Fes · Nightlife

The medina has no bar scene. Alcohol is served in licensed hotels, a few upmarket riads and in the Ville Nouvelle, and the medina's own gates and lanes are quiet by about 22:00. Plan an evening around a rooftop or a concert rather than expecting to wander into somewhere.

Relais & Châteaux riad at 5 Derb Ben Slimane Zerbtana, inside the medina, with a panoramic terrace over the old city and a separate bar. Non-residents are generally taken for drinks and dinner, but it is worth phoning ahead rather than turning up.

Restored palace hotel at Bab Ziat on the medina's southern edge, with a rooftop restaurant and garden terrace facing straight across the roofs of Fes el-Bali. Moroccan and Mediterranean food; the terrace is the reason to come and sunset is when to do it.

Modern hotel at Bab Lghoul, Dhar El Mehraz, up on the hillside above the medina, with a rooftop bar that looks down over the whole old city. It is a taxi ride from the medina gates rather than a walk, and the drinks are priced accordingly.

The city's main evening programme, staged over about a week each year at venues including the Bab Makina, with tickets and the schedule on the festival's own site. Outside festival week, evening performance in Fes is occasional rather than nightly.