Getting around Morocco

The ONCF rail network links Fes and Meknes to Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech and Tangier, connecting to the Al Boraq high-speed line at Kenitra (Tangier–Casablanca in about two hours). From Fes station in the Ville Nouvelle, trains are the easy, cheap way across the populated north-west spine — Fes to Casablanca runs in roughly three and a half hours. Beyond the rail map — Chefchaouen, Volubilis, the Middle Atlas, the gorges and the Sahara — you'll want a private driver or a long-distance bus (CTM and Supratours are the reliable operators, with a terminal in Fes).

For anything off the rail corridor — the loop to Volubilis and Moulay Idriss, the cedar forests around Ifrane, the road to Chefchaouen, or the long run to Merzouga — a private driver is the comfortable choice: door-to-door from the nearest medina gate to your riad, all your luggage, your own schedule, and the freedom to stop at a viewpoint, an olive press or a Roman ruin on the way. A good driver doubles as a guide and translator.

Within Fes, small red 'petit taxis' handle short hops between the Ville Nouvelle and the medina gates — agree the fare or insist on the meter. Remember that no taxi can enter Fes el-Bali, so you'll be dropped at a gate like Bab Bou Jeloud or Rcif and walk in. Larger 'grand taxis' run fixed intercity routes. For airport arrivals at Fès–Saïss, a pre-booked private transfer with a flight-tracked, name-board pickup spares you the arrivals-hall haggling entirely.