Where do I buy babouches (slippers)?

Babouches — the soft, backless pointed slippers — are one of the most fun and portable things to buy in Morocco, and the best places are the leather and slipper souks of Fes and Marrakech. Because Fes is the country’s leather capital, the babouches there are often the finest in genuine, well-cured leather; you will find them in the lanes around the Chouara tannery and throughout the medina. In Marrakech, the dedicated slipper souk — Souk Smata, near the main thoroughfares of the medina — is a riot of colour, with walls of slippers in every shade, from plain everyday yellow to ones embroidered with sequins and thread.

What I love is that many are still made by hand by cobblers working right in the souk, and you can often watch the stitching happen. The classic men’s babouche is plain pointed leather, traditionally in yellow or white; women’s versions explode into colour and embroidery; and there are sturdier soled "outdoor" babouches as well as the soft house slippers. Prices are very reasonable, which makes them a tempting multi-buy — they are light, flat-packable and make genuinely good gifts to bring home.

An honest word on quality, since the range is huge. Real leather babouches smell of leather, feel supple, and will soften and mould to your foot with wear; cheaper ones are synthetic or thin leather glued rather than stitched, and they crack or fall apart fast. Check the sole — a stitched leather sole lasts, a thin glued one does not — and look at the stitching around the seams. Sizing runs differently from Western shoes and they have no give like a structured shoe, so always try them on rather than guessing.

My practical guidance: buy from a cobbler or established stall, smell and flex the leather, inspect the sole and seams, and try both feet on. Because they are cheap, vendors expect you to buy a few, so negotiate gently on a multi-pair price. They pack flat and weigh almost nothing, so they are one souvenir you can safely carry rather than ship. If you want a pair for actual walking rather than lounging, ask specifically for ones with a proper hard sole.