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Kids & Family in Fez

Fez is not an obvious family destination — no theme parks, no big playgrounds. But kids who like exploring do brilliantly here: a medieval medina with donkeys in the lanes, tanneries that look like a painter's palette, and gardens built for running around.

This guide covers the kid-friendly side of Fez honestly — what works, what to skip, and how to pace a medina day with children.

Jnan Sbil gardens: the city's playground

Jnan Sbil (also called the Bou Jeloud Gardens) is Fez's best answer to 'where can the kids run?' This 19th-century garden — once reserved for royalty — sits between Fes el-Jdid and Fes el-Bali and is planted with over 3,000 species, with Andalusian, Mexican, and Bamboo garden sections, old norias (water wheels), a large pool, and bird coops where peacocks and doves are bred. It's free, it's shady, and at dusk it fills with local families promenading.

Lonely Planet's advice holds: midday the gardens can feel dry and empty, but late afternoon they're at their best. Combine with a walk from Bab Boujloud — the Blue Gate built in 1913, blue tiles outside and green inside — which kids love as a landmark ('the gate with two colours').

Keep reading: The medina with kids →

The medina with kids

The medina itself is the attraction for kids who like exploring. The Chouara Tannery — stone vats of coloured dye, men working the hides, methods unchanged for centuries — looks like something from a storybook, and the mint sprig you're handed against the smell is a story in itself. Go in the morning when the light is good and the pits are at their most colourful.

The souks work as a treasure hunt: the dyers' souk for colour, Seffarine (the metalworkers' square) for the hammering, the pottery quarter for the kilns. Art D'argile, a pottery gallery just outside the medina, is a good stop — kids can watch pieces being thrown and painted, and there's no pressure to buy. Keep visits short and sweet: an hour in the souks, then juice and a sit-down.

The Bou Inania Madrasa and the Al-Attarine Madrasa are the two madrasas open to non-Muslim visitors — cool, quiet courtyards with tilework kids actually stop to look at. They're small, so ten minutes each is plenty.

Keep reading: Museums and easy escapes →

Museums and easy escapes

Photo: Blake Handley from Victoria, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Dar Batha Museum (Musée Al Batha, reopened in 2025 after restoration) is Fez's main museum — woodcarving, ironwork, embroidery, and ceramics from the region, in a 19th-century palace with a garden. It's calm, compact, and free of the medina's chaos, which parents will appreciate as much as kids.

For a bigger day out, the Middle Atlas is an easy drive: Ifrane's lakes and lion statue, the cedar forests near Azrou where Barbary macaques hang around the roadside (keep your distance and don't feed them). Both work as half-day escapes when the medina heat wins.

Practical tips

• The medina is a maze — hire a guide for at least your first half-day so nobody gets lost or overtired.
• Carry water and snacks; the medina has few sit-down breaks between sights.
• Donkey traffic is real in the lanes — teach kids to step aside and not touch working animals.
• Jnan Sbil gardens are free and open — the best free run-around space in the old city.

Fez with kids is a trade: the medina will tire small legs fast, but few cities reward curious kids like this one.

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