Fes · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Fes is cheaper and less touristed than Marrakech; the medina swallows a week and costs almost nothing.
Sleep in Fes el-Bali
Hostels and budget riads sit inside the old medina near Bab Boujloud and Talaa Kebira. Expect stairs, tiles and no vehicle access at all.
What a day costs
Dorms MAD 80–150, food MAD 50–100, petits taxis MAD 15–30. Reckon MAD 150–280, roughly $15–28, less if you eat at the stalls.
Getting around cheap
Petits taxis are metered and short hops cost MAD 10–20; trains and CTM coaches to Casablanca and Marrakech leave from the ville nouvelle.
Free by day
The tanneries viewed from the leather shops' balconies, the lanes of the Andalusian quarter, and the Merenid tombs above the city at sunset.
Bab Boujloud cafés
The blue gate's café terraces are where guides, students and travellers collect; walking tours and shared cars to Chefchaouen get arranged over coffee.