Is Fes overwhelming, and how do I actually enjoy it?

I will not pretend otherwise: Fes overwhelms almost everyone at first, and that is normal. The medina, Fes el-Bali, is the largest car-free urban area on earth — around nine thousand alleys, many barely shoulder-width, with no logical grid, loaded donkeys squeezing past, tanneries assaulting your nose, sellers calling out, and the call to prayer echoing off the walls. Stepping in for the first time, jet-lagged and dragging a suitcase, can feel like sensory overload. People sometimes message me on day one slightly panicked, and by day three they never want to leave.

The single biggest fix is a good guide for your first day. A licensed local guide does not just stop you getting hopelessly lost; they decode the place — showing you how the medina is organised by trade and quarter, getting you into the medersas and the funduqs you would never find, and crucially teaching you a few landmarks so the chaos starts to resolve into a map in your head. After that orientation day, exploring alone becomes a joy rather than a trial, because you have the city’s logic. I consider it the best money you will spend in Fes.

The second fix is to slow down and lower your ambitions. Fes is not a tick-list city; it rewards lingering. Pick a couple of anchors a day — the Bou Inania medersa, the Chouara tanneries from a leather shop balcony, the Nejjarine fountain, a long lunch — and let the walking between them be the point. Stay inside the walls in a riad rather than a modern hotel outside, so you live in the medina’s rhythm and can retreat to a calm courtyard when you need a breather. That refuge matters; the contrast between the roaring alley and the silent riad is part of the magic.

My honest encouragement: embrace getting lost, because in Fes it is unavoidable and often the best thing that happens — you stumble into a coppersmiths’ square or a hidden bakery you could never have planned. Keep an offline map and your riad’s location saved as a safety net, decline the faux-guides who prey on confusion, and give the city at least two nights so the overwhelm has time to turn into affection. Crack its rhythm and Fes becomes, for many of my guests, the most unforgettable place in Morocco. Confirm opening days and a guide before you arrive.