The most impressive of the imperial cities is often described like the "museum-city". This cultural city and exceptional centre of craft industry, is divided into 3 areas:
-Fes la jeune (the new city), built by the French during the protectorate
-Fes-el-Bali (the old city)
-Fes-el-Jedid (the medium-old city) being the heart of the medina. It consists of a labyrinth of 9500 narrow streets with its passages, its shafts and its multitudes of gravers and craftsmen.
Richly decorated palates, mosques and medersas are numerous. The craftsmen of Fes are experts in woodcarving, goldsmithery, dinandery, painting (with the famous 'blue of Fes'), pottery or tannery.
Plenty of visits can be organized towards: the forests of cedars, with monkeys living in freedom, the hotsprings of Sidi Harazem and its thermal spa, the forests of cork and eucalyptus around Sefrou, the citadel of Taza or the pit of Friouato.

the Pros:
- a genuine city, rich in art and culture
- a quiet environment with vivifying climate
the Cons:
- usual distractions of touristic resorts and nightlife are not very present
- located in the highlands of Moyen-Atlas, Fes has a continental climate (hot during summer, cold during winter)

What to see in Fes

- the Tombs of Merinides (XIVth and XVth century) also being a viewing point on the city and its ramparts
- the door of Bab-Guissa (year 1204) and the mosque of the XIVth century of the same name, the Palate Jamai, the Bab-Ftouh door which gives access to the district of the Andalusians, other doors like Bab-el-Hadid or that of Bab-bou-Jeloud with one face being covered with blue ceramics, and the other with green ones.
- the medersas Attarine, Mesbahia, Seffarine, Es-Sahrij dating from XIIIth to XIVth century
- Zaouia Moulay-Idriss, and around the multiple lanes of the souks specialized in potteries, jewels, perfumes…
- the district of Dar Batha and its Museum of Moroccan Arts (Musee des arts marocains)
- many mosques, among which the Karaouiyne mosque, are also worth of interest.