"Fes - For a fistful of Dirhams !" Top 5 Page for this destination Fes by MichaelFalk1969

Fes - UNESCO world heritage monument, the oldest of the Royal Cities of Morocco, and a religious center for several hundred years - was my first introduction into Morocco, a country I have longed to visit for years.

I absolutely enjoyed my stay here. Plunge into the Medina, get lost, find your way again. Believe me - it is fun. Though just walking in the Medina will make you the target of world class salesmen, the hassle was not as bad as expected, and they take a "no" for "no" (well, at least the third "no"). Walking ahead looking purposefully did the job in most cases. Still, it can really put you off that almost every "welcome" is followed by a business proposal sooner or later. Walking is quite exhausting here, as the city is roughly bowl-shaped, and any tour of the city will literally include many ups and downs.

The Fes tanneries - colourful and smelly to the extreme - are a really good place to understand the meaning of "hard work" and lets you appreciate your own job even more. One of the most interesting features of Fes is that (not only in the tanneries) you can still see HOW things are manually produced, and how much time and effort usually goes into creating them.

But there are also other worthwhile places in Fes, like the viewpoints to the north of the city or most parts of Fes el Jedid, with the Royal Palace, the Jewish Quarter and the Museum Dar al Batha.

The most lasting image of Fes ? Standing at the Merinid Tombs, overlooking Fes-el-Bali, listening to the afternoon prayer call of the muezzins erupting simultaneously from different parts of the city.

• Pros:the colours, the sounds, the smells ...
• Cons:would-be guides, persistent salesmen
• In a nutshell:Get souked in !