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The white houses of Moulay Yacoub stacked up their hillside, a minaret at the top

Moulay Yacoub · Photo: أنس, CC BY-SA 4.0

Moulay Yacoub, Morocco

Moulay Yacoub is a spa town in the hills 22 km by road north-west of Fes, about 27 minutes by car from Bab Mahrouk. Its baths use water pumped from 1,500 m underground that arrives at 54 °C. It is small, about 4,500 people, and it makes an easy half day from the medina, best in the cold months.

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Why go to Moulay Yacoub

Moulay Yacoub is a Berber village grown into a small spa town, stacked up a hillside north-west of Fes and the seat of its own province. It recorded about 4,500 people at the 2024 census. Everything here turns on the springs: the baths use water pumped from 1,500 m below ground, which reaches them at around 54 °C. The town and its baths take their name from the saint the springs are tied to, and some residents credit the Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur with building the first baths, a tradition rather than a recorded fact. The road out from Fes crosses green, rolling hills for much of the year.

Best time
November–March, when hot water is most welcome; early mornings in summer
How long
Half day from Fes
Nearest airport
Fès-Saïs (FEZ)
Region
Hills north-west of Fes · Moulay Yacoub Province

The road from Fes to Moulay Yacoub, drawn to scale

Out of the medina by Bab Mahrouk, on the OpenStreetMap car route. Each town sits at its real distance along the road.

22 km

about 27 min at the wheel, without traffic or stops

من فاس، باب المحروق إلى مولاي يعقوب

Road distance and free-flow time from the OSM car router (OSRM), Bab Mahrouk to Moulay Yacoub. A real day takes longer: traffic leaving Fes, a viewpoint, a slow lorry on the bends. We plan the day around it.

  1. Fes, Bab Mahroukفاس، باب المحروق0 km
  2. Moulay Yacoubمولاي يعقوب22 km

What you'll see in Moulay Yacoub

The hot spring baths

Water pumped from 1,500 m underground fills the baths of Moulay Yacoub at around 54 °C. Bring a swimsuit, a towel and flip-flops.

The town on its hillside

Moulay Yacoub's white houses climb the slope above the springs, a minaret at the top, a compact place to walk before or after a soak.

A dirt track climbing over the green hills near Moulay Yacoub in soft evening light
Moulay Yacoub

The hill road

The drive from Bab Mahrouk crosses the edge of the plain and climbs through rolling green hills, at their best in late winter and spring.

Tours that reach Moulay Yacoub

Each one runs private or small-group and stops properly in Moulay Yacoub. Open one for the day-by-day plan, then ask us to quote it for your dates.

The white houses of Moulay Yacoub stacked up their hillside, a minaret at the topHalf dayMoulay Yacoub hot springsA spa town stacked up a hillside north-west of Fes, where water from deep underground fills the baths, and the green hills you cross to reach it.See the plan

Before you go

Getting there. About 22 km from Bab Mahrouk, roughly 27 minutes by car on the OpenStreetMap car route

Health. Water this hot is not advised for everyone, for example in pregnancy or with heart or blood-pressure conditions; ask your doctor if unsure

Pairs with. Sidi Harazem, the other spa town near Fes, on the east side of the city

Read next. Is Volubilis Worth Visiting, and How Do You Do a Meknes & Volubilis Day Trip from Fes?; Can You See Wild Monkeys Near Fes, and Is the Ifrane & Azrou Cedar Forest Day Trip Worth It?; Is the Fes Medina Overwhelming, and How Do You Avoid Getting Lost?.

Pair Moulay Yacoub with

The places closest to Moulay Yacoub, easy to join on one private route.

Fes el Bali spread through its valley under a blue sky, seen from the Merinid Tombs hill18 km from Moulay YacoubFesMorocco's spiritual and artisan capital, and the heart of everything we do.See FesThe Roman Arch of Caracalla at Volubilis, the green plain beyond34 km from Moulay YacoubVolubilis & Moulay IdrissThe most historically layered day reachable from FesSee Volubilis & Moulay IdrissBhalil's pastel houses stepping down the hill to the Saïss plain39 km from Moulay YacoubBhalilThe hillside town of cave houses and painted bridges, half an hour south of Fes, where women knot djellaba buttons in the lanes.See Bhalil

Questions about Moulay Yacoub

What people ask us before they add Moulay Yacoub to a trip.

How far is Moulay Yacoub from Fes?
About 21 km north-west of the city. From Bab Mahrouk it is around 22 km by road and roughly 27 minutes by car.
How hot is the water at Moulay Yacoub?
The water is pumped from about 1,500 m below ground and reaches the baths at around 54 °C.
What is the difference between Moulay Yacoub and Sidi Harazem?
Both are spa towns near Fes. Moulay Yacoub is in the hills to the north-west and its water is very hot, around 54 °C; Sidi Harazem is just east of the city, its spring is about 35 °C, and it has a 1960s brutalist bath complex.

Tell us your dates. We'll plan Moulay Yacoub with you.

  1. Tell us what drew you in. Your dates, who is travelling and what you want to see.
  2. A person reads it. We write a day-by-day plan for your group, private or small-group.
  3. You change anything. Then we confirm the guides, drivers and riads.
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