Derb

The most immersive experience I had while being at Morocco was to explore the medina of Fès. A conglomerate of houses, feeling even more dense than the old town of Jerusalem. A city on multiple hills requiring you to climb up and down, filled with endless merchants and sights hidden in between to discover. Getting there is also an experience because you probably will get lost and your typical ways to get out will not work: in the narrow streets between high houses you’ll not have a good GPS signal and your navigation system will be unable to show you the right path.

Every now and then some young inhabitants will try to guide you to earn themselves some dirhams. But the best way is to understand the city, to listen to all your senses and to remind yourself which crafts are close to the most important mosque and which ones are further outside. And the most important hint is still that a derb is always a dead-end street leading you to nowhere; always read the names of the streets. The medina of Fès is a UNESCO world heritage site and you’ll easily understand why.

Multiple gates give you access to the old town but most tourists will approach it through the blue Bab Boujeloud. Behind that, the main street filled with small shops starts. After visiting the Medersa Bou Inania you can continue a long time on this iconic street. Getting deeper into the medina it is worth to look out for the Musée Nejjarine, the Mausolée de Moulay Idriss, the mosque Karaouiyne, the Medersa Attarine and the Place Seffarine all in one region. Later, follow your nose to the impressive tannery Chouara.

Navigation at the medina is uneasy because of the narrow (but car-free!) streets, but also because the main sights of the city don’t stand out – you’ll only see them when standing in front of them. If you need an exit, look for signs on the walls. Place Rcif is the best emergency exit, the road starting there leads you easily out of the medina. On the other side of the Bab Boujeloud you’ll find the vast Place Boujloud with its massive stone walls. From there you can go west and explore the large Jnan Sbil garden, a real oasis.

You can try to continue west to find the entrance gate to the royal palace, but the city quarter is a real maze with several long dead-end streets and you would only be able to see the entrance; you can’t visit it. Better watch out for a chance to get up to one of the fortresses, the Borj Sud and the Borj Nord with the Tombeaux des Mérinides, they grant you great views on the city center.

Medina / Fès el Bali
Fès
Morocco