Morocco Travel Guide

ancient Fez

    Time    travel  amid    the mosaic-strewn   Roman   ruins   (Click  here )  of  Volubilis

    Explore the outsized    imperial    architecture    (Click  here )  of  Meknès

    Spend   a   day and night   on  pilgrimage  in  the holy    town    of  Moulay  Idriss  (Click  here )

    Hike    into    the wooded  slopes  of  the Middle  Atlas   (Click  here )  around  Azrou

    Enjoy   the sound   of  the sublime at  the Festival    of  World   Sacred  Music   (Click  here )  in

Fez

    Get away    from    everything  amid    the palms   and kasbahs of  the oasis   town    of  Figuig

(Click  here )

    Make    like    a   troglodyte  in  the weird   caverns (Click  here )  of  Gouffre du  Friouato

Getting There & Away
The train line connects the region’s major cities to the coast, with direct links from Tangier,
Rabat and Casablanca. There are also direct flights from Europe – primarily France – to Fez
and Oujda. Fez and Oujda link into Royal Air Maroc’s internal flight network, via Casablanca.

Getting Around
From Marrakesh and Casablanca, the train line runs east through Meknès, Fez and Taza all the
way to Oujda. Travelling around the mountainous Middle Atlas, however, requires catching a
bus or hiring a grand taxi.

IMPERIAL CITIES

Fez

POP 1 MILLION
In recent years Fez has boomed as a tourist destination. Money has poured into the city, from
foreigners buying up riads in the medina to new parks and fountains in the ville nouvelle. If you
believe the travel and style pages of the Western media, Fez has become the new Marrakesh.

Tell a Fassi that however, and they’ll laugh in your face. This is an old and supremely self-
confident city that has nothing to prove to anyone. Dynasties and booms have all come and
gone in the city’s 1200-year existence, and Fez will be around long after the next fashion has
burned itself out.

The city’s allegiance, or at least submission, has always been essential to whoever held
Morocco’s throne. Morocco’s independence movement was born here, and when there are
strikes or protests, they are always at their most vociferous in Fez.

For visitors, the medina of Fès el-Bali (Old Fez) is the city’s great drawcard. It’s an assault
on the senses, a warren of narrow lanes and covered bazaars fit to bursting with aromatic food
stands, craft workshops, mosques and an endless parade of people. Old and new constantly
collide – the man driving the donkeys and mules that remain the main form of transport is likely
to be chatting on his mobile phone, while the ancient skyline is punctuated equally with satellite
dishes and minarets.