Fes is Morocco's spiritual and scholarly capital, and for many Gulf travellers it is the most resonant city in the country. Al-Qarawiyyin, founded by Fatima al-Fihri in 859, is recognised as the oldest continuously operating university in the world; the medina around it has been inhabited without interruption for twelve centuries; and the Andalusian quarter was settled by families arriving from Cordoba and Kairouan.
It is also where the gap between a driver and a hire car opens widest. Fes el Bali is a walled medieval quarter of roughly 9,000 lanes, and not one admits a vehicle. You never drive to your riad in Fes; you drive to a gate and walk. With a hire car that means finding the right gate in traffic, parking for several days, then walking into a maze you have never seen carrying luggage.
Worth knowing before you arrive: your driver cannot legally guide you inside the medina. Moroccan law licenses tour guides as a separate profession and enforces it. For Fes el Bali, and particularly for the religious sites, an Arabic-speaking licensed guide for half a day is well worth arranging, and we do that on request.
Why hire a driver here
- Fes el Bali is entirely pedestrian - around 9,000 lanes, none drivable
- The right gate for your riad can save a fifteen-minute walk with luggage
- Al-Qarawiyyin, the Andalusian quarter and the medersas reward a guide
- Volubilis, Meknes and Moulay Idriss are simple by car and awkward otherwise
- The southern road crosses the Middle Atlas and drops through the Ziz Gorge
Included in every booking
- Fuel, tolls and the driver's fee for the agreed route
- Airport, riad gate, hotel or railway station pickup
- Arabic and English-speaking drivers as standard
- Help with luggage as far as the entrance of the derb
- Bottled water and phone charging in the vehicle
