After a very comfortable 8-hour train ride from Marrakech ($30 per ticket for first class, which was recommended to us so we had assigned seats together), we arrived in Fez (also spelled Fes), one of Morocco’s biggest and most visited cities. When we were planning our time in Fez, we didn’t find many resources on visiting Fez with children, so we decided to write a post describing some things to see and do when visiting Fez. Hopefully this post can also serve as a resource for other families visiting Fez!
Fez is one of the four Imperial Cities of Morocco (along with Marrakech, Rabat, and Meknes). Over the centuries, it has been one of the most important cultural and religious cities, and had a particularly rich stretch in the 1300 and 1400s, when it was the capital of Morocco. There are many beautiful buildings remaining from that period. The main tourist draw of Fez is its huge medina. The medina comprises a maze over 9,000 narrow streets that ostensibly form the largest car-free urban area in the world (we wondered if Venice in fact is larger, but this is what the guide books state). The footprint of the streets hasn’t changed for a millennium and goods are still brought in and out via push cart and donkey cart.
Where we stayed:
As we’ve mentioned before, we are traveling on a budget so that limits our options for lodging. In Fez, we couldn’t find anything in or around the medina that would fit the bill so we ended up staying in the Ville Nouveau, the newer part of Fez. Our Airbnb apartment was located about a 10-minute, USD$2-3 taxi ride from the medina and other main attractions. That sounded fine, but it turned out that the taxis have a strict policy of only taking 3 people in their cars. Well, we are a family of four so that became a problem as we had to talk to an average of 5-7 taxis before one would agree to take us after we pleaded (in French) and offered to pay 30 dirham instead of 10 or 20 (so $3 total). When leaving the medina, we were able to find big taxis that are like vans and could take more than 3 people, but those are harder to find and you have to negotiate very hard for a good price from those.
Bottom line: if you are visiting Fez, it’s much better to stay in or close to the medina, especially if you are a family of four or more people. (There weren’t any “sights” to see where we were staying, although the restaurants around us were incredibly cheap.)
Things to see and do in Fez with kids:
- Wander around the medina. A lot of people/websites will suggest you need a guide to explore the medina, while others will say the fun is getting lost. We didn’t hire a guide. We found that you can certainly do it by yourself if you are not planning on aimlessly wandering around the narrowest of alleys. In fact, unless your kids are history lovers, they might not want to sit through lengthy explanations about the history of mosques, universities, and trading routes, which the tour guides will offer. For starters, it’s a good idea to enter at the Blue Gate (Bab Boujloud) and wander on the main street (Talaa Kbira/Kebeera) or the other street that largely parallels that one slightly to the south. You can also go to the Bab R’cif on the other side and walk (uphill) back towards the Blue Gate. There are signs in the medina pointing to the Bab Boujloud, so this approach allows you to cross the entire medina and find your way out the other side.
Pro tip: You will see tour groups passing by and, if you keep a loose eye on where they go, they will lead you to the main sights inside the medina and you’ll be able to look at them and continue to move at the pace of your kids. By “following” tour groups, we found a gorgeous historic mosque, the oldest university in Fez and the general way to the tanneries. Also, by seeing tour groups around, you know you are not lost!
- Visit one of Fez’s four tanneries. These are the main photographed sights of the medina. At the tanneries, workers strip fur off of skin, then prime it, then dye it in vats of various colors. There is an incredibly strong stench of rotting flesh, but it’s what you have to brave to see the process. Guide books explain that you can view the tanneries from the leather stores’ balconies that surround them. You’ll either have to buy something or tip the storeowner for using the balcony. We took the unconventional route of wandering straight into the tannery at the ground level, right around the workers. A man showed us in and led us up to an internal terrace directly above the tannery. We were right in the action, including walking on some pretty yucky smelly slippery stretches of skin and fur and liquid and mush. It was interesting to see and photograph, but it was also a relief to get back away from the smell!
- Visit the Merenid Tombs and Borj Nord. This is a great outing for kids, where they can move around without being in the narrow, crowded confines of the medina. Both the tombs and the fortress sit on the hill overlooking Fez, with fantastic views of the old medina. The tombs are a great place to visit early in the morning or during sunset, when the light over the medina is the best. We took a route that we’d recommend to other parents: a taxi up to the Merenid Tombs, walk over to Borj Nord, and then walk down to the medina. There are great sidewalks the whole way and it’s an easy walk.
After exploring the tombs, we followed the main road over to Borj Nord, which is a large 16th century fortress that now houses a weapons museum. The kids really enjoyed the display of weapons and canons, as well as the panoramic view from the terrace. We even got a cup of complimentary mint tea while we were up taking in the views. After we were done at the castle, we continued our walk down into the medina, which goes along the old walls and through a nice and lively farmers’ market. This outing was perfect for kids because the sidewalks were very wide and the kids could run around and burn energy, there were hardly any street crossings so we didn’t have to worry about traffic, and the walk was mostly downhill!
- Check out Borj Fez, Fez’s first and only shopping mall. We went there to get groceries at the Carrefour inside and, while there, we noticed they had a play area on the upper floor. We wanted to go back to the mall so the kids could use the play space but one of them got sick so we weren’t able to. It looks like the play space costs about 5 dirhams (0.50 Euros) to register and then you pay for rides. This looked like a really fun place to go with the kids.
After our time in Fez was over, we hopped on a bus to the city of Chefchaouen. More on that in next week’s post.
We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend! We certainly know we have a lot to be thankful for, including our travels, our wonderful family, good health, and our amazing friends and family who have supported us all along the way.
