Riad Mayfez

Morocco Family Break

Family Beach + 1 more + 2 more

A family adventure through the best of Morocco.

9 days

from £2,635 pp

including flights

Morocco with Teenagers

Family Adventure + 2 more + 3 more

The best of Morocco, designed for all ages.

10 days

from £2,940 pp

including flights

Go Local in Morocco

Go Local Off-the-beaten-track + 2 more + 3 more

Experience the real Morocco with 11 days of authentic experiences.

11 days

from £3,470 pp

including flights

Morocco Summer Sun

Family Classic + 2 more + 3 more

Our perfect Morocco escape for the summer months.

11 days

from £2,960 pp

including flights

Best of Morocco

Classic Adventure + 2 more + 3 more

An action-packed adventure through Morocco’s must-sees.

14 days

from £4,580 pp

including flights

Morocco Express

A fast track adventure around Morocco's highlights

8 days

Express Beach

from £2,730 pp

including flights

Quirky excursions

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Fez el-Bali

Fez was established in the 9th Century and Fez El-Bali (“Old” Fez) sits in the footprint of those original walls (although the current walls date from 12th Century). The city was built by Idriss II and his zawiya (shrine) is at the heart of the city, alongside the Kairaouine Mosque built by refugees from Tunisia, some of the original inhabitants of the city. The mosque has an associated university with a claim to be the oldest in the world and it’s these institutions that have been at the heart of intellectual and religious life throughout Morocco, and indeed North Africa and Moorish Spain, ever since. It’s hard to get a sense of the scale of these religious monuments as non-Muslims can’t enter; however other incredible religious buildings are explored on this walking tour of the (car-free) medina, notably the Attarine Medersa. This is a beautiful example of the traditional Koranic schools, with delicate tile work, a cooling fountain and intricate wood-carvings. Intricate wood working is something Fez is famous for, and the Nejjarine Museum showcases some of the best from Fez’s history; and the building itself is a stunningly restored merchant’s inn. As you walk the streets of the dense, bustling medina you’ll see plenty of woodwork shops as well as all manner of other traditional arts and crafts.

Ifrane & The Middle Atlas

Moroccans love the Middle Atlas and it’s hard to understand why it’s not as popular with foreign visitors. The contrast with the rest of Morocco is marked: gently rolling green foothills are dotted with attractive lakes, verdant woodlands and picturesque walking trails. The university town of Ifrane was built by the French in the early 20th Century to deliberately emulate an Alpine resort, and the neat chalets and ordered parks seem incongruous after the intensity of somewhere like Fez! Slightly further into the Middle Atlas is the town of Azrou, a Berber town which still has a slightly Alpine feel , and if you visit on a Tuesday you’ll catch one of the largest weekly markets in the area, notable for its carpets.

Azrou Market Visit

Azrou in the Middle Atlas is one of the highlights of taking the inland route south from Fez, and particularly on a Tuesday when it hosts its weekly market. This maelstrom of Berber life – where locals sell fruit and vegetables as well as meat and livestock, plus an assortment of electrical goods and contraptions – is a truly local experience, and its likely you will be some of the only foreigners here. Not many of the vendors speak much English, but you can get by on some French if you have it, or a variety of hand signals will do! We recommend this as a stopover on one of your transfers or a half-day tour from Fez, and there is enough to see here to wander around for an hour or two. There are also dining tents so you can snack on meat fresh from the BBQ in flatbreads alongside a glass of mint tea while you take in your surroundings. It doesn't get more authentic than this!

Fez el-Jadid

Fez El-Jadid (“New” Fez), is new relative only to its immediate surroundings, Fez El-Bali (“Old” Fez); Fez El-Jadid is a walled medina built in the 13th Century by a sultan distrustful of the inhabitants of neighbouring Fez El-Bali. Much of the area is taken up by the Royal Palace, not open to visitors, but with a vast and imposing front gate that is one of the classic Fez backdrops. Fez El-Jadid is also notable for its Jewish heritage. In common with most Moroccan cities, Fez had a thriving Jewish community until relatively recently, packed into mellahs (Jewish quarters). The mellah in Fez is typical, with outward looking balconies (in contrast to the blank-faced outer walls of Moroccan medina dwellings), a beautiful restored synagogue and a melancholy Jewish cemetery. A respite from the towering walls and narrow streets of the medina, the Jnan Sbil gardens are a peaceful green space punctuated with mirroring pools, splashing fountains and gurgling water channels. Your tour concludes north of the city at the Borj Nord, a 16th century fort built on the hills overlooking the city, and today affording a wonderful panorama of the sprawling, dense, chaotic and confusing labyrinths of Fez El-Bali and Fez El-Jadid.

Day in the Life of a Local Family

This morning you will be met at your riad guided across the labyrinthine streets of the old Medina and provided with a list of Arabic phrases to help you communicate with the local family you're about to spend the day with. After reaching the local home and being introduced to the family, you will start your experience with traditional bread-making which will be baked at the communal oven. You will then walk together to the nearby food market to buy fresh ingredients for an authentic lunch, a great opportunity to practice some simple Arabic words and phrases. Back at the house your hosts will teach you how to prepare the traditional Moroccan Tagine (Fez-style), seasonal salads, preserved lemon and the special basic sauce for marinating. Discover the secrets of Fez cuisine and how it differs from other regions. After lunch you can relax with the family, and learn more about their lives over a cup of Moroccan mint tea.