Fes vs Tangier

Northern Morocco's two most distinctive cities divide nearly everything: age, scale, character and the type of traveller they attract. Fes — founded in 789 AD — is a medieval Islamic city still lived in. Its medina (Fes el-Bali) contains thousands of lanes, 300 mosques, the Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 (Al-Qarawiyyin, 859 AD), and craft traditions — leatherwork, zellige, copperwork — that have not changed in a thousand years. Tangier sits at the northern tip of Africa, 14 km from the Spanish coast across the Strait of Gibraltar. Once a louche international zone that inspired Paul Bowles, William S. Burroughs and Henri Matisse, today's Tangier has been dramatically transformed by investment: the Grand Socco and the Kasbah medina have been restored, the Corniche has been extended, and the high-speed Tanger-Med port makes it Morocco's busiest cargo and ferry hub. The two cities are 290 km apart and connected by a fast train — combining them is Morocco's defining northern itinerary.

Choose Fes for the deepest encounter with Moroccan history and craft culture — its medersa architecture, tannery panoramas and Fassi cuisine reward days of exploration and are unlike anything else on the continent. Choose Tangier if you are arriving by ferry from Spain, want sea views and a more outward-facing European-Moroccan blend, or are pressed for time. The ideal northern circuit: fly into Tangier, spend two nights, take the Al Boraq train south to Fes for four nights, add a day trip to Chefchaouen or Meknes and Volubilis, then fly home from Fes.

Read the full guide to Fes or to Tangier.