Discover boutique city hotels for urban escapes in Fez, Morocco

Spend an hour in the city and you’ll soon see otherwise – the street stalls tempt with aromatic tagines, spice-scattered couscous and toffee-sweet dates, silks and carpets coloured with vivid berry dyes, and leather goods to rival any Italian fashion house. Fez has three micro-cities to get to grips with: Fes el Bali (the ancient, walled city), Fes-Jdid (the Jewish quarter), and the Ville Nouvelle (Fez’s newest, French-created section). Pub-quiz enthusiasts will be pleased to learn that this imperial city also has two record breakers to its name: the world’s oldest university, Al Karaouine (founded in AD 859), and the world’s largest urban car-free area (the Medina). No wonder Unesco's so excited about it.