Things to do — Fes

Fes el-Bali, listed on UNESCO's World Heritage list, is considered the largest pedestrian medina in the world and one of the best-preserved medieval urban areas. More than 9,000 alleys interlace, animated by artisans, loaded donkeys and the call of the muezzin. The visit naturally begins at the majestic Bab Boujloud gate, tiled cobalt blue on the medina side and green on the medersa side — a symbolic threshold into the old city.

A few steps away, the Bou Inania medersa, a Marinid masterpiece from the 14th century, dazzles with its arabesque stucco, its carved-cedar mashrabiyas and its zellige paving. Not far off, the Attarine medersa — the 'spice merchants' school — rivals it in decorative finesse. The patrimonial highlight is the Qarawiyyin University, founded in 859 and considered one of the oldest continuously operating universities in the world, whose courtyard and minarets can be glimpsed from the surrounding alleys. Around it, the souks specialise trade by trade: brassware, joiners, tanners, weavers and babouches makers succeed each other in a living fresco of Moroccan craftsmanship.

The famous Chouara tanneries are best observed from the terraces of the leather shops that overlook them: the ochre, red and blue dye pits form a striking tableau. Don't miss the Nejjarine square with its restored fondouk, now a museum of woodcraft, or the Dar Batha palace, whose Hispano-Moorish collections are well worth the detour. Across the wadi, Fes el-Jdid holds the mellah, the old Jewish quarter with more regular alleys, and the walls of the Royal Palace with its monumental golden doors.

For experience hunters: a fassi cooking class, a session at a traditional hammam or a mint tea on a panoramic terrace at sunset round out the Fes day beautifully.

To take the full measure of the city, nothing beats an elevated viewpoint: the Marinid Tombs on the northern hill reveal at sunset a panorama of roofs and minarets that is one of Morocco's most photographed landscapes. If time allows, a day-trip to Meknes, the Roman site of Volubilis and the holy town of Moulay Idriss extends the Fes experience perfectly.