8 Best Family Activities in Fes

Fes has been producing distinctive blue-and-white pottery for over a thousand years, and a hands-on pottery workshop is one of the most engaging family activities in the city. The Fes Pottery Quarter (Quartier des Potiers), located just outside the medina walls on the road to the Merenid Tombs, has several family-friendly workshops where children can try their hand at the potter's wheel. Kids sit at a kick-wheel with a master potter guiding their hands — shaping a bowl or cup from raw clay is utterly absorbing for ages 5+. Younger children can paint pre-made tiles and plates with traditional Fassi geometric patterns (the blue cobalt glaze is the signature). The workshops also include a tour of the pottery-making process: digging and preparing clay, shaping on the wheel, hand-painting the intricate designs, and firing in a wood-burning kiln. Children are fascinated watching the painters — some of whom have been perfecting their craft for decades — create perfect geometric patterns freehand. Finished pieces can be shipped home or collected after firing. The entire experience takes 1.5-2 hours and includes mint tea.

The Fes el-Bali medina — the world's largest car-free urban zone and a UNESCO World Heritage site — is an adventure playground for children when explored with the right guide. A family-friendly private guide transforms the labyrinthine lanes into a treasure hunt: pointing out hidden fountains, artisan workshops (metalworkers hammering copper, weavers at their looms, leather craftsmen stitching bags), and architectural details that children love finding (carved plaster, coloured tiles, ancient wooden doors). The medina has 9,400 narrow lanes — getting lost is part of the experience, but a guide ensures you see the highlights without exhaustion. Key stops for families: the Chouara Tannery viewing terrace (the colourful vats of dye are mesmerising — hold mint under your nose for the smell), the spice souk (kids touch and smell saffron, cumin, and argan oil), the brass and copper souk (the hammering is loud and exciting), and the Bou Inania Madrasa (a 14th-century school with stunning carved plaster and tilework). The walk ends with fresh orange juice and pastries at a medina café.

A family cooking class in Fes is a highlight of any visit — more intimate and traditional than the Marrakech equivalents. Most classes begin with a guided shopping trip to the local souk: navigating the spice stalls, selecting vegetables, buying fresh bread from a communal oven (kids can watch the baker work the wood-fired oven). Back at the cooking school (typically a beautiful riad with a courtyard kitchen), families work together to prepare a full Fassi meal. Children love kneading msemen (flaky flatbread) and shaping kaab el ghzal (gazelle horn pastries filled with almond paste). The main course is usually a chicken or vegetable tagine — kids measure spices, arrange ingredients in the conical tagine pot, and learn the slow-cooking method. Fassi cuisine is distinctive: preserved lemons, saffron, and the famous bastilla (a sweet-savoury pie). Older children and teens can help with the more complex techniques. The meal at the end is served in the riad courtyard — eating food you cooked together is deeply satisfying.

Donkeys are the original transport of the Fes medina — they carry goods through lanes too narrow for any vehicle, and they've been doing it for a thousand years. A donkey ride through the medina is a uniquely Fassi family experience. Unlike tourist camel rides, these are working donkeys navigated by their handlers through the actual daily life of the medina: squeezing past market stalls, navigating steep stairs, ducking under low arches. Children ride the donkey while the handler walks alongside, leading through the narrow lanes. The ride is gentle — donkeys are sure-footed and calm — and gives kids a unique perspective on the medina (sitting higher than the crowd). The experience is authentic: you share the lanes with donkeys carrying everything from Coca-Cola crates to leather hides. Your guide or riad host can arrange a ride — the handlers are often multigenerational medina families. The best route goes from the upper medina (Bab Boujloud) down through the souks to the tanneries. Children aged 3+ can ride with supervision; older kids ride solo.

Jardin Jnan Sbil — the beautiful public gardens just outside the medina walls — is the perfect family escape from the intensity of the souks. The gardens were originally created in the 18th century as a royal pleasure garden and were restored and reopened in 2011. They're now Fes's most pleasant green space: shaded pathways under towering bamboo, ancient trees, a large ornamental lake with ducks and geese (kids can feed them), well-maintained flower beds, and a children's playground. The gardens stretch along the medina's western wall, between Bab Boujloud (the famous blue gate) and the Bab Segma area. It's a natural rest stop during a medina walk — exit through Bab Boujloud, cross the road, and you're in a different world: birdsong replaces the souk cacophony, and there's space for children to run freely. The lake area is the most popular family section: a wide path loops around it, ducks waddle up to visitors, and benches under shade trees provide rest for parents. Local families picnic here on weekends. There's a small café near the entrance.

The Chouara Tannery — the oldest and largest of Fes's three medieval tanneries, dating to the 11th century — is a visual spectacle that captivates children and adults equally. Viewed from the terraces of the surrounding leather shops, the tannery is an extraordinary sight: dozens of stone vats filled with vivid colours (saffron yellow, poppy red, mint green, indigo blue) where workers stand waist-deep, soaking and dyeing leather hides using methods unchanged for nine centuries. The colours are stunning against the honey-coloured buildings. Children are fascinated by the scale and the vibrancy — it looks like a giant paint palette. The smell is famously strong (pigeon droppings and animal urine are used in the curing process), but leather shops hand out sprigs of mint to hold under your nose — an experience kids find hilarious. The terrace views are accessed through leather goods shops (no entrance fee, but you'll be offered leather goods to buy — there's no obligation). Morning visits are best: the workers are most active, the vats are freshest, and the sunlight illuminates the colours.

The Merenid Tombs — the ruined 14th-century royal tombs on the hill above the medina — offer the most spectacular panoramic view of Fes and a family-friendly outdoor adventure. The walk up to the tombs from the medina takes about 20 minutes along a paved road (manageable for ages 5+, and kids enjoy the climbing). The reward at the top is an expansive vista: the entire Fes el-Bali medina spread below like a model city, the minarets of hundreds of mosques poking above the rooftops, the surrounding hills dotted with olive groves, and on clear days the snow-capped Middle Atlas Mountains on the horizon. The tomb ruins themselves are atmospheric — crumbling stone arches and carved plaster that once adorned elaborate royal mausoleums. Children enjoy exploring the ruins (they're safe — no deep drops or unstable walls) and playing on the grassy slopes. The site is free and uncrowded. Sunset is the best time: the golden light paints the medina pink and amber, the call to prayer echoes up from below, and the sky over the Atlas Mountains turns orange and purple.

Volubilis — the best-preserved Roman ruins in North Africa — is an outstanding family day trip from Fes (about 1 hour by car). The site is a genuine wonder: an entire Roman city spread across a hillside, with standing columns, triumphal arches, elaborate mosaic floors still in situ, a basilica, an olive press, bathhouses, and residential houses with intact room layouts. Children who've studied the Romans at school are captivated: walking through actual Roman streets, standing in a real forum, and finding the mosaics (floor-level art that has survived nearly 2,000 years — depicting Orpheus, Hercules, dolphins, and sea creatures). The site is open and walkable — no dark enclosed spaces or crowds — making it comfortable for all ages. The Triumphal Arch of Caracalla is the most photographed spot, and the House of Orpheus has the best-preserved mosaics. The site sits in a beautiful landscape of olive groves and wildflowers, with storks nesting on the columns (kids love spotting them). Most families combine Volubilis with a stop at the nearby holy town of Moulay Idriss.