Fes holds the largest car-free urban area in the world, or so it is often said, and walking through it for an hour makes the claim credible. The old medina, Fes el-Bali, is a maze of nine thousand alleys, according to the usual count, wedged into a valley and descending in terraces toward a stream. It was founded in the late eighth century and grew into one of the great intellectual centres of the Islamic world. The Al-Qarawiyyin, established in 859 by a woman named Fatima al-Fihri, is often described as the oldest continuously operating university in the world, and its library and mosque remain at the heart of the old city. The medina is on the UNESCO list.
Arriving by motorbike, you leave the machine outside the walls. Bab Boujloud, the blue-tiled gate, is the usual entry. Inside, goods are carried by donkey and handcart, and the smells shift from leather to mint to woodsmoke every few steps. The tanneries at Chouara are the famous sight: round stone vats of dye, laid out like a palette, where workers tread hides in the liquid. The best view is from a terrace above, and you will be handed a sprig of mint to hold under your nose. The smell is strong. Do not take it personally.
The riding around Fes is the draw for motorcyclists. To the south, the road climbs into the Middle Atlas toward Ifrane, a town of alpine-style roofs and cedar forests that looks transplanted from Switzerland, and then on to Azrou, where Barbary macaques hang about the cedars. Roads there are smooth and wind through rolling hills, with fresh air and views. In the other direction, the motorway runs west to Meknes, about sixty kilometres away, and on to Rabat.
Fes is a big city with fuel everywhere and cheap, excellent food. Pastilla, a sweet and savoury pigeon or chicken pie dusted with sugar, is a local classic, and mint tea comes with everything. Spring is the best season, with green hills and mild air. Summer is very hot, and in winter the nights are cold. Roads can be icy in the Middle Atlas from December to February.