From Casablanca to History: 2 Days Guided Tour Exploring Fez, Volubilis, and Moulay Idriss
Overview
Two days give Fez the time it actually needs. A licensed historian leads guests through the medina's fondouks, tanneries and madrasas, past workshops that have barely changed their methods in centuries, before a night in a four-star riad. The second day heads north-west to Volubilis, where the mosaic floors of a Roman provincial capital lie open to the sky, and on to the whitewashed hill town of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun with its unusual round minaret. Transport, guiding, entrance fees, breakfast and a choice of pottery workshop or hammam are all arranged in advance.
Highlights
- A full guided day inside Fez el-Bali, the largest car-free urban area in the world
- The Chouara tanneries and the medieval workshops that still supply them
- A night in a four-star riad instead of a rushed same-day return
- Roman mosaics and the Decumanus Maximus at Volubilis
- The sacred hill town of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun and Morocco's only round minaret
- Choice of a pottery workshop or a traditional hammam
Full Description
Fontaine Nejjarine
An eighteenth-century public fountain framed in carved cedar and zellij, standing beside the Nejjarine funduq. For generations it was where the surrounding quarter drew its water.
Bab Boujloud
The great gate of 1913 that serves as the ceremonial entrance to the old medina, blue on the outer face and green on the inner one.
Ibn Danan Synagogue
A seventeenth-century synagogue in the Mellah, restored and still holding its original bimah and reading desk. It shows how deep Jewish roots run in Fez.
Kairaouine Mosque
Founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri and widely counted as the oldest continually operating university anywhere. Guests take in the courtyard and green-tiled roofs from the permitted vantage points.
Chouara Tannery
The oldest tannery in Fez, its stone vats of lime and dye still worked by hand as they were in medieval times. Sprigs of mint are handed out on the terrace above.
Art D'Argile
A working pottery and zellij cooperative where guests watch tiles cut by hand and kilns fired with olive pits.
Panoramique View
A vantage point above the medina bowl, minarets and rooftops packed tight to the hillsides on every side.
Medersa Bou Inania
A fourteenth-century Marinid college, one of the few religious buildings in Fez open to non-Muslims, with carved cedar screens around a marble courtyard.
Al-Attarine Madrasa
Built in the early 1300s beside the spice market, and often held up as the finest zellij and stucco work in Morocco.
Traditional Moroccan Lunch
A sit-down meal in a medina riad, booked ahead so no time is lost hunting for a table.
Pottery Workshop or Hammam
Guests choose between throwing and glazing a piece at the ceramic cooperative, or a traditional steam, scrub and rest.
Overnight in Fez
A charming riad inside the medina, close enough to step out into the evening streets on foot.
Duration: 1 night
Volubilis – The Lost Roman City
The best-preserved Roman site in Morocco, where guests walk the Decumanus Maximus past the Capitol and basilica with floor mosaics still in place under open sky.
Moulay Idriss Zerhoun
A whitewashed town spilling across two hills around the tomb of Morocco's founding ruler, marked by the country's only cylindrical minaret.
Return to Casablanca
The drive back crosses the Saiss plain, with drop-off at the hotel or another chosen location around 7:00 PM.
Duration: 4.5-5 hours total driving
Inclusions:
- Registered historian tour guide
- Private car or minivan with bottled water, Wi-Fi, air conditioning and Moroccan music
- Lunch booking assistance
- Choice of pottery workshop or Moroccan hammam experience
- Monument entrance fees
- 4-star traditional riad accommodation
- Breakfast
- Bottled mineral water
Exclusions:
- 5-star hotel upgrade (available at extra cost)
- Personal expenses
- Gratuities
- Book Now Pay Later option available
- Instant confirmation via email with voucher
- Double room accommodation; single travellers receive a private room
- Free date changes up to 12 hours before departure
- No cancellation fee if cancelled 24 hours or more before the scheduled pickup
- 100% cancellation fee if cancelled within 24 hours of pickup
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
- No refund for cancellations made less than 24 hours before the start time.
- Changes requested less than 24 hours before the start time cannot be accepted.
- Times are local. Experiences cancelled for poor weather are refunded in full or rescheduled.