How far is it from Marrakech to Fes (distance/time)?

The straight-line answer: Marrakech to Fes is about 530 km, making it the longest single hop between Morocco’s big imperial cities. How long that takes depends entirely on how you travel, and the times are further apart than the distance alone suggests.

By road it is roughly 8 hours of driving on good roads, much of it across the inland plains and skirting the Middle Atlas. In a private car, with a lunch stop and a leg-stretch, plan on a full travel day. The advantage is the option to break the route — via Beni Mellal and the Middle Atlas lakes, or a longer loop through Volubilis and Meknes — turning transit into sightseeing.

By train it is 7 to 8 hours, but note there is no direct Marrakech–Fes service: the line runs up to Casablanca, where you change for the Fes-bound train. It is comfortable and cheap, and a relaxed way to cover the ground if you do not mind the connection and a long day looking at the plains through the window.

By air it is the fastest — about an hour in the air on Royal Air Maroc or a budget carrier — though once you add airports at both ends you spend half a day door to door. My steer: if you want to see the country between the two cities, take a private driver and make it an itinerary; if Fes is just the next base and time is tight, fly; take the train only for a low-cost, low-stress transit day via Casablanca.