City & Region Guides

While Marrakech is Morocco’s most photographed city, Fes is the more profound one, and it is precisely the kind of slow, careful exploration that independent travel is meant for. The old medina, Fes el Bali, is the largest car-free urban area in the world and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing about 9,000 to 9,400 narrow streets spread over approximately three square kilometers. Although it may seem intimidating in writing, it turns out to be one of the most rewarding places in the country to visit on your own once you have worked out the one simple trick that actually makes it possible to navigate.