Hats off to Fez: go back in time in this atmospheric city

Don’t fight it – getting lost is one of the best things to do in Morocco’s most beguiling and ancient medina


It happens on the third day, after our bookbinding class, having spent the morning deep in concentration learning how to Coptic-stitch and emboss our own leather journal. Within minutes of leaving the attic studio, deep in the heart of Fez’s sprawling medina, we become hopelessly and unavoidably lost.


Was it the alleyway to the left of the stall piled high with spices and fresh figs? Or the other one that opens into a market square with stacks of dried fruit and couscous, cages of live chickens, rugs and candy-coloured lanterns, pottery and beaten copper plates?

My teenage daughter strides ahead, weaving expertly through the shoppers, past the odd mule weighed down with wares. She turns around to grin at me every so often, liberated by the fact that this is the first time we’ve been inside the medina without a guide.


She turns sharply left, then right, then left again. We wander down a maze of dark passageways that are narrower than before, stained blue walls with no windows, studded here and there with heavy oak doors. One is open and we peer into a concealed inner courtyard shaded with fig trees and paved with intricate mosaics dating back centuries.

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/apr/28/fez-morocco-atmospheric-city-ancient-medina

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iEX0Pi1ZRmwk/v2/-1x-1.jpg


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/leadAssets/21/67/fez-medina_2167487a-xlarge.jpg


https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iGWZgFNl02SU/v2/-1x-1.jpg


https://alk3r.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/fes-tannery-001.jpg


https://exp.cdn-hotels.com/hotels/2000000/1380000/1376500/1376449/1376449_264_z.jpg

https://assets.vogue.com/photos/5891421c97a3db337a24933b/master/w_1560,c_limit/00-holding-marrakech-ourika-valley-travel-guide.jpg

Let's check out a couple of accomodation options....


This looks pretty amazing...

https://www.palaisfaraj-fes.com/en/


https://www.fivestaralliance.com/files/fsa/nodes/2013/22870/22870_0_palaisfaraj_fsa-g.jpg

https://q-ec.bstatic.com/images/hotel/max1024x768/939/9394099.jpg


https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/c5/89/1b/l-amandier-palais-faraj.jpg


https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/85/99/3b/palais-faraj-suites-spa.jpg


https://images.trvl-media.com/hotels/5000000/4920000/4919700/4919653/4919653_28_z.jpg


And the reviews say!

https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Hotel_Review-g293733-d2522605-Reviews-Palais_Faraj_Suites_Spa-Fes_Fes_Boulemane_Region.html

Nice place ... but let's have a look at a Riad... I am thinking.... I'd be very happy to stay here...

https://www.karawanriad.com/




https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/Travel/hotels/africa/morocco/fez/karawan-riad-hotel-fes-morocco-l-xlarge.jpg


https://q-xx.bstatic.com/xdata/images/hotel/max500/118922619.jpg


https://q-xx.bstatic.com/xdata/images/hotel/max500/118994988.jpg


https://q-xx.bstatic.com/xdata/images/hotel/max500/118995103.jpg


https://q-xx.bstatic.com/xdata/images/hotel/max500/119213647.jpg


Let's see what the reviews look like though:

https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Hotel_Review-g293733-d7364025-Reviews-Karawan_Riad-Fes_Fes_Boulemane_Region.html