Ins and outs

Fès is accessible by train, bus and grand taxi. There are direct train services from Marrakech, Rabat and Casablanca, all via Meknès, taking respectively around four hours, five hours and eight hours. Coming by train from Tangier (nearly six hours), you will change at Sidi Kacem or Sidi Slimane. There are plenty of bus services to main cities, with some useful late-night services for points south; Marrakech and Er Rachidia are around nine hours away, for example, Tangier six hours. There are two bus stations: the main one is outside the city walls near Bab Mahrouk, while the CTM station is on Av Mohammed V in the ville nouvelle. If you come in from Taza and all points east, you will probably arrive at yet another bus terminus, at Bab Ftouh.

Fès has a small airport, with flights to Casablanca. There are fewer scheduled flights to Marrakech. fly to Marseille and Lyon, fly to Paris and fly to Frankfurt, Brussels, Milan, Gerona and Marseille. Ryanair also run a direct flight from London to Fès. The , 15 km south of town, is a grand taxi ride out of town.

Fès is a spread out sort of place, and distances are greater than they may at first seem, so look forward to some considerable hikes from one place to another, or petit taxi rides. If you are based in a ville nouvelle hotel - probably the best bet - you can get a taxi from the Pl Mohammed V or the main PTT on the Av Hassan II. Getting around the historic neighbourhoods of Fès, which divide into Fès el Bali (the Old) and Fès el Jedid (the New), is another matter. You will be dealing with a complex network of lanes and alleys. Especially if your time is limited, it may be better to engage an official guide - rather than get lost and have (possibly unpleasant) dealings with an unofficial guide.