Last verified: October 18, 2026. On 18 October I read every ticket price in this guide that has an operator page. That’s the Ministry of Culture’s Khadamat Culture platform for Volubilis, the Fondation Nationale des Musées for the Batha museum, and Café Clock’s own site for its cooking class. Where no operator page exists, I say so and give what 2026 guides say, as a range where they disagree. I re-read all of it every 60 days.
The Ministry of Culture sells tickets online for 18 sites across Morocco. Not one of them is in Fes. So when I priced the best things to do in Fes, most of the medina’s prices had to come from guides, and I’ve labelled every one of them.
Disclosure: Some links in this guide may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what we recommend.
The short answer: seven of the best things in Fes cost nothing, and two full days of medina tickets add up to about 140 dirhams a person. Tickets are the cheap part of a Fes trip. The money goes somewhere else: on a licensed guide for the first morning. (You’ll also see the city written Fez or Fès. Same place.)
Key Takeaways
- Seven of the best things to do in Fes are free
- The madrasas cost about 20 dirhams each, a secondary price: no operator publishes it
- The Batha museum reopened in February 2025: 60 dirhams, closed Tuesdays
- Hire a licensed guide for the first morning only
- Volubilis costs 100 dirhams on the Ministry’s own page and takes a full day
Table of Contents
What are the best things to do in Fes, and what do they cost?
Of the best things to do in Fes, seven are free. The medina’s paid sights cost 20 to 60 dirhams each for a foreign adult, read on 18 October 2026. Only three of the fifteen prices below come from the operator’s own page. The other paid ones come from guides, because Fes publishes almost nothing.
“Official” means I read the price on the operator’s own page. “Secondary” means no operator page exists, so the figure comes from 2026 guides; where they disagree, I give the range.
| # | Thing to do | Foreign adult | Source | Time | Go at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bab Boujloud and the Talaa Kebira | Free | 2 h | morning | |
| 2 | Chouara tannery, from a terrace | Free view | 30 min | mid-morning | |
| 3 | The Qarawiyyin, from its doors | Free | 15 min | between prayers | |
| 4 | Seffarine square | Free | 20 min | late morning | |
| 5 | The Merenid tombs | Free | 1 h | sunset | |
| 6 | Jnan Sbil gardens | Free | 45 min | afternoon | |
| 7 | Royal Palace gates and the Mellah | Free | 1.5 h | morning | |
| 8 | Bou Inania Madrasa | 20 MAD | Secondary | 45 min | 9h opening |
| 9 | Al-Attarine Madrasa | 20 MAD | Secondary | 30 min | late morning |
| 10 | Nejjarine museum | 20 MAD | Secondary | 1 h | midday |
| 11 | Batha museum | 60 MAD | Official | 1.5 h | not Tuesday |
| 12 | Ibn Danan synagogue | 20 to 25 MAD | Secondary | 30 min | morning |
| 13 | A hammam | no Fes price | 1 to 2 h | evening | |
| 14 | A cooking class | 600 MAD | Official, branch not named | 4.5 to 5 h | 10h start |
| 15 | Volubilis | 100 MAD | Official | full day | 9h opening |
Why say where each price comes from? Because the popular guides mostly don’t print one. On 18 October I read four of the top-ranking online guides to Fes. Three print no entry price at all. The fourth gives Bou Inania as 10 dirhams, on a page last updated in October 2024. Every 2026 source I found says 20.
The gap is the state’s, not the guides’. The Ministry’s Khadamat Culture platform lists 18 sites, and the only one in the whole Fès-Meknès region is Volubilis. Fes’s madrasas aren’t on it. Compare that with what the same two days cost in Marrakech, where every state monument has an official 100-dirham ticket.
If you haven’t settled where to stay yet, whether Fes or Marrakech should be your base is its own decision. This list assumes you’re coming here. Two full days cover the medina, and how many days to give Fes depends on what else is on your route. If the next stop is north, whether Chefchaouen is worth a night on the way to Tangier is its own question.
What can you do in Fes for free?
The medina itself is the first free thing, and the biggest. UNESCO inscribed the Medina of Fez in 1981, and its listed area covers 280 hectares. Walking its lanes, watching the tanners and coppersmiths, and climbing to the Merenid tombs all need no ticket.
The Talaa Kebira, the main lane down from Bab Boujloud. Photo: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
1. Bab Boujloud and the Talaa Kebira
Free · 2 hours · go in the morning
The blue-tiled gate of Bab Boujloud is where most visits start. From there, the Talaa Kebira runs downhill towards the Qarawiyyin quarter, and the Talaa Seghira runs roughly parallel to it. The medina UNESCO lists is thousands of lanes deep, but those two are the spine. Staying on them is the simplest way to keep your bearings, and to skip most of the men offering to show you the way.
2. The Chouara tannery, from a terrace
Free view · 30 minutes · go mid-morning
The dye pits have been worked since at least the Saadian period in the 16th century, Le Matin reported in 2016. There’s no ticket: you watch from the terraces of the leather shops around it. The view is free. The way out is through a showroom, and that’s where a price appears. Read the terms to agree at the tannery door before you climb any stairs.
3. The Qarawiyyin, from its doors
Free · 15 minutes · go between prayers
Guinness World Records lists the Qarawiyyin, founded in 859, as the oldest existing educational institution that has operated without a break. Non-Muslims aren’t allowed to enter the mosque, Gulf News notes. Anyone can look through its open doors into the courtyard as they pass. Keep it brief, and don’t photograph people at prayer.
4. Seffarine square
Free · 20 minutes · go late morning
A small square beside the Qarawiyyin where coppersmiths hammer out cauldrons and trays in the open. It’s free to stand and watch.
Place Seffarine, the coppersmiths’ square. Photo: R Prazeres, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
5. The Merenid tombs at sunset
Free · 1 hour · go at sunset
The ruined Marinid-era tombs on the hill north of the medina are free, and the hill looks over the whole medina, which is why people come at sunset. It’s a steep walk up. After dark, take a petit taxi back down, and know what the petit taxi to the Merenid tombs should cost before you get in. Borj Nord, the fort just below, houses an arms museum, but I couldn’t find a 2026 price or hours for it.
6. Jnan Sbil gardens
Free · 45 minutes · go in the afternoon
A royal garden between the old medina and Fes el-Jdid, with palms, a pond and benches in the shade. Guides list no entry fee. It makes the right break between the medina on day one and the Royal Palace on day two.
7. The Royal Palace gates and the Mellah
Free · 1.5 hours · go in the morning
The gates of Dar al-Makhzen, the royal palace, face a square in Fes el-Jdid, and you see them from the square. Next to the palace is the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter, whose streets and wooden balconies are free to walk. Its Ibn Danan synagogue charges a small entry fee, covered in item 12.
Which paid sights in the Fes medina earn their ticket?
All five do, and four of them cost 20 dirhams or so. Only one has an official price: the Fondation Nationale des Musées lists the Batha museum at 60 dirhams for a foreign adult. Bou Inania, Al-Attarine, the Nejjarine museum and the synagogue have no operator page, so their prices are secondary.
8. Bou Inania Madrasa
20 MAD · Secondary · 45 minutes · go at 9h
A religious school from the Marinid era, which UNESCO calls the city’s height, in the 13th and 14th centuries. Inside are carved cedar, stucco and zellige around a marble courtyard. It’s one of the few religious buildings in Fes that every visitor can enter. Guides give the hours as about 9h to 18h, with closures at prayer time. Every 2026 source I read agrees on 20 dirhams, and the older 10-dirham figure is out of date. The first ticket to buy.
9. Al-Attarine Madrasa
20 MAD · Secondary · 30 minutes · go late morning
A smaller madrasa right beside the Qarawiyyin, with some of the finest tilework in the city. Both 2026 guides I found say 20 dirhams. It’s smaller than Bou Inania and you’ll be through in half an hour. The best 20 dirhams in Fes.
The courtyard of the Al-Attarine Madrasa. Photo: Mike Prince, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
10. Nejjarine museum of wooden arts
20 MAD · Secondary · 1 hour · go at midday
A museum of carved and painted wood inside an 18th-century funduq, a merchants’ inn. It opened in 1998, and in May 2025 it became the first museum to receive the national museums foundation’s “Musée du Maroc” label, Hespress reported. Most guides put the ticket at 20 dirhams; one says 30. Worth the hour.
11. Batha museum
60 MAD · Official · 1.5 hours · closed Tuesdays
A royal palace, restored from 2019 and reopened in February 2025 as the Musée Al Batha des Arts de l’Islam. Its page on the foundation’s site lists 60 dirhams for foreigners, 30 for Moroccans and 15 for children, open 10h to 18h and closed every Tuesday. The foundation calls its Andalusian garden the jewel of the museum. Two of the four guides I read were last updated before it reopened. Earns its 60.
12. Ibn Danan synagogue
20 to 25 MAD · Secondary · 30 minutes · go in the morning
A synagogue in the Mellah, open to visitors. No tariff is published. Guides put the entry at 20 or 25 dirhams, paid on site, so take small change. Earns it if you’re already in the Mellah.
Do you need a guide in Fes?
For the first morning, yes, and a licensed one. I have no Fes rate I can defend: I couldn’t find two sources that agreed. In Marrakech, licensed half-day guides advertise 300 to 600 dirhams, from my August price round. Agree the Fes price before you start.
So why pay a guide when the tickets are this cheap? Because the trade-off is the guide, not the tickets. Fes’s tickets are cheap: about 60 dirhams for the three medina sights a guide would take you to. The expensive mistake is the unofficial guide who finds you at the gate, whose fee is set at the end, often in a shop. A licensed guide on day one shows you the layout, and on day two you won’t need one.
Book through your riad or a licensed operator, agree the price and the hours first, and check the badge at the start. How to tell a licensed guide from the other kind covers the badge and the law behind it.
Want to go without one? Download an offline map before you arrive, stick to the Talaa Kebira and Talaa Seghira, and remember which gate you came in by. When someone tells you a lane is closed, keep walking.
Which experiences in Fes are worth paying for?
Two out of three. Café Clock lists its group cooking class at 600 dirhams a person on its own site, and the Ministry’s ticket page prices Volubilis at 100 dirhams for a foreign adult. The hammam is worth doing too, but I have no Fes price I can defend.
13. A hammam
No Fes price · 1 to 2 hours · go in the evening
A neighbourhood hammam is one of the most local things you can do in Fes. I couldn’t find a Fes entry price that two sources agree on, so I won’t print one. The attendant is tipped, and what to tip the hammam attendant has the figure. Worth it if you go with someone who has been.
14. A cooking class
600 MAD · Official, branch not named · 4.5 to 5 hours · arrive at 10h
Café Clock’s own page lists its group class at 600 dirhams a person and a private class at 1,000. It starts with a trip to the market to buy produce, then you cook four courses and eat them, so it doubles as lunch. Café Clock also runs cafés in Marrakech and Chefchaouen, and the page doesn’t say the price differs by branch. Earns it if you’d pay that for a long lunch anyway.
15. Volubilis and Meknes in a day
100 MAD · Official · full day · go at 9h
The Roman ruins at Volubilis were inscribed by UNESCO in 1997. The Ministry’s ticket page lists 100 dirhams for a foreign adult, 50 for a child aged 7 to 13, open 9h to 17h. The train only goes to Meknes. The Meknes train fare by booking date runs from 33 dirhams down to 22. From Meknes station it’s about 27 km by road to the site. Earns it, as a full day, not an afternoon.
The basilica at Volubilis. Photo: Prioryman, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Three things in Fes that don’t earn their price
Three things, and none of them is a ticket. On 18 October 2026 the dearest medina monument in Fes cost 60 dirhams. What costs more is the services whose price is set after you’ve used them. That means the tannery escort, the shop detour and the private car up the hill.
The first is the “free” escort who walks you to a different tannery terrace. The view he shows you is the same one you’d have found alone, and his fee arrives at the top of the stairs.
The second is the cooperative detour. A tour you’ve paid for stops at a rug or leather “cooperative”, and the guide’s commission is the real product. If it happens, you can just say no and wait outside. The common shop scripts, starting with the rug-shop closing line, are in the scams guide.
The third is the private car to the Merenid tombs at sunset, often quoted above the meter. A metered petit taxi does the same trip. None of these is a scam by default. They’re just where the price comes after the service.
When should you do things in Fes?
Early, mostly. Bou Inania opens around 9h, and NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 climate normals put the average July afternoon at Fès-Saïss at 35.1°C. Do the madrasas at opening, the tannery mid-morning, and save the Merenid tombs for sunset.
Fes el-Bali from the Merenid tombs. Photo: Mike Prince, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The region is getting busier. Classified hotels in the Fès-Meknès region recorded more than 3.1 million nights in 2025, up 9% on 2024, with occupancy at 48%, Hespress reported. Book a licensed guide through your riad a day or two ahead.
Three timing traps. First, the Batha museum closes on Tuesdays. Second, guides say Bou Inania restricts entry around Friday midday prayer, so do Friday mornings early or plan the Royal Palace and Jnan Sbil instead. Third, Morocco moved to permanent GMT on 20 September 2026, as Hespress reported the decree, so check any opening hour against a current source. For the rest of the year beyond July, see every month honestly ranked.
How do you fit the things to do in Fes into two days?
Split it into a guided day and a solo day. Day 1, with a licensed guide, covers the three 20-dirham medina sights for 60 dirhams. Day 2, alone, adds the Batha and the synagogue for 80. That’s about 140 dirhams a person in tickets, plus 100 for Volubilis on a third day.
Day 1, the old medina, guided. Bab Boujloud at 9h, Bou Inania at opening, then down the Talaa Kebira. Al-Attarine, the Qarawiyyin doors and Seffarine square, all within a few minutes of each other. The Chouara tannery mid-morning, then the Nejjarine museum, and lunch nearby.
Day 2, Batha to Fes el-Jdid, alone. The Batha museum at 10h (not on a Tuesday). Jnan Sbil in the heat, then the Royal Palace gates, the Mellah and the Ibn Danan synagogue. End at the Merenid tombs for sunset, with a petit taxi back down.
A third day is Volubilis. For where Fes sits on a ten-day route, see the itinerary, and for everything else, start with the rest of the plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much are entrance fees in Fes?
Bou Inania, Al-Attarine, the Nejjarine museum and the Ibn Danan synagogue cost about 20 dirhams each, a secondary price from 2026 guides. The Batha museum costs 60 dirhams on its operator’s page. That’s about 140 dirhams a person for two days, and Volubilis adds 100.
Do you need a guide in Fes?
For the first morning, a licensed guide is worth it, against three medina tickets that cost only about 60 dirhams. I found no Fes rate two sources agree on, so agree the price first, book through your riad and check the badge. After a guided morning, the second day is easy alone.
Can you visit the Chouara tannery for free?
The view is free: you watch from the terraces of the leather shops around the pits, which have been worked since at least the 16th century. The exit runs through a showroom, where the price appears. Agree any terrace fee at the door, before you climb.
Can non-Muslims enter the Qarawiyyin?
Not the mosque, which was founded in 859. Non-Muslims can look in through its doors. The madrasas are open to everyone: Bou Inania and Al-Attarine cost about 20 dirhams each.
How do you get to Volubilis from Fes?
Take a train to Meknes, then go about 27 km by road to the site. Entry is 100 dirhams for a foreign adult, and the site opens 9h to 17h. Plan a full day.
Where to start
Do the free things to do in Fes first, with a licensed guide for the first morning. Then buy the four 20-dirham tickets that earn their price, and the Batha at 60. That’s about 140 dirhams for two days, and 100 more for Volubilis.
What I didn’t measure: these are published prices read on one day, not receipts from the gate. Four of the medina prices come from guides, because no operator publishes them. I found no Fes guide rate or hammam price I could defend, so neither is printed. I’ll re-read every one of them in December.
