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A square crenellated tower on the old ramparts of the Taza medina, the plain and hills beyond

Taza · Photo: Yamen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taza, Morocco

Taza guards the Taza Gap, the pass between the Rif and the Middle Atlas on the old road east from Fes, about 1 h 25 by car. Its walled old town on a terrace holds a Great Mosque of the Almohad and Marinid eras, and Tazekka National Park, with the Friouato cave, lies close by.

Plan my Taza tripSee what to do
  • Private or small-group
  • A written quote for your dates
  • WhatsApp support during your trip

Why go to Taza

Taza began as Ribat Taza, a fortified camp founded by Musa ibn Abi'l-Afiya, leader of the Miknasa, and it has always been a gateway: the Taza Gap, where the Rif and the Middle Atlas meet, is the corridor through which successive invaders moved west, and for centuries Taza was a trading town on the route between Fes and the Algerian frontier. The Almoravids took the town in 1074, the Almohads in 1132 and the Marinids in 1248; the French entered it in 1914 and built a new town on the plain in 1920. The old town stands on its terrace at about 585 m, inside walls first raised in the 12th century, around the Great Mosque, an important building of the Almohad and Marinid periods. Taza is a city of about 150,000 people (2024 census), and the cedars, oak forests and caves of Tazekka National Park lie close by in the Middle Atlas.

Best time
April–June and September–October; summers are hot in town and cooler in Tazekka's forests
How long
A long day from Fes, or one night
Nearest airport
Fès-Saïs (FEZ)
Region
The Taza Gap · Taza Province

The road from Fes to Taza, drawn to scale

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

106 km

about 1 h 25 at the wheel, without traffic or stops

من فاس، باب الفتوح إلى تازة

Road distance and free-flow time from the OSM car router (OSRM), Bab Ftouh to Taza. 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 Ftouhفاس، باب الفتوح0 km
  2. Sidi Harazemسيدي حرازم9 km
  3. Matmataمطماطة51 km
  4. Oued Amlilوادي أمليل79 km
  5. Tazaتازة106 km

What you'll see in Taza

A square crenellated tower on the old ramparts of the Taza medina, the plain and hills beyond
Taza

The walled old town

Old Taza sits on its terrace inside 12th-century walls, entered by Bab Jamaa. Near Bab er-Rih, the Wind Gate, a 16th-century bastion closes the ring around the kasbah.

The Great Mosque of Taza

The city's best-known monument, an important building of the Almohad and Marinid periods at the heart of the old town.

The Andalous Mosque minaret

At the end of the old town's main street, the Andalous Mosque has a 14th-century minaret that is wider at the top than at its base.

The Saadian borj

The Saadian sultan Ahmad al-Mansur added a fortified tower 26 m wide at its base to the city walls in the 16th century.

Daylight falling through the great shaft of the Friouato cave in Tazekka National Park near Taza
Friouato caves, Tazekka National Park

Tazekka National Park

Near Taza in the Middle Atlas, created in 1950 around the cedars of Jbel Tazekka (1,980 m) and extended in 1989 to take in cork and holm oak forest, canyons, cascades and caves, among them the Friouato cave, entered by concrete steps down a 100 m vertical shaft.

Tours that reach Taza

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

The crenellated ramparts of Bab Jemaa on the hill above Taza, the new town spread belowLong full dayTazekka National Park and TazaEast of Fes through the Taza corridor, the hill town of Taza and the forests, caves and waterfalls of Tazekka, a national park few visitors reach.See the plan

Before you go

Getting there. Roughly 1 h 25 by car from Bab Ftouh on the road east, on the OpenStreetMap car route

On the way. The road passes Sidi Harazem just outside Fes, then Matmata and Oued Amlil in the corridor

Tazekka. The park roads are narrow and winding; the Friouato cave is a long, steep descent and climb

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 Taza with

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

Sefrou spread among gardens and trees below the Middle Atlas foothills88 km from TazaSefrouThe walled town south of Fes where Idris II stayed while Fes was built, with a mellah, a waterfall and a June cherry festival.See SefrouBhalil's pastel houses stepping down the hill to the Saïss plain90 km from TazaBhalilThe hillside town of cave houses and painted bridges, half an hour south of Fes, where women knot djellaba buttons in the lanes.See BhalilFes el Bali spread through its valley under a blue sky, seen from the Merinid Tombs hill94 km from TazaFesMorocco's spiritual and artisan capital, and the heart of everything we do.See Fes

Questions about Taza

What people ask us before they add Taza to a trip.

How long is the drive from Fes to Taza?
About 1 h 25 by car from Bab Ftouh on the road east, without traffic or stops.
What is the Taza Gap?
The pass where the Rif and the Middle Atlas come together, the natural corridor between the Atlantic plains of Morocco and the east. Taza grew up guarding it.
Can we see Taza and Tazekka National Park in one day from Fes?
Yes, as a long day with an early start. Many travellers prefer a night in or near Taza to give the cave and the forest roads more time.

Tell us your dates. We'll plan Taza 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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