Fes, Morocco surprised us with how beautiful it was. We did not have many expectations of Morocco before we arrived. It was a country that one of us wanted to visit while it was a compromise for the other. However, we both left the country having fallen in love with it. It was Fes that blew us away with the culture wrapped up in the massive Medina.
There is so much action and areas to explore within just the Medina itself, let alone the entire city of Fes itself. You could get lost for weeks wandering around the Medina and then spend much more time wandering the city itself to see more like the Royal Palace. That is why we also recommend booking a guided tour of Fes as soon as you arrive in the city to explore the Medina.
Choosing where to stay in Fes is a major question that you will face when planning your trip to the city. Without any prior knowledge of the city itself, we wondered if it was best to stay in the action of the Medina or get a place outside of the Medina because we thought it might be safer. It turns out Morocco is an extremely safe place for couples to travel to, but that is a topic for another day.
Let’s talk about the best place to stay in Fes, Morocco to make the most of your trip to this incredible city.
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Best Area to Stay in Fes
When you are choosing an area to stay in any city, you need to consider a couple of things:
- Safety
- Proximity
This is the number one priority whenever you are traveling. Making sure that you are safe ensures that you will have an enjoyable trip and will be able to look back on your trip with fond memories. That is why choosing the right place where you are going to be leaving in the mornings and returning at nights, as well as likely leaving your belongings in the room all day, is so important.
You want to know that you can return after sunset to your accommodation without feeling threatened or leave early in the morning without worrying what will happen to your belongings left in the room.
The next aspect of booking your accommodation is choosing a place that is not far from the major attractions within the city. Sure you can likely save a few dollars staying outside of a major city, but more often times than not this is not worth it if you are constantly making trips back into the city. You will waste a lot of your time and money on transportation costs.
Choosing the right place within the city in respect to the attractions you want to visit is also very important. What we usually do is plot the attractions that interest us and that we want to see. We then look at the different areas that are closest to these points and look for hotels within there. This, in theory, should save us the most amount of time and money in transportation.
There is one place in Fes that holds the most interesting things to see. The Medina. Not to say there are not more things to see in the city. But you are likely going to want to prioritize seeing the Medina when you are in the city.
This made staying in the Medina a priority for us when we were booking our accommodation. Despite our worries before arriving in Morocco about safety, we knew once we were in the country that we did not need to worry as much as we did. However, o matter where you are traveling and how comfortable you become, you do need to remain diligent and be aware of your surroundings.
Based on our experience staying in Fes, we would recommend staying in and around the Medina based on the proximity to the major attractions. When we were in the city, we stayed just within the Medina by the South Gate. This was perfect because we were not deep in the confusing Medina and it was easy to get to and from our accommodation.
We recommend staying on the outskirts of the Medina because as soon as you get to the Medina, you are walking. There is only so far that a taxi can take you. From there you need to walk to your accommodation with all of your luggage in hand. It also allows you to escape the Medina with ease just in case you want to explore the city of Fes.
If you do not want the action of the Medina, there are also great areas within the city that are close to the Medina. We still recommend staying within the Medina on the outskirts or as close to the Medina as possible.
Best Places to Stay in Fes
Based on choosing the right area, we have gone ahead and created a list of places that are the best to stay while you are in Fes. These are places that meet our criteria. This includes accommodation that is based on the border of the Medina, but within it. It also includes places that are outside of the Medina, but close to it. These places are on the south end of the Medina, keeping it closer to the train station and major gates of the Medina as well as the Royal Palace and lookout to the Medina. The accommodation meets or exceeds our standards based on reviews and the amenities that it has to offer.
Having said this, here are the best places that you can stay when you are planning your trip to Fes:
Best Hotels in Fes, Morocco
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Inside of the Medina
- Dar El Mathaf
- Riad Ibn Battouta & Spa
- Hotel Blue Sky
- Dar Elinor
- Palais Faraj Suites & Spa
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Outside of the Medina
There is a variety of places to stay within the Medina of Fes. Focusing on the accommodation that is located closer to the South Gate of the Medina for ease of access and transportation, as well as looking at accommodation that is worth the money spent, we have narrowed down our choices to this list:
Budget Accommodation in Fes
Luxury Accommodation in Fes
Both of these options are closer to the budget range and within minutes of the Fes train station. This makes it the perfect place for those arriving and departing from Fes by train. It is still close enough to the Medina that you can get a short taxi to the South Gate.
Conclusion
We know how important accommodation is when you are traveling to a city you have never been before. There is a lot to consider in your decision making and a lot that can go wrong. We have heard a lot of horror stories in the past about travel accommodation.
Sometimes the cheapest price is not the most worthwhile. Getting the right hotel at the right price is difficult to find. Especially when you have a specific area that you want to stay in the city.
Fortunately, Fes has quite a few beautiful places for you to stay in prime location when you are traveling. Not to mention that Moroccan hospitality is excellent and they will take care of you regardless of where you stay.
We loved this city. If you are already sold on going here, just know that you will have an amazing time exploring the Medina. If you are still on the fence about going to Fes, make sure that you make this city a stop on your Moroccan trip. It is a place that you can absolutely not miss.
Have you visited Fes, Morocco before? Where did you stay and what was your experience like? We would love to know in the comment section below.