Aelfgifu Travels

Hi Aelf Crew,

Today we touch on Fez (or Fes… I’ve seen both spellings and I’m still not entirely sure which is correct).

I stayed in Riad Verus, which was located on the Medina boundary in the safe Batha neighbourhood.

I did get slightly ripped off getting to the hostel… but I’ll save that story for another post, so do stay tuned.

Exploring Fez

One thing I’d strongly recommend in Fez is doing a walking tour – I booked mine through, you guessed it, GuruWalk, and the city is so incredible that it’s difficult not to be impressed by it.

The medina is vast, tightly packed, and incredibly easy to get lost in – as it turns out purposefully so. The narrow streets were designed in a way that made it difficult for invaders to move through easily or walk side-by-side in large numbers. 

Having a guide gave proper context to what I was seeing and helped me understand how the city actually functions beyond just wandering through endless alleyways.

Which was particularly useful because, left to my own devices, I somehow ended up wandering towards Place Bou Jeloud whilst attempting to locate a cash machine. The huge public square, bordered by the city walls, Bab Mahrouk, and the Bou Jeloud Mosque, was impressive but very much not where I had intended to end up.

Must Do: The Tanneries

If there’s one thing you should prioritise in Fez, it’s visiting Chouara Tannery.

The tannery is a traditional leather-making area where hides are treated and dyed using methods that have been around for centuries. Leather is processed using natural materials including pigeon droppings, cow urine, limestone, and plant-based dyes so the smell is famous for a reason.

A couple of factors did help with the smell: I visited in spring rather than the height of summer where the intensity of the sun would naturally make the smell worse and secondly I have lived on a farm, so my tolerance for questionable smells is higher than average.

Some people in my group really struggled. We were offered mint leaves to hold under our noses, but I opted out.

Whilst there, we were given a short explanation of how the leather is treated, the different dyes used, how to distinguish between real and fake leather and the differences between various animal hides including cow, sheep, goat and camel. There were even live demonstrations involving pouring water onto leather and briefly setting fire to samples to prove authenticity. 

Afterwards, naturally, we were guided into the leather shop connected to the tannery.

Due to the items being handmade and both time and labour-intensive, the starting prices are semi-high but as I found out, there is a lot of room to negotiate.

One girl in our group was interested in a leather jacket, with the starting price being 3,500 dirhams (around €326). She eventually negotiated it down to 1,600 MAD (roughly €150). Either way, both of those prices for a real leather jacket are very reasonable.

If you’re even slightly interested, it’s worth taking a look – if not to buy, then just to experience the process.

(I’ll go into proper haggling strategies in a separate post, because there’s definitely an art to it.)

A Much Quieter Side of Fez

Inside the medina, we also stumbled across a traditional Moroccan coffee seller using hot sand to brew coffee. Traditional Moroccan sand coffee is made by burying a small copper pot (known as a cezve) into extremely hot sand, allowing the coffee and spices to heat slowly and evenly. The mixture often includes spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, creating a rich and intensely aromatic flavour.

It was worth the 10 MAD for the experience of watching it being made alone and the coffee had a strong nutmeg flavour which always reminds me of Christmas. 

Outside the medina, I also spent some time around Bab Bou Jeloud, a large public square surrounded by impressive architecture in almost every direction you look. In search of a bit of peace after the hustle and bustle of the markets, I eventually ventured on west towards Jardin Jnan Sbil. Beautiful gardens, flowers, shaded walkways, water features, bird cages, and free entry – what’s not to love?!

The walking tour made a huge difference, and the tannery visit ended up being one of the most memorable parts of my time there.

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Farm upbringing finally proving useful,
Aelfgifu