Ifrane & Azrou Cedar Forest Day Trip From Fes

After a couple of days in the heat and intensity of the Fes medina, the Middle Atlas is the perfect reset. Within about an hour south of the city the road climbs into cedar-covered mountains, and the temperature drops noticeably. The two anchors of the trip are Ifrane, a planned town built by the French in the 1930s that looks startlingly like an alpine resort, and the cedar forest above Azrou, where troops of wild Barbary macaques live among some of the oldest trees in Morocco.

It is a day about landscape, cool air and wildlife rather than monuments, which makes it a refreshing contrast to Fes sightseeing. Families love it for the monkeys, photographers for the light through the cedars, and anyone travelling in summer for the relief from the medina's heat. If you are weighing it against other options from the city, the wider Fes day trips overview sets it beside Meknes, Volubilis and Chefchaouen.

Fes to Ifrane is one of the easier Middle Atlas runs, on a good main road used by plenty of shared taxis and buses. The cheapest way is a grand taxi from the relevant Fes taxi rank; these leave when full, six to a car, and drop you in central Ifrane. From Ifrane, another short grand taxi hops on to Azrou, and local drivers there will run you up to the cedar forest and macaque site and wait. CTM and other coaches also serve Ifrane and Azrou if you prefer a fixed timetable.

The catch with public transport is the last leg: the forest is a few kilometres above Azrou and not served by scheduled transport, so you either negotiate a taxi to take you up and wait, or join a tour. For most visitors wanting to see Ifrane, the cedars and the monkeys comfortably in one day, a hired car or a small-group tour is the smoothest choice. The Morocco grand taxi guide explains how the shared-taxi system works if you want to do it independently.

The trip splits naturally into a morning in Ifrane and an afternoon in the forest, or the reverse. The plan below runs Ifrane first, then Azrou and the cedars, finishing with the macaques in the softer late-afternoon light when they are often more active and the coach crowds have thinned. If you are short on time you can treat Ifrane as a half-day and skip Azrou, but the cedar forest and monkeys are the real highlight, so try to include them.

Because everything is close together, the day is relaxed rather than rushed. Allow time for a long coffee in Ifrane, a walk among the villas, and an unhurried hour or more in the forest, where the reward is watching the macaques behave naturally rather than crowding them for a photo. Keep some daylight buffer for the drive back to Fes.

The forest above Azrou is part of the largest cedar woodland in Morocco, and its most famous resident was the Cedre Gouraud, a giant ancient tree that became a landmark before it died; the area still carries the name and remains the main gathering point for visitors and monkeys. The Barbary macaque is the only macaque found outside Asia and is endangered, so seeing troops of them living wild among the cedars is a genuine privilege rather than a zoo experience.

The single most important thing to know is how to behave around them. The monkeys are habituated to people and will approach, but feeding them human food, especially bread, sweets and crisps, harms their health and makes them aggressive and dependent. Keep a respectful distance, do not try to touch or hold them, secure your bags and food, and if you want to give anything, local guides can advise on appropriate natural food. Watching them groom, play and forage naturally is far more rewarding than a snatched selfie.

Ifrane is the sort of place that makes first-time visitors do a double take. Built as a hill station in the 1930s, it has steep-pitched roofs, tidy gardens, a lake and a general air of a European mountain village, all kept immaculate. The town's best-known photo stop is the carved stone lion near the centre, said to date from the colonial period, and the alpine-roofed villas and the central park make for a pleasant, easy stroll.

The prestigious Al Akhawayn University gives the town a young, orderly feel, and its landscaped campus is worth a quick look. Ifrane is more about atmosphere and cool air than ticketed sights, so the pleasure is simply wandering, having a coffee and enjoying being 10-15C cooler than Fes. For a fuller picture of the town and where to eat, see the dedicated Ifrane guide.

Altitude drives everything here. Even in high summer the Middle Atlas is cool, so bring a jacket or fleece regardless of the season; in the medina below it may be 38C while the forest is a pleasant 22C. Winter is a different proposition altogether: Ifrane regularly sees snow, the nearby Michlifen area is a small ski resort, and the higher roads toward Azrou can close briefly after heavy falls, so check conditions before setting out between December and February.

If a single day leaves you wanting more of the mountains, the region rewards a longer look: the lakes northeast of Ifrane, such as Dayet Aoua, and the wider cedar country make a natural extension covered in the Middle Atlas lakes and Ifrane guide. The route also links logically onward to Azrou and, for those continuing south, toward Midelt and the desert. As a day trip from Fes, though, Ifrane and the cedars are the ideal, self-contained cool-climate escape.

There is more to this pocket of the Middle Atlas than macaques. Ifrane sits beside a small lake and neat public gardens, and just above the town the Michlifen bowl becomes a modest ski area in winter, when snow reliably dusts the cedars; even out of season the drive up to Michlifen and the Zerrouka springs is a pleasant loop with mountain views. The nearby Dayet Aoua and other Middle Atlas lakes, a short drive further, add birdlife and picnic spots if you want to stretch the day into the wider highlands rather than turning straight back to Fes.

Food is part of the appeal too. The cool climate and mountain streams mean trout appears on local menus, and Ifrane's cafes are a genuinely relaxed place for a long coffee or lunch after the medina intensity of Fes. Azrou, less polished but more workaday, has a well-known craft cooperative selling the cedar-wood carving the region is known for, which makes a good souvenir stop on the way back. Taken together, the alpine town, the forest, the wildlife and the food make this one of the most varied and refreshing day trips you can do from Fes, and a welcome change of temperature in the summer months.