The Living Medina

A riad within the walls places you at the heart of the living medina rather than looking in from outside. Behind a plain door you find a house of carved plaster and quiet, and the labyrinth becomes something you inhabit rather than merely visit.

Yes. The journey depends on a guide with the standing to open workshops and doors closed to the ordinary visitor. You step into workshops rarely shown to visitors and watch weavers, coppersmiths and mosaic-cutters at their trades. The same guide leads you through the labyrinth of the old city, from the tanneries to a working Quranic school. Each visit is arranged privately and sequenced for you by your Forest Travel advisor.

From a rooftop at dusk. As the medina exhales, the green-tiled minarets catch the last of the light. This is how the journey's evenings are shaped: after mornings in the covered lanes and afternoons resting in the riad, you rise to the rooftops for air and perspective. Your advisor arranges the moment privately, so the view of the old city becomes the natural close to each day.

Wear sturdy closed shoes. Our advisors recommend them for the tanneries and for the steep, worn lanes of the old city. They also suggest walking the medina early, before the lanes fill and while the light in the courtyards is at its best, and keeping afternoons free for the riad, the necessary counterweight to the medina's intensity. Fez's medina asks to be walked slowly, and good footwear makes that possible.

We suggest 4-6 days for The Living Medina. Fez is the least changed of the imperial cities, and its medina asks to be walked slowly. Mornings thread the covered lanes with a private guide, ideally early, before the lanes fill and while the courtyard light is at its best. Afternoons rest in a restored riad within the walls, away from the medina's intensity, and evenings rise to the rooftops for air and perspective. The old city reveals itself only to those who take their time.

As a private, tailored journey it starts from roughly US$10,000 per traveler (double occupancy) and scales with your dates, party and level of privacy — a starting point, never a fixed package price. Your advisor confirms the figure once the itinerary is tailored.

March to May and September to November. These are the months when the days are warm, the light is clear and the desert nights turn crisp rather than cold, which suits early walks through the covered lanes, the light in the riad courtyards and rooftop evenings as the green-tiled minarets catch the last of the sun. Your Forest Travel advisor times the journey to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.

Fez is the least changed of Morocco's imperial cities, and its medina asks to be walked slowly. The Living Medina is shaped around that pace: guided mornings in the covered lanes, afternoons resting in a riad away from the intensity, and evenings on the rooftops for air and perspective. The guide also leads you from the tanneries to a working Quranic school. The old city reveals itself only to those who take their time.

A restored riad hidden within the Fez medina is a house of carved cedar and stucco, the work of Fez craftsmen over generations. Behind a plain door you find carved plaster and quiet, at the heart of the living medina. On The Living Medina, afternoons are kept free for the riad, which our advisors call the necessary counterweight to the medina's intensity.

Walking the Fez medina early lets you move through it before the lanes fill, while the light in the courtyards is at its best. That is why mornings on The Living Medina thread the covered lanes with a private guide. Afternoons then rest in the riad, away from the intensity, and evenings rise to the rooftops as the green-tiled minarets catch the last of the light.

Walk the medina with a private guide who opens closed doors, from the tanneries to a working Quranic school. Fez also rewards a stay in a restored riad within the walls, private visits to the workshops of weavers, coppersmiths and mosaic-cutters, and dusk on a rooftop as the green-tiled minarets catch the last light. Our advisors suggest 4-6 days, with mornings in the covered lanes and afternoons kept free for the riad.

Avoid the medina at its busiest hours, flimsy footwear and an overfilled schedule. Our advisors suggest walking the lanes early, before they fill, and wearing sturdy closed shoes for the tanneries and the steep, worn lanes of the old city. Keep afternoons free in the riad as a counterweight to the medina's intensity, and go with a guide who has the standing to open workshops closed to the ordinary visitor.