schools).

Bargaining is a centuries-old tradition that shows no signs of fading away. Moroccans barter for almost everything, with the exception of their utilities. Don’t trust anybody who tells you that prices are being “controlled” (which you will hear all the time). Every other souk advertises itself as a “Government Regulated Co-op.”

In the Ville Nouvelle, there is a solitary, true government-regulated fixed price store where all prices are listed, the items are of reasonable (though not exceptional) quality, and the sole bored cashier will just gaze at you blankly if you try to haggle with him. Request a ride to the “Artisana” from any hotel management or minicab driver. Artisanas sell only things manufactured by artists.

Climate of Fez

Fez, located near the Atlas Mountains, has a Mediterranean climate with a significant continental impact, with temperatures ranging from chilly and rainy in the winter to dry and scorching days between June and September. Annual rainfall might exceed 600 mm (24 in). In December–January, the average high temperature is just 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit). The city’s greatest and lowest recorded temperatures are 46.7 °C (116 °F) and 8.2 °C (17 °F), respectively. The climate of Fez is quite similar to that of Seville and Córdoba in Andalusia, Spain. Snowfall happens once every five years on average.