Fez

Little by little, alley after alley (there are 9,000 of them!), you go deeper and deeper into the city and discover Moroccan culture: the stalls and gardens, the flavours and smells... This medina, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is full of treasures that will delight tourists. Around a corner, you can admire the superb Arab-Andalusian architecture of a madrasa, and a few metres later you will come to Al Quaraouiyine University, the oldest in the world. 

A little further on, you will see ramparts and borjs (fortified places), a sign that you are getting closer to Fes El Djedid. The ‘new Fez’ is just as welcoming as the ‘old Fez’. As you climb up to the southern Borj, the city unfolds before your eyes in an amazing panorama of minarets and palaces. At Borj Nord, you can visit the museum. Then, your gaze will inevitably be drawn to the gates of the Royal Palace of Fez, Dar al Makhzen. Your visit to Fez is far from over, and you will need to press on to discover other wonders outside the city walls.

Meknes, another of the 4 imperial cities, is 65 kilometres from Fez. Sultan Moulay Ismaïl commissioned the building of sumptuous palaces, mosques, monumental gates, imposing ramparts and vast gardens in this ancient Cherifian capital. A real architectural gem! 

At the gateway to Fez and Meknes, the Middle Atlas offers some of the most breathtaking scenery in Morocco. Sights not to be missed as well as highly recommended excursions, particularly around the mountain resort of Ifrane, the pearl of the region: caves, waterfalls and cedar forests will delight hikers... Keep your eyes peeled and you might just catch a glimpse of its most emblematic representative, the magot monkey.

Discover Fez on a direct flight from Montpellier.

SITES AND MONUMENTS

• Madrasa Bou Inania,
• Royal Palaces.
• Souks and Fondouks.
• The tanning district.
• Merinides tombs.
• Moulay Yacoub hot springs.
• Olive groves.

PARKS

• Ifrane and its national park.

IN MEKNES

SITES AND MONUMENTS

• Madrasa Bou Inania and Royal Palaces.
• Mausoleum of Moulay.
• Bab Mansour and Place El Hedim.
• Dar Kebira, the Imperial city.
• Haras de Meknes stud farm.
• Volubilis, the biggest Roman site in the country.

STARTERS

• Mechouia Salad: Salad made from tomatoes, cooked peppers, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice.
• Salad with olives (meslalla), fennel, feggous (small, thin cucumbers), grated carrots sometimes flavoured with orange juice.

SOUPS

• Bissara: broad bean soup.
• Harira: soup made from tomatoes, flour, lentils or peas, served with pieces of meat.

MAIN DISHES

• Couscous with vegetables, chicken, lamb or beef.
• Pastilla: Meat pie made from crispy warqua pastry, minced pigeon or chicken, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, almonds and honey, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
• Briouat: donut made from warqua pastry stuffed with ground meat, chicken, sausages, fish or almonds.
• Tajine: stew of meat, poultry or fish with vegetables and fruit.
• Kebabs and keftas (spicy meatballs), eaten with the famous flat round Moroccan bread, plain or flavoured with fennel seeds and caraway.
• Mechoui, meat roasted on an open fire.

DESSERTS

• Ka'b al ghzal or gazelle horns.
• Briouat with honey and almonds.
• Ghoriba with almonds or sesame seeds.
• Bechkito: crispy butter cookies.
• M’hanncha: coiled pastry sprinkled with cinnamon powder.
• Shebbakia: fried strips of dough with warm honey and toasted sesame seeds.
• Ktefa: milk pastilla, made from sheets of warqua pastry (flour paste and water) flavoured with orange blossom and almonds served with a little cold milk.
• Orange salad flavoured with orange flower water and cinnamon.
• Pancakes with honey and sesame seeds.

DRINKS

• Fresh fruit juices: orange, banana, avocado, almond milk...
• Local Beer: Flag Special, Casablanca, Stork, Heineken.
• Mahia: fig liquor*
• Mint tea

*alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health, consume in moderation