Morocco’s oldest city, founded in the 6th century, Fez is a somewhat magical place. Considered the cultural capital, it was long a meeting place of ideas and learning, frequented by great minds throughout the ages, who flocked to the medersas (theological colleges) that today boast some of the country’s finest and most intricate architecture.

These scholars, along with Fez’s position on the Silk Road and other sub-Saharan trading routes, also brought in money, funds that allowed for the building of beautifully embellished mosques and one of the world’s largest medinas - a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Wandering its warren of bustling, narrow alleys on your Morocco holiday, you’ll practically trip over the el-Bali’s (old city’s) medieval roots, the sights, sounds and smells a melee of olde-worlde encounters.

Fez is also a centre of traditional crafts, and its in the maze of souks that crowd the medina that you’ll find the hub. Here, thousands of craftsmen and artisans work out of little shops producing the things for which the city is lauded – hats, pottery and leather items, to name a few – a few turns down the right back alleys and you’ll see (and smell) the famous tanneries, where animal hides have been treated before crafting for centuries.