What is Fes like in January?

January is the quietest month I send people to Fes, and that is precisely its charm. The great gates of Bab Boujloud, the Attarine and Bou Inania madrasas, the leather souks — places that choke with crowds in spring — open up in winter so you can actually stand still and look. Mornings start cold and often grey, with mist hanging over the Saiss plain, and by mid-afternoon the sun warms the honey-coloured walls just enough to make a mint tea on a rooftop feel earned rather than touristy.

Be honest with yourself about the temperature. Daytime highs sit around 16°C, which is pleasant for walking, but Fes nights are genuinely cold — 4 to 6°C, occasionally lower — and the old riads were built for summer shade, not winter warmth. The good ones run heating and pile on blankets, but I always tell guests to bring a proper coat, a scarf and closed shoes. Rain comes in spells rather than all day; the medina alleys drain badly, so the cobbles get slick.

What you gain is intimacy and value. Riad rates are at their lowest, the best rooms are available, and craftsmen in the Seffarine coppersmiths’ square or the weavers near Talaa Kebira have time to talk rather than rush. A cooking class feels cosier in January, and the Atlas snowline is close enough that a day trip to Ifrane and the cedar forests around Azrou — sometimes dusted white, with Barbary macaques in the trees — makes a beautiful contrast to the medina.

My advice: treat January as a slow, cultural trip rather than a sun holiday. Two or three unhurried days in the medina, layered clothing, an early dinner because the city winds down, and you will see a side of Fes that summer visitors never meet. If you want desert in the same trip, know that the road south crosses the Middle Atlas and can be cold or snowy — check conditions before committing.