Things to Do in Fes - Top Attractions, Hidden Gems & Must-See Sights

Built between 1323 and 1325 by the Marinid Sultan Abu Said Uthman, Al Attarine Madrasa is small enough to cross in 30 seconds and detailed enough to hold you for an hour. The central courtyard has a marble fountain surrounded by walls covered in zellige tilework, carved cedar, and sculpted plaster, layered one material on top of the next from floor to ceiling. The craftsmanship is considered the high point of Marinid architecture, and standing in that courtyard, it is hard to argue. The madrasa takes its name from the adjacent Souk el Attarine (the spice and perfume market), so the air around it smells of cumin and dried roses. It sits steps from the Karaouine Mosque and a short walk from Chouara Tannery. Unlike the Bou Inania Madrasa across town, which is bigger and more imposing, Al Attarine works through compression: every surface is covered, every corner carved, and the small scale makes the detail land harder.

Sultan Abu Inan Faris built this madrasa between 1350 and 1355, and he clearly wanted it to outdo everything that came before. Bou Inania is the only madrasa in Fes that also functioned as a Friday mosque, complete with its own minaret. The courtyard is larger and more open than Al Attarine's, with a long rectangular fountain and walls done in the same zellige-cedar-stucco trio, but on a grander scale. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage designation since 1981, the building has a medieval water clock mounted on the exterior wall whose mechanism nobody has been able to fully explain. The location is perfect for orientation. Bou Inania sits just inside Boujloud Gate at the western entrance to Fes el-Bali, so most visitors pass it first. If you are walking from the gate into the old medina, you'll see the minaret rising above the lane within a minute. It makes a natural starting point before plunging deeper toward the Karaouine quarter. Open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM. As a must-see in Fes, Bou Inania gives you the full picture of what a Marinid theological college looked like: prayer hall, student dormitories upstairs, and every wall surface worked to the last centimeter.

The Chouara Tannery has been doing the same thing in the same way since the 11th century. Workers stand knee-deep in stone vats filled with pigeon droppings, quicklime, and natural dyes, scraping and soaking animal hides by hand. The circular pits, seen from above, look like a painter's palette: saffron yellow, poppy red, indigo blue, and the chalky white of the liming baths. It is the most photographed spot in Fes, and honestly, it earns that status. The smell is the thing everyone warns you about, and they're right. The combination of raw hides and pigeon-dung curing solution hits hard, especially in summer heat. Leather shop owners on the surrounding terraces hand out sprigs of fresh mint to hold under your nose, and it actually helps. The terraces are free to access through the shops, though the shopkeepers will try to sell you bags and jackets afterward. That's the deal. This is the largest of Fes's three historic tanneries, sitting near Seffarine Square and the river that runs through Fes el-Bali. Among the top sights in Fes, nothing else looks or smells quite like this. Open daily from 9 AM to 7 PM.

Founded in 859 AD by Fatima al-Fihri, the University of Karaouine holds the Guinness World Record as the oldest continuously operating degree-granting institution on earth. That is not marketing. UNESCO confirmed it. For over 1,100 years, scholars have studied here, including Ibn Khaldun (the father of sociology), Maimonides (the Jewish philosopher), and Pope Sylvester II, who is said to have brought Arabic numerals back to Europe after studying in Fes. The university is part of a larger mosque complex, and non-Muslims cannot enter the prayer halls. You can peer through the open doorways to see the vast interior with its rows of arches and tiled floors, and the recently restored library (the oldest in the world still in use) occasionally opens for guided visits. The building sits at the spiritual center of Fes el-Bali, with Al Attarine Madrasa and Seffarine Square just steps away. This is one of the top sights in Fes, though "sight" is generous since your actual view is limited to doorways and the courtyard glimpse. The significance is what matters: you are standing at the place where global higher education began. Among things to do in Fes, few carry that kind of weight.

Bab Boujloud is the main entrance to Fes el-Bali and the first thing most visitors photograph. The gate was built in 1913 during the French Protectorate period, which makes it relatively modern by Fes standards. Two things stand out: the outside face is covered in blue ceramic tile (Fes's signature color), and the inside face is done in green (the color of Islam). The horseshoe arches frame the minaret of the Bou Inania Madrasa, which rises directly behind it. The square outside the gate is a gathering point where cafes line the edges, street food vendors set up carts, and taxi drivers wait. Two main arteries branch from the gate into the medina: Talaa Kebira (the big slope) and Talaa Seghira (the small slope). Both lead roughly toward the Karaouine quarter, but Talaa Kebira is the busier, more commercial route. The gate area is also where you'll find Jardin Jnan Sbil, Fes's public garden, a 5-minute walk to the south. But it orients you. Once you walk through it, you're inside a city that hasn't fundamentally changed in 1,000 years.

You hear Seffarine Square before you see it. The name means "Place of the Coppersmiths," and the metalworkers are still here, hammering brass and copper pots by hand in tiny workshops open to the square. The rhythmic clang of mallet on metal has been the soundtrack of this corner of Fes el-Bali since the medieval period. It is a small, uneven square shaded by a massive old tree, and it feels more like a village gathering spot than a city plaza. The square sits just south of the University of Karaouine, with the Karaouine Library on its northwest side and the Seffarine Madrasa to the east. The Bou Khareb river runs nearby. If you are walking from Al Attarine Madrasa toward Chouara Tannery, you will likely pass through here. It is a useful landmark in a city where landmarks are otherwise hard to find. Among the places to visit in Fes, Seffarine Square is less about grand architecture and more about living craft. The coppersmiths aren't performing for tourists. They're filling orders, the same way their predecessors did. Open daily, and free to walk through at any hour.

After hours inside the medina, Jardin Jnan Sbil hits like air conditioning. This 8-hectare public garden was created in the 18th century by Sultan Moulay Abdallah as a private royal retreat, walled off and reserved for princes and princesses. It opened to the public in 1917 and was fully restored in 2011. Today it holds roughly 1,000 plant species, laid out in the Andalusian garden style: geometric paths, water channels, citrus trees, and tall palms creating dense shade. The garden sits right outside Boujloud Gate, between Fes el-Bali and Fes el-Jdid, making it an ideal decompression stop between the two medinas. On warm evenings, local families fill the paths and benches. The large bamboo groves and the lake with ducks give it a scale that surprises, considering how tightly built everything around it is. Among the parks in Fes, this is the only one worth specifically seeking out. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 8 AM to 7 PM (closed Mondays). Free admission. On a hot day, which in Fes means most days from May through October, this green space is not optional, it is necessary.