Fes, Morocco· Concierge · Mon–Sat · 09:00–18:00 GMT+1
Fes el Bali · Photo: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0
In Fes, you see the medina from above. The lanes of Fes el-Bali are narrow and walled, so the views come from riad, café and restaurant rooftops, the leather-shop terraces over the Chouara tannery and the Nejjarine museum roof. For the full city panorama, go up to Borj Nord and the Merinid Tombs at sunset.
Fes el-Bali is a deep, sunken labyrinth. Its lanes are narrow, walled and often roofed, and the great mosques and madrasas turn their richest faces inward to courtyards, so there are very few street-level vantage points from which to see the city as a whole. In Fes, the views are up. The finest panoramas come from above: the rooftop terraces of riads, cafés and restaurants tucked among the medina's rooftops, where you can sit over a glass of mint tea and look across a sea of flat roofs and minarets; the upper terraces of the leather shops that ring the Chouara tannery; the rooftop of the Nejjarine museum; and, just outside and above the medina on the northern hillside, the classic citywide panorama from Borj Nord and the Merinid Tombs.
Fes el-Bali sits in a bowl in the valley of the Fez river, and its medina is one of the world's largest car-free urban areas, a dense maze of narrow, often covered lanes. Because the streets are sunken and walled, there are few open vantage points at ground level. To take in the city as a whole you have to climb, which is why rooftop terraces and the surrounding hills are where Fes reveals itself.
A number of cafés and restaurants in Fes el-Bali open their rooftops to guests, where you can order a glass of mint tea or a meal and take in the rooftop view. Be a respectful guest: these are working businesses, so the convention is to buy something rather than simply use the roof for photos. Because openings, ownership and access change, it is worth asking your riad or a local guide which terraces are currently open to visitors.
The Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts, housed in a beautifully restored fondouk (caravanserai) near the carpenters' square, has a rooftop terrace that is open to visitors. From the top you get a view over this part of the medina and its rooftops, and it doubles as a quieter, more sheltered vantage point than the busy lanes below, reached after walking up through the museum's galleries.
The simplest way to enjoy a Fes view is to settle on a café or riad terrace with a glass of sweet mint tea and watch the city. After the press and noise of the lanes below, the roofs are calm and open, with a breeze and a long view. It is less about a single famous spot than about pausing above the medina, tea in hand, and letting the scale of the old city sink in.
Roof terraces in the medina often overlook neighbours' homes and courtyards, so it is polite to avoid pointing a camera directly into private spaces and to ask before photographing people. On café and shop terraces, remember you are a guest of a business: order something, browse the leather at the tannery viewpoints, and a small tip for access is normal. Dress modestly, as you would elsewhere in the medina.
A natural plan is to explore Fes el-Bali at street level, pausing at the Chouara tannery and Nejjarine terraces as you pass, then stop for a rooftop tea in the late afternoon and finish up on the Borj Nord and Merinid hillside for sunset over the whole city. Doing the climb to the hillside last lets you look back over the maze you have just walked through.
Because access to terraces changes and the medina is genuinely hard to navigate, a local guide can be the easiest way to find current rooftop viewpoints, time them for the best light, and handle the etiquette of buying tea or browsing leather in exchange for the view. A guide can also fold the tannery, Nejjarine and hillside vantage points into a single half-day around the medina.
The questions people ask us most before they plan a trip.
The Andalusian QuarterThe quiet east bank of Fes el-Bali, up to Bab Ftouh.Read the guide
Bab R'cif and the riverA working square in the lower medina where the Oued Fes runs under the city.Read the guide
Jnan Sbil GardensA green pause between the two old cities, with a lake and a waterwheel.Read the guide
