Fes and Marrakech at a glance
Marrakech is the easier and livelier city, and Fes is the older and more traditional one. Most travellers who see both are glad they did, because neither is a substitute for the other.
| Fes | Marrakech | |
|---|---|---|
| Atmosphere | Traditional, serious, a working medieval city | Lively, outward-looking, built around visitors |
| Medina | Dense, hilly, car-free, hard to navigate | Flat, more open, easier to navigate, with scooters in the lanes |
| UNESCO listing | Medina of Fez, listed 1981 | Medina of Marrakesh, listed 1985 |
| Best-known sights | Chouara tannery, Bou Inania and Al-Attarine madrasas, Al-Qarawiyyin | Jemaa el-Fna, Koutoubia, Bahia Palace, Saadian Tombs, Majorelle Garden |
| Day trips | Meknes, Volubilis, Ifrane and the cedar forest, Chefchaouen (a long day) | High Atlas, Ourika Valley, Agafay Desert, Essaouira, Ouzoud, Ait Ben Haddou |
| Hotels | Mostly riads and guesthouses in the medina | Everything from simple riads to large resorts with pools |
| Airport | Fes Saïss, fewer international routes | Marrakech Menara, many more international routes |
| Nightlife and dining | Quiet in the evening | Wide choice of restaurants, rooftops and bars |
| Time needed | 2 nights | 2 to 3 nights, more with day trips |
How the two cities feel
Marrakech feels like a city that expects you, and Fes feels like a city going about its own business. That is the difference most visitors remember.
Marrakech is red-walled, flat and sunny, with the High Atlas on the horizon on a clear day. Its centre is Jemaa el-Fna, a huge open square that fills with food stalls, musicians and storytellers every evening. The city has a large modern district, rooftop restaurants and a long habit of hosting foreigners. It is easy to enjoy on day one. It is also louder and more insistent, and sellers in the main souks can be persistent.
Fes is older, founded more than a thousand years ago, and long regarded as the country's centre of learning and craft. Its medina sits in a bowl of hills, and daily life there has changed less: goods still arrive by donkey and handcart because nothing wider fits. It gives less away at first. Visitors who like history and craft often end up preferring it.
Which medina is easier to navigate
The Fes medina is denser and much harder to navigate. Fes el-Bali, the oldest part, is often described as one of the largest car-free urban areas in the world. It has thousands of lanes, many of them steep, narrow and unsigned, and phone maps are unreliable between high walls. Getting lost is normal. A local guide for the first day is money well spent.
The Marrakech medina is flat and more open, and most routes lead back to Jemaa el-Fna or the Koutoubia minaret, which you can see from a distance. You can manage it alone with a map. The trade-off is traffic: scooters and bicycles share the lanes with pedestrians, which Fes spares you.
On our longer tours a local city guide leads the guided day in each city. The 10-day tour from Casablanca has a guided day in both Fes and Marrakech. The 7-day Morocco tour from Marrakech has one in Marrakech and does not go to Fes.
What there is to see in each city
Marrakech has more individual monuments and gardens to tick off, and Fes has the stronger single experience in its medina.
- Fes. The Chouara tannery, where hides are dyed in open stone pits and viewed from terraces above. The Bou Inania and Al-Attarine madrasas, with carved cedar and tilework. Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in the 9th century, seen from its doorways as non-Muslims cannot enter the prayer hall. The Bab Boujloud gate, the brass gates of the Royal Palace and the old Jewish quarter.
- Marrakech. Jemaa el-Fna and the souks to its north. The Koutoubia minaret, admired from outside. Bahia Palace, the Saadian Tombs and the Ben Youssef Madrasa. The Majorelle Garden in the new town, which is best booked ahead.
Entrance fees at monuments are not included in tour prices. Opening arrangements change, so check locally or ask your guide on the day.
Day trips from each city
Marrakech has the wider range of day trips, covering mountains, desert plain, coast and waterfalls. Fes has fewer, but two of them are among the best historic sites in the country.
From Marrakech, Best Morocco Travel runs private day trips to the Agafay Desert, Essaouira, Imlil in the High Atlas, Ouarzazate and Ait Ben Haddou, the Ourika Valley and Ouzoud Waterfalls. They are priced per group on request. See day trips from Marrakech.
From Fes, the classic day out combines the Roman ruins of Volubilis with the imperial city of Meknes. Ifrane and the cedar forest of the Middle Atlas make a shorter, cooler trip. Chefchaouen is possible in a day but involves several hours of driving each way, so a night there is better.
Hotels, airports and getting between the two
Marrakech is better served for both hotels and flights. It has riads at every level inside the medina and large resort hotels with pools and gardens outside it, which matters in the heat and with children. Fes accommodation is mainly riads and guesthouses in restored medina houses, often very beautiful, with a smaller choice of large hotels.
Marrakech Menara airport has many more international routes than Fes Saïss, though Fes does have flights to a number of European cities. A useful plan is to fly into one city and out of the other, which removes the need to return.
The two cities are about 530 km apart by road. The motorway route through Rabat and Casablanca takes roughly 6 to 7 hours of driving, and direct trains take about the same, often a little longer. Check current times with ONCF, the national railway. It is a full travel day with little to see from the window.
How a desert tour links Fes and Marrakech
Going through the Sahara turns the transfer between the two cities into the best part of the trip. It takes two or three days longer than the train and replaces a day on the motorway with the Atlas mountains, the gorges and a night in the dunes of Erg Chebbi.
- Marrakech to Fes in 3 days. Over the Tizi n'Tichka pass to Ait Ben Haddou and the Dades Valley, on to Todra Gorge and a camel ride to a desert camp at Merzouga, then north through the Ziz Valley, Midelt and Ifrane to Fes. See the 3-day Marrakech to Fes desert tour.
- Fes to Marrakech in 4 days. South through Ifrane and the cedar forest to Merzouga, a full day in the desert, then west by Todra Gorge, the Dades Valley, Ouarzazate and Ait Ben Haddou to Marrakech. See the 4-day Fes to Marrakech desert tour.
3-day Marrakech to Fes desert tour
A one-way crossing from Marrakech to Fes that swaps the motorway for the High Atlas, the Erg Chebbi dunes and the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas.
From €500 per person
4-day Fes to Marrakech desert tour
Fes to Marrakech by the Sahara with a full day at Merzouga in the middle, so the dunes are more than an overnight stop.
From €600 per person
Our verdict by type of traveller
| If you are | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Visiting Morocco for the first time, with 3 or 4 days | Marrakech | Easier arrival, more flights, day trips in every direction |
| Most interested in history, craft and architecture | Fes | The older medina and the madrasas |
| Travelling with young children | Marrakech | Hotels with pools, flat streets, short day trips |
| After restaurants, rooftops and evenings out | Marrakech | Far more choice after dark |
| Returning to Morocco after a first trip | Fes | A deeper, less visitor-led city, with Meknes and Volubilis close by |
| Wanting quieter streets without scooters | Fes | The old medina is car-free |
| Visiting for a week or more | Both | Fly into one, cross the desert, fly out of the other |
For ideas on fitting both into one trip, see our Morocco itinerary guide.
Questions people ask
Is Fes or Marrakech better for a first trip to Morocco?
Marrakech is the easier first stop. It has more flights, more hotels, a medina you can manage alone and day trips to mountains, coast and desert plain. Fes rewards travellers who put history first.
How far is Fes from Marrakech?
About 530 km by road. The motorway through Rabat and Casablanca takes roughly 6 to 7 hours of driving, and the direct train takes about the same or a little longer.
How many days do I need in Fes and in Marrakech?
Two nights in Fes gives one full guided day in the medina. Two or three nights in Marrakech covers the main sights, and more if you add day trips.
Can I visit both Fes and Marrakech in one week?
Yes. A common plan is two nights in Marrakech, three days crossing the desert to Fes, and two nights in Fes, or the same in reverse. Flying into one city and out of the other saves a day.
Is the Fes medina hard to get around?
Yes, more so than Marrakech. It is large, hilly and full of unsigned lanes, and phone maps struggle there. Most visitors take a local guide for their first day.
Is Fes or Marrakech hotter?
Both are hot in July and August. Marrakech is usually the hotter of the two in summer, and Fes is cooler and wetter in winter. Spring and autumn are comfortable in both.
Is the desert closer to Fes or to Marrakech?
The Merzouga dunes are a little closer to Fes, about 450 to 470 km against about 560 km from Marrakech. Either way it is a long drive, which is why most travellers cross from one city to the other through the desert.
