One Week in Fes: An Offbeat Itinerary
A full week in Fes means nothing has to be rushed: six days of icons, offbeat picks, and a free day, then a seventh with no packing-morning scramble, just a last unhurried wander before your flight. This builds on the 6-day itinerary ; if a week feels long for one city, pair it with Meknes, Volubilis, or the Sahara using the guide to Fes as a base instead. MAD is a closed currency, roughly 9.3 to the dollar, so plan for cash across the whole week.
Book these before you go: a licensed medina guided tour , a cooking class and dinner in a traditional riad , and a riad room in Fes el-Bali for the full week, since good ones sell out well ahead in peak months.
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival, Bab Boujloud, Nejjarine Square and fountain |
| 2 | Chouara Tannery, the madrasas, Al-Qarawiyyin, Seffarine Square, a working fondouk |
| 3 | Fes el-Jdid, the Mellah, Ibn Danan Synagogue, the Jewish cemetery |
| 4 | Art Naji pottery cooperative, Borj Sud sunset |
| 5 | Riad cooking class, hammam, slow souk wander |
| 6 | Free day: henna, a second pass through a favorite quarter |
| 7 | Unhurried final wander, last shopping, departure |
Day 1: Bab Boujloud and the Nejjarine quarter
Clear Fes-Saiss Airport (FEZ), settle the grand-taxi fare before the car moves (roughly 150 MAD fixed, less on the meter), and check into your riad. Walk in through Bab Boujloud; the blue-tiled gate everyone photographs only dates to 1913, a French colonial-era build, not the medieval structure the surrounding medina implies.
The 17th-century zellige fountain at Nejjarine Square gets ignored for the gate photo, though it costs nothing to stop for. The Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts inside the old fondouk runs roughly 20-30 MAD, rooftop cafe included. Getting lost afterward is the normal state of things in a medina with an estimated 9,400-plus alleys.
Day 2: Tanneries, madrasas, and the coppersmiths
Time the Chouara Tannery for roughly 10:30am to 3pm. No official ticket exists; view from a leather shop terrace, take the mint sprig, and tip 10-20 MAD if you skip buying, or decline politely.
The Bou Inania and Al-Attarine Madrasas (20 MAD each) hold the finest zellige and carved cedar in the city. Al-Qarawiyyin, founded 859 CE, keeps non-Muslims out of the prayer hall; courtyard glimpses from the gates are what you get, and the attached library allows occasional entry since a 2016 reopening.
Is a full week too much time for just the medina?
Not if you use the extra days for depth rather than more monuments. A week means slower mornings, a second pass through the souks without a schedule, and time for a hammam or henna session that a 3 or 4-day trip has to cut.
End the day at Seffarine Square, where coppersmiths hammer brass by hand, then Funduq al-Tetwaniyyin next door, a 14th-century caravanserai restored in 2019 into a working artisan center.
Day 3: The Mellah, the synagogue, and the cemetery
Cross into Fes el-Jdid, the royal citadel founded in 1276, past the exterior-only Royal Palace gates, into the Mellah, Morocco’s oldest Jewish quarter, recognizable by open balconies on Rue des Merinides against the blank medina walls elsewhere.
The restored Ibn Danan Synagogue (dated to around 1680) welcomes visitors of any faith for a small fee or donation, and its rooftop looks straight down on the adjacent cemetery, close to 13,000 white tombs on a hillside.
Day 4: Pottery cooperative and Borj Sud sunset
Petit taxi east of Bab Ftouh to Ain Nokbi, where Fes’ potters relocated in 2013 away from the medina’s dust and kiln heat. Art Naji is free to visit, roughly 8am-6pm daily, watching the entire process before any sales pitch starts.
In the evening, skip the Merenid Tombs crowd for Borj Sud, the quieter 1582 Saadian fort facing Borj Nord across the valley, free and exterior-viewpoint only, with a fraction of the north side’s tour-bus traffic at sunset.
Day 5: Cooking class, hammam, and a slower pace
Morning market visit with a chef, then a riad kitchen to properly learn pastilla, the sweet-savory pigeon or chicken pie under warqa pastry. Book the cooking class and dinner ahead, since good ones fill fast.
Follow with a hammam arranged through your riad, a genuinely local ritual rather than a tourist performance, and an unhurried souk wander with no fixed stops.
Day 6: A free day, on purpose
Return to whichever quarter you liked most on days one through five, at a slower pace and without a guide. Seffarine Square and the Nejjarine rooftop cafe both reward a second, unhurried visit. Consider a henna session in the afternoon through your riad rather than a street stall, and spend the rest of the day on souk shopping: leather, Seffarine brass, or a piece from Art Naji if you did not buy on day four.
Day 7: The unhurried last day
What should your last day in Fes actually look like?
Nothing scheduled before your flight. A week means you have already covered the icons and the offbeat picks, so day seven is for a final coffee at a spot you liked, a last look at whatever quarter pulled you back twice, and enough slack that a wrong turn in the medina does not cost you your flight.
Settle any last MAD into small gifts or a final glass of mint tea, confirm your airport transfer the night before, roughly 150 MAD fixed rate or less on the meter, and leave earlier than feels necessary. The medina does not care about your flight time, and neither do its 9,400-plus alleys.