Travel to Morocco and the City of Fes (Fez)

Fes is One of the Imperial Cities of Morocco

Morocco is a little larger than California and home to about 35 million people. Morocco is a constitutional monarchy and more than 98% of the Moroccan population is Muslim. Morocco is located in North Africa and it borders on the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Because of this, Morocco is often marketed to northern European countries as a low cost sun and sand destination. That's too bad as Morocco is much more than just a place for some sun on the beach.

Morocco has fertile green coasts, numerous diving opportunities, high mountain ranges and vast deserts areas. Phoenicia, Carthage, Rome, Spain and France have all left marks on Morocco over the past 2000 years making it a treasure trove of unique sights and sounds.

The Moroccan cities of Fes, Marrakesh, Meknes, and Rabat are known as the Imperial Cities as they have all been the capital of Morocco at some point in history. Rabat is the modern capital.

Moulay Idriss, a direct descendant of Mohammed, founded Fes (Fez) as the Moroccan capital in the 9th century. The prime attraction is Fes el Bali, or more commonly the medina, the old medieval walled city. The medina, with it's small streets and myriad alleyways, is still home to more than half of the city's population. Filled with small neighbourhood markets or souqs, and horse or donkey drawn carts, and a teaming multitude of citizens. the medina, can be overwhelming to the foreign visitor. Fortunately, government approved guides are available.

Morocco has a relatively healthy economy but a significant portion of the population is poor by Western standards so you can expect some pressure to spend your money. Like most tourist destinations you can expect that your Moroccan guide will try to direct you to places you can spend your money. It is best that you set out your expectations up front. First negotiation the price for your guide and make clear what time frame that will cover. Next, make it clear what you want to see in that time. You will still be brought face to face with merchants hoping to make a sale but they will, at least, be selling things you are interested in.