Arrival guide
Cars cannot enter the medina, so every car, our private transfer or a taxi, stops on the main road at Place R'cif. From there it is a short walk through a covered gateway and three lanes to Dar Fayrouz. Here is every turn, with a photo of what to look for.
Getting to R'cif
Both stop at the same corner. The difference is at the exit of the airport or the station: book the transfer with your arrival time and the car is waiting for you.
Recommended
Taking a taxi anyway? Ask for Place R'cif and show photo 1.
Along the way
You will not walk blind. Our blue stencilled signs are painted on the walls along the route: DAR FAYROUZ, Guest House, 360 Panoramic View, our phone number and an arrow. Each one points to the next turn, so whenever you hesitate, look up for the next sign.
Tap a photo to enlarge it
Step 1/7
Look for Purple inwi phone shop on the main road
Cars cannot enter the medina, so every car stops on the main road at Place R'cif, at the corner of the purple inwi phone shop. Our transfer drops you right here. In a taxi, say "R'cif" and show this photo. Send us a WhatsApp message when you are on the way so we are ready to welcome you. Remember the corner: this is also where your car picks you up when you leave.
Step 2/7
Look for Wooden gateway behind the parked motorbikes, a minaret to its left
From the inwi corner, look across the road. Behind the rows of parked motorbikes there is a wide covered gateway, with a minaret rising to its left. Cross and walk in. On the right-hand pillar you will see our first painted sign: Dar Fayrouz, with an arrow pointing into the passage.
Step 3/7
Look for Green tiled fountain and a yellow wall covered in signs
The passage opens onto a small square with a green zellige fountain. Facing you, a yellow wall carries the signs of hotels and restaurants, ours among them, with an arrow pointing right. Take the lane that climbs to the right of that wall.
Step 4/7
Look for A wall of signs at the end of the lane, then the teal door
Follow the narrow lane to its end, where another wall is covered with signs. Our stencil there points left: turn left by the teal door.
Step 5/7
Look for A small step up, then the lane bends right
The lane rises over a small step between two plain walls. At the top, turn right.
Step 6/7
Look for Hexagonal street plaque and our stencil with an arrow
You reach a corner with a hexagonal street plaque, Derb Sidi Hammadi, and our stencil with an arrow pointing left. Six corners mean the lane is a dead end (see the golden tip below), so there are only a few doors. Ours is just inside on the left, under the small wooden canopy, next to our marble sign.
Step 7/7
Look for Studded wooden door and the marble Dar Fayrouz plaque
A tall wooden door studded with iron, a round doorbell and our marble and zellige plaque: Dar Fayrouz, Guest house, Maison d'hôtes. Ring, and welcome home.
Ras Jnan N°2, Fès el-Bali, R'cifThe riad on Google Maps
The golden tip
Every lane of the Fes medina has a small zellige plaque with its name. Before you turn in, look at its shape: it tells you whether the lane goes anywhere.
6
Six corners: a dead end that finishes at private doors. Go in only if your address is there. Our own lane, Derb Sidi Hammadi, has this plaque.
4
Four corners: the street goes through and comes out on another one. Rue Ras Jnane, the street of our quarter, has this plaque.
Read the Arabic line of these two plaques and even the word changes: درب (derb) on the closed lane, زنقة (zanqa, "street") on the open one.
You may have read "Berber" in guidebooks. It is a name given by outsiders, from the Greek word for foreigners; the people call themselves Imazighen, the free people, and their language Tamazight.
Day trips
For day trips and tours with an agency, the meeting point is on the R'cif roundabout, opposite the Funky Friends restaurant. Stand next to the big street lamp at the edge of the garden so the driver can recognise you easily, and be there a few minutes before the agreed time.
To leave, retrace the route to the inwi corner, where your car picks you up. We can arrange a car to take you wherever you need, whenever you want. If you lose the way, ask any shopkeeper for "R'cif", or call or WhatsApp us and we can guide you.
Every photo and every step in one PDF. Save it on your phone before you travel and it opens without a connection.
No car can enter the Fes medina. Our private transfer, like any taxi, stops on the main road at Place R'cif, at the purple inwi shop, and the riad is 2 to 3 minutes on foot from there.
From the airport, a grand taxi takes up to 6 people for about the same price as our transfer. The difference: a driver from our partner agency waits at the exit with your name on a board, so you do not search for a taxi in the crowd, and the car is booked even when no taxi is waiting. From the train or bus station only small city taxis run, and they take 3 passengers at most, while our transfer takes up to 6.
About 2 to 3 minutes on foot from the drop-off point at the inwi shop. Follow the seven steps of this guide and our painted signs on the walls: they lead you to the door.
Not well: inside the walls it often places you in the wrong lane. Maps.me works offline and knows the footpaths, and the PDF of this guide opens without a connection.
A hexagonal plaque marks a closed lane, a dead end that finishes at private doors. A rectangular plaque marks a street that goes through to another one.
On the R'cif roundabout, opposite the Funky Friends restaurant. Wait next to the big street lamp at the edge of the garden so the driver can recognise you.
