Here is the report from our long weekend in Fes and Meknes with a baby. Morocco, with its colours, scents and warm welcome, turned out to be an ideal destination for finding sunshine and a real change of scene in autumn.
For this short stay, we really wanted to go to Fes, the famous imperial city, which has the largest medina in Morocco and the largest pedestrian area in the world! As I had already visited Marrakech, I wanted to discover another city, quieter and more picturesque, about which I had heard many good things. We can confirm that Fes is a great city to visit as a family! From Fes, we also spent one day and one night in Meknes.
Ticoeur’s age: 14 months
When we travelled: November, during the 11 November long weekend. Weather-wise, it was around 20 degrees and we had bright sunshine.
Duration: 4 days.
Fes and Meknes with a baby: our itinerary
4 days and 4 nights:
Day 1: arrival in Fes, around midday. Exploring the city on foot: the medina and its souks, visit to the Bou Inania Madrasa and the Nejjarine Museum – night in Fes.
Day 2: Fes: more souks, Glaoui Palace, hill of the Merenid Tombs – night in Fes.
Day 3: walk through the tanners’ quarter and visit to the Attarine Madrasa in the morning. Afternoon: head to Meknes, visit the city – night in Meknes.
Day 4: excursion to Volubilis, then back to Meknes for the afternoon and return journey to Fes – night in Fes.
Departure: after breakfast. Flight around midday.
I should mention that, travelling with a baby, we kept a very gentle pace. If you only have 3 nights there, you can easily condense our programme and visit Meknes and Volubilis as a day trip from Fes.
Fes with a baby: our favourite accommodation
For our first 2 nights in Fes, we booked a room at Riad Seffarine, an authentic riad run by locals who welcomed us very warmly. We had a beautiful room on the ground floor, opening onto the richly decorated patio. Between the magnificent setting, the wonderful welcome and the excellent breakfasts, we highly recommend this address!
This is the lovely view over Fes from the riad roof:
The riad overlooks Seffarine Square, where artisans work metal, especially to make the large Moroccan tea trays.
What to see in Fes?
We mostly went on long walks through the huge medina of Fes: a medieval medina listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its maze of little streets and 20 km of ramparts. We added a few visits to our wanderings, detailed below.
The medina and the souks:
The best-known entrance to the medina is Bab Bou Jeloud gate, the Blue Gate, with its arches and magnificent blue patterns.
The medina has two main streets, Talaa Kebira and Talaa Sghira, as well as a maze of lanes where it is a pleasure to get lost while discovering the souks, organised by trade: pottery, carpets, babouches, and so on.
Of course we bargained, but it was pleasant and good-natured: I much preferred this souk experience to the one in Marrakech. In fact, compared with Marrakech, I find that the medina of Fes is more beautiful and more authentic. Architecturally, it feels more harmonious, and it is more pleasant because it is pedestrianised. It was a joy simply to observe the life and bustle of Fes.
In the souks, you come across beautiful woodwork and painted decorations:
Madrasas, museum and palaces:
We visited the Bou Inania Madrasa, which dates from the 14th century and was built under the Merenid dynasty. It is the most beautiful madrasa in Fes, with an elegant patio. You can visit the different spaces of this former Quranic school and admire the architecture typical of the Merenid style.
The second well-known madrasa in Fes is the Attarine Madrasa, also richly decorated, with a marble fountain in the middle of the courtyard. Once again, it is a beautiful example of Merenid architecture.
We also visited the Museum of Wood Arts and Crafts, in the Nejjarine fondouk. Historically, in the 18th century, the building was one of the largest caravanserais in Fes. Inside, you can see impressive cedarwood balustrades.
Right next door, on Nejjarine Square, there is this beautiful fountain decorated with mosaics:
The gates of the Royal Palace are impressive. So even though the palace itself cannot be visited, you should go and admire its seven golden doors, decorated with zellige tiles and wood, on Place des Alaouites.
Finally, we made a quick visit to Glaoui Palace, which is rather dilapidated, what a shame! It must have been something in its day. There are still some beautiful decorations, but it would need a major renovation to restore all its charm.
The best views over Fes:
To admire the sunset, we went up to the ruins of the Merenid Tombs, where we enjoyed the panoramic view over Fes. It is a superb distant viewpoint and not to be missed, although I do have a preference for the views from the rooftops of riads in the medina, as they feel more immersive, right in the heart of the city’s atmosphere.
The view from our riad was truly incredible! We spent time on the terrace every morning with our Ticoeur:
The tanners’ quarter:
In the tanners’ quarter, what a pleasure for the eyes to see all those bright colours! Chouara Tannery is the largest and most photogenic in the city, but there are many others.
- For next time: we really adopted a slow pace, often stopping for mint tea. We did not have time to visit El Moki Palace, which looked tempting.
Our good addresses in Fes:
Café Clock: a good atmosphere in this medina bar, with excellent milkshakes, delicious fresh mint lemonade, camel burgers (we did not try them!), and live music.
Riad Fes: this is a very chic riad, a Relais & Châteaux, where we only went for a drink in the evening. The room prices are dizzying :-).
Visiting Meknes:
From Fes, we went to visit Meknes by bus. We spent one day and one night there to enjoy the city’s atmosphere properly. It is less spectacular than Fes, but very interesting and pleasant to visit.
Meknes is also an imperial city. It was the capital of Morocco in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Our visits in Meknes
- Bab el Mansour gate, entrance to the medina. It is impressive in size and finely decorated.
- The medina and its souks: while walking through the streets of the medina, we came across quite a few sheep because locals were preparing for Eid al-Adha. Ticoeur helped them choose a good sheep!
- The Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail: this religious monument, open to non-Muslims, has a sequence of patios and an elegant ablutions courtyard.
- The madrasa: Meknes’ Quranic school, known for its architecture.
- At nightfall, we watched the activity on the large el-Hedime Square: it is not as impressive as Jemaa el-Fnaa square in Marrakech, but it was nice.
- For next time: we did not have time to visit Dar Jamai Palace, a Hispano-Moorish style palace that has become a music museum.
Our accommodation in Meknes
For our night in Meknes, we slept at Riad d’Or. It was good, but not at the level of our riad in Fes. For another time, I spotted Riad Royal, just next door to ours, which looks like a very good choice, with family rooms and a nicer terrace.
Excursion to Volubilis:
Thirty kilometres north of Meknes, Volubilis is the best-preserved Roman site in North Africa. We enjoyed this archaeological site, which offers a journey within the journey. The mosaics are particularly well preserved. Among the ruins of the site, there is also a Triumphal Arch and the remains of the ancient city, such as the Capitol, the Basilica and the Forum.
We took a taxi from Meknes to Volubilis. Time spent visiting: 1 hr 20 min.
Homestay room for our last night in Fes:
For our last night in Fes, we tried the concept of homestay accommodation and loved it! Most accommodation in Fes consists of riads converted into hotels, with some very beautiful options (ours was superb! See above), but there is also the option of sleeping in a simpler riad inhabited by a local family. Prices are very gentle, and it allows for an authentic experience with a very warm welcome. The best thing is to experience both, as we did: the “riad hotel” for the beauty of the decorations and the “family riad” for the human experience.
The association that manages these homestay accommodations is called Ziyarates Fes. The website brings together all the different guest rooms. We stayed with the Drissi Kaitouni family: lovely people with whom we had a beautiful exchange during a gargantuan breakfast!
Fes and Meknes in Morocco: is it a baby-friendly trip?
Fes and its surroundings are an ideal destination with a baby: Moroccans are completely enchanted by children. They asked us questions about our little star and offered him small sweet gifts, such as gazelle horns, dates, bananas… Our little pasha enjoyed it all! He was also passed into the arms of many kind Moroccan mamas and received hundreds of smiles!
Seeing your child laugh, smile and be amused by what he sees around him: that really is what matters most! Our Ticoeur was very observant during our walks. He was also amused to come across sheep and donkeys in the street, and he enjoyed toddling around the vast courtyards of the riads.
The baby-friendly plus points:
- Sunshine when there is none left at home!
- Fes is a pedestrian city, so it is pleasant to walk around with a baby.
- A wonderful welcome from locals who adore children (as everywhere, of course, but even more so here!)
The baby-friendly downsides:
- No high chairs, changing tables, baby cots… or only very rarely.
- The crowd in the souks can be a little stressful for a baby at certain times. Favour early morning.
- Ticoeur was surprised and worried when he heard the first call from the mosque because we were close to a loudspeaker! We quickly reassured him!
***
In conclusion, we really had an excellent weekend in Fes with a baby, under beautiful Moroccan sunshine. Fes was a real favourite, a city full of charm and very pleasant for families!
And you? Do you feel like going to Fes and the surrounding area as a family?
Also read: 4 days in Marrakech and the surrounding area.
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