the medina, charging Dh2.50 per seat or Dh15 for the whole taxi. Pale-blue petits taxis use the
meter: from El-Amir Abdelkader train station to the Bab el-Mansour expect to pay around Dh8.
A more touristy way to get around the medina is by calèche , available for hire on Place el-
Hedim and outside the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail. They charge around Dh70 per hour.
Around Meknès
VOLUBILIS (OUALILI)
The Roman ruins of Volubilis sit in the middle of a fertile plain about 33km north of Meknès. The
city is the best preserved archaeological site in Morocco and was declared a Unesco World
Heritage site in 1997. Its most amazing features are its many beautiful mosaics preserved in
situ.
Volubilis can easily be combined with nearby Moulay Idriss to make a fantastic day trip from
Meknès. The guides that hang around the entrance conduct good one-hour tours for around
Dh140. Most speak decent enough English to explain the site in detail. Many official guides in
Fez and Meknès are also knowledgeable about the site.
In the heat of a summer day, the sun can be incredibly fierce at Volubilis, so bring a hat and
plenty of water. Spring is the ideal season, when wildflowers blossom amid the abandoned
stones, and the surrounding fields are at their greenest. The best time to visit is either first thing
in the morning or late afternoon, when you’re more likely to have the place to yourself, with just
the guardian’s donkey grazing among the ruins. At dusk, when the last rays of the sun light the
ancient columns, Volubilis is at its most magical.