What is Fes like in September?

September is the great relief after high summer, and one of my favourite times to send people to Fes. The first half of the month is still warm — low thirties by day — but the ferocious edge of July and August has gone, and as the weeks pass the temperatures slide into very comfortable territory. Nights turn pleasantly mild, the sky stays clear and dry, and that warm, slanting September light makes the honey-coloured medina walls and green-tiled minarets look their absolute best.

Because the weather is so agreeable, you can return to a full, active itinerary without fighting the heat. Long days exploring the medina’s souks, madrasas and museums become a pleasure rather than an endurance test, and rooftop dinners in the warm evenings are sublime. The countryside is in late-summer gold, and day trips to Volubilis, Meknes, Sefrou or the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas are all comfortable and rewarding under September skies.

Crowds in early September are lighter than the spring peak, as European school holidays end and families head home — so the first couple of weeks offer that lovely combination of good weather and breathing room in the medina. By late September the autumn high season is building again, with rates and visitor numbers ticking up, but it rarely feels overwhelming. It is, in short, a genuine sweet spot.

Pack for warm days and cooler evenings: breathable clothing, a sun hat and sunscreen for the still-strong sun, plus a light layer for the nights, which grow cooler as the month goes on. September suits everyone — couples, families, first-timers — and rewards a generous itinerary of medina days, a cooking class or hammam, and at least one excursion into the surrounding countryside. If you want warm, kind, golden weather with manageable crowds, September is hard to fault.