What if I get lost in the medina?

First, reframe it: getting gently lost in a thousand-year-old medina is a rite of passage, not an emergency. These walled old towns — Fes especially, with its famously tangled lanes — were built before street grids existed, and even residents navigate by memory and landmarks rather than signs. So when the alley you thought you knew dead-ends at a tannery, smile; you are exactly where the interesting things hide.

Practically, a little preparation makes it painless. Download an offline map (Google Maps offline or maps.me) before you wander, because medina wifi is patchy and the lanes confuse GPS but it still roughly points you home. The old trick still works too: when you check in, photograph your riad's door and the nearest recognisable landmark — a particular fountain, mosque, gate or café — and the name of the nearest large square.

To reorient on the spot, head toward something big. Every medina has main gates (each called a bab) and central squares; flowing with foot traffic usually leads to one. From a gate or square you can re-find your bearings, grab a taxi, or simply phone your riad — most will send someone to walk you back, or talk you in, especially in Fes where they are used to it. A shopkeeper or café owner standing in their doorway will give honest directions; they live there.

One gentle caution: the moment you look puzzled, someone may materialise offering to guide you "this way." If you accept, expect to pay, and occasionally to be led the long way past their friends' shops. A small tip to a genuinely helpful shopkeeper is fine; an unsolicited escort is not your only option. Honestly, the easiest insurance is starting with a licensed guide on day one — you learn the landmarks, and after that the medina feels like an adventure rather than a maze.