Ville Nouvelle

Fez, Morocco

The French-built modern city of boulevards, cafés and shops, where much of local life and the better bars now happen. The contemporary counterpoint.

Places in Ville Nouvelle

Ville Nouvelle cafés The modern city's café terraces serve espresso and pastries to a local crowd, French-Moroccan in style. Everyday Fez life.
Ville Nouvelle bars & hotel lounges The modern city and its hotels hold most of the city's bars, from casual to hotel lounges. The reliable place for an evening drink.

Best time to visit: March to May and September to November for warm, comfortable days ideal for the medina. Summer is scorching; winter cool and quiet. The Fes Festival of World Sacred Music in spring is extraordinary.
Getting around: The medina is entirely pedestrian — you walk, and you will get lost (embrace it, or hire a guide). Petit taxis serve the new city and medina gates. The train links Fez to Casablanca, Marrakech and Tangier. A guide for the first medina day is well worth it.
Currency: Moroccan Dirham (DH)
Language: Arabic and Amazigh. French is widespread; English in tourism.
Timezone: UTC+1
Current trends: A wave of restored riad guesthouses and rooftop restaurants; a small but growing crop of chef-led and international dining in the medina; artisan cooperatives reviving traditional crafts; and cultural tourism deepening beyond the day-trip circuit.

Fez el-Bali (Old Medina) — The vast medieval walled city, a UNESCO maze of souks, madrasas, mosques and the famous tanneries, entered through the blue Bab Boujloud gate. The soul of Fez.
Fez el-Jdid — The 'new' 13th-century quarter, home to the royal palace, the old Jewish Mellah and its synagogue, quieter than the main medina. A different historical layer.
The hills & Merinid Tombs — The ridges above the medina, crowned by the ruined Merinid Tombs, with the classic panoramic view over the sea of rooftops. Best at sunset.