Things to Do in Fez

Riad Kettani sits at the heart of Fes el-Bali, the older of the city's two medinas and the largest car-free urban area in the world, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Most of the places below are within walking distance of the house; the rest fit into a single day. Here is what we recommend to our guests, from the nearest to the furthest.

• 

  The Bou Inania Madrasa

  Built in the fourteenth century by the Merinid sultan Abu Inan, it is the largest madrasa in Fez and the only one with its own minaret. Around the marble courtyard, zellige tilework rises to head height, then gives way to carved stucco and sculpted cedar.

• 

  Al-Qarawiyyin

  Founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihriya, it is regarded as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. The prayer hall remains reserved for Muslims, but the neighbouring courtyards and the restored library can be approached, and its minaret is a landmark from anywhere in the medina.

• 

  The Chouara tanneries

  Stone vats filled with dye have been working leather here since the eleventh century, without a single machine. You watch from the terraces of the surrounding shops, a sprig of mint in hand — the smell is as memorable as the view.

• 

  Bab Boujloud and the souks

  Blue on the city side, green on the medina side, the gate opens onto the two main arteries of Fes el-Bali. Beyond it begin the souks, arranged by trade: spices, the coppersmiths of Seffarine Square, the dyers, the carpenters.

• 

  The al-Attarine Madrasa

  Smaller than its neighbour Bou Inania, but often held to be the finer of the two: every inch of the courtyard is covered in zellige, carved plaster and calligraphy. It takes its name from the perfumers' souk alongside it.

• 

  The Nejjarine Fondouk

  A former caravanserai where merchants and their animals lodged, it now houses the Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts. Its zellige fountain, on the little square outside, is among the most photographed in the city, and the museum terrace looks out over the rooftops.

• 

  The Moulay Idriss II Zawiya

  The mausoleum of the founder of Fez, at the exact centre of the medina. The shrine itself is reserved for Muslims, but you walk past its brass doors and painted wooden walls, along a lane where incense burns all day long.

• 

  The Jnan Sbil gardens

  The medina's great public garden, given to the city by Sultan Moulay Hassan in the nineteenth century: cypress alleys, a bamboo grove, pools and a waterwheel. The place to catch your breath between two visits.

• 

  Meknes

  The former capital of Moulay Ismail, an hour's drive away. Bab Mansour, the most monumental gate in Morocco, opens onto El-Hedim Square; beside it, the granaries and stables of Heri es-Souani held the city's reserves.

• 

  Volubilis

  The best-preserved Roman city in Morocco, a UNESCO site at the foot of Mount Zerhoun. The Arch of Caracalla, the capitol, the basilica, and above all the mosaics still lying open to the sky in the patrician houses: Orpheus, Dionysus, the labours of Hercules.

• 

  Moulay Idriss Zerhoun

  Morocco's holy town, clinging to two hills a few kilometres from Volubilis. It holds the tomb of Idris I, founder of the first Moroccan dynasty. Stop for the white lanes and the view from the Sidi Abdallah el-Hajjam terrace.

• 

  Ifrane, Azrou and the cedar forest

  The Middle Atlas road climbs to Ifrane and its steep-pitched roofs, then on to Azrou and the largest cedar forest in Africa, home to the last free-living Barbary macaques. The air stays cool even in August: the contrast with Fez is striking.