How do I navigate the medina without getting lost?

First, a mindset shift: the medina is a medieval maze on purpose, and no app will give you crisp turn-by-turn directions through alleys two metres wide. Even locals navigate by memory and landmarks, not street names. So I tell guests to stop fighting it. Build in time, treat a wrong turn as part of the experience, and you will enjoy it far more. The genuinely lost-and-stressed travellers are almost always the ones trying to walk a precise GPS line through a space that does not work that way.

That said, three tools make a real difference. Download an offline map before you go — Google Maps "offline area" or maps.me, which has surprisingly good pedestrian footpaths inside Fes and Marrakech. Drop a pin on your riad the moment you arrive and save it. And take a screenshot of your riad standing next to its nearest recognisable landmark — a famous gate, a mosque, a square — because "near Bab Boujloud" gets you home far more reliably than a street name nobody uses. Your blue dot may drift among the tall walls, but it points you in roughly the right direction, and roughly is enough.

On the ground, navigate the way Moroccans do: by flow and landmarks. The main arteries carry the most foot traffic and the most shops, and they funnel toward the big squares and gates — so when you want to get out, head toward the crowd and the noise, not away from it. Pick a handful of anchors on your first walk: a particular gate, a minaret you can see from a distance, a busy café on a corner. I still orient myself in the Fes medina off the same three or four spots I learned years ago.

When you do need directions, ask a shopkeeper standing inside their shop — they are rooted, they are not looking for a commission, and a quick "Bab Boujloud?" with a hopeful face usually earns a friendly point in the right direction. Be wary of the young men who volunteer directions unasked and then walk you there; that "help" frequently ends with a demand for money or a detour to a shop. A polite "la, shukran" ("no, thank you") and walking on confidently is completely fine. And honestly, when the alleys defeat you near closing time, a petit taxi to a known gate costs almost nothing and resets your bearings.