Day Trips from Fes: 4 Day Itinerary
Four days out of Fes, and this version trades the sleepy Sefrou side-trip for the bigger payoff: Meknes and Volubilis day one, Ifrane and Azrou’s macaques day two, then a genuine Chefchaouen overnight across days three and four. This extends the 3-day itinerary with a swap rather than an addition; the 5-day itinerary fits both Sefrou and Chefchaouen in if you have the extra day.
Book these before you go: a riad room in Fes el-Bali , a Meknes and Volubilis day tour , a Middle Atlas day tour , and a Chefchaouen room , since the Blue City has far fewer beds than Fes and fills fast in season.
| Day | Focus | Travel time from Fes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meknes, Volubilis, Moulay Idriss | ~1h to Meknes by train; +30-40min on to Volubilis/Moulay Idriss |
| 2 | Ifrane, Azrou cedar forest (Barbary macaques) | ~1.5-2h each way |
| 3 | Depart for Chefchaouen, overnight | ~4h21min-4h45min each way by CTM bus |
| 4 | Chefchaouen morning, return to Fes | same 4.5-hour return leg |
Day 1: Meknes, Volubilis, and Moulay Idriss
Take the ONCF train to Meknes, 45 minutes to an hour for around 18-26 MAD, and give the Bab Mansour gate and Meknes’ own medina an hour before moving on. A chartered grand taxi covers Volubilis and Moulay Idriss together for roughly 400-500 MAD total.
Volubilis costs 70 MAD, no advance booking, open 8am-6pm (5pm winter); the Archaeological Site of Volubilis has carried UNESCO status since 1997. Moulay Idriss, 3km on, is the working pilgrimage town a rushed tour skips first, once closed to non-Muslim overnight stays and now fully open. Book the whole day as one guided tour to avoid stitching the legs together yourself.
Day 2: Ifrane and the Azrou cedar forest
Ifrane , roughly 1.5-2 hours from Fes, is an alpine-chalet town with genuinely snowy winters, and Azrou’s cedar forest a short drive on holds a resident troop of Barbary macaques; sightings run close to guaranteed. Book a Middle Atlas day tour rather than tackle the mountain roads solo.
Why does this itinerary skip Sefrou?
Four days only gives you room for two single-day trips plus one overnight, and Chefchaouen’s payoff, an entire blue-washed medina, outweighs a quieter half-day in Sefrou at this length. Add Sefrou back with a fifth day, or swap it in for the Middle Atlas day if wild macaques interest you less than a lived-in medina.
Day 3: Depart for Chefchaouen
CTM buses run Fes to Chefchaouen roughly every 4 hours, the ride itself 4 hours 21 minutes to 4 hours 45 minutes, tickets around 110-140 MAD ($11-14); check current times on ctm.ma . Leave on an early departure, settle into a Chefchaouen riad by mid-afternoon, and spend the evening in the blue-washed medina before the day-tripping crowds arrive the next morning.
Is a one-day Chefchaouen bus tour worth it instead?
No. Operators sell a 12-hour round-trip version that puts you on a bus for close to 9 hours to get roughly 3 hours in Chefchaouen itself. An overnight costs one extra day and turns a punishing errand into an actual visit.
Day 4: Chefchaouen and the return to Fes
Spend the morning in the medina before the tour buses fill Plaza Uta el-Hammam, then take an afternoon CTM departure back to Fes, arriving by evening. Keep small MAD bills on hand throughout; Chefchaouen’s smaller shops and Fes’ own grand taxis rarely take cards, and the dirham can only be obtained inside Morocco.