What's the best neighbourhood to stay in Fes?

My answer for Fes is more clear-cut than for Marrakech: if you possibly can, stay inside Fes el-Bali, the old medina, in a riad or dar. Fes is the most intact medieval city I know, and there's something almost dreamlike about waking inside it — the courtyard light, the rooftop view over a sea of green-tiled minarets, the sounds of a city that runs on foot and on the backs of mules because no car can enter. The riads here tend to be deeper and more elaborately tiled than Marrakech's, often centuries-old merchants' houses, and staying in one is genuinely part of the experience rather than just a bed.

The practical wrinkle is the same as Marrakech, only more so: Fes el-Bali is the largest car-free zone on earth, so your taxi drops you at a gate and a porter walks your luggage in by handcart through the lanes. I always try to book travellers into a riad reasonably near one of the main gates — Bab Bou Jeloud (the blue gate), Bab Rcif, or Bab Ftouh depending on the quarter — so that transfer is a few minutes rather than a long trek through the maze. A good riad arranges the porter and even sends someone to meet you at the gate, which I strongly recommend, because finding an address yourself in Fes el-Bali is genuinely hard.

The alternative is the Ville Nouvelle, the French-built new town a short drive away. It's an ordinary modern city — wide streets, traffic, business hotels, cafés — and its appeal is pure practicality: cars reach your door, there are lifts and standard rooms, and it's calmer at night. I sometimes use it for travellers with mobility needs, very early flights, or those who simply find the medina too intense to sleep in. But you lose the magic entirely; you're then commuting into the old city by taxi each day rather than living in it.

There's also the Fes el-Jdid area and the fringes near the medina gates, which can offer a middle path — atmosphere with slightly easier access. But for the great majority of travellers, my advice is firm: choose a riad inside Fes el-Bali, accept the handcart and the maze, and let yourself be immersed. Fes rewards immersion more than almost any city in Morocco, and waking up inside those walls is something you'll carry with you long after the trip ends.