Fès El Bali is the old walled city of Fez, founded at the end of the eighth century by Idris I and made a capital by his son Idris II, and it is often described as the largest car-free urban area in the world. Nine thousand lanes is the figure people quote for its maze, and anyone who has lost an hour there believes it. The medina fills a bowl in the hills, with roofs stepping down toward the Fez river, and from the heights above it the whole place looks like a pile of sand-coloured dice.
The Qarawiyyin, a mosque and teaching institution founded in 859 by a woman named Fatima al-Fihri, is claimed as one of the oldest continuously operating universities in the world, and it anchors the city's reputation as a centre of learning. Around it grew the madrasas, such as the Bou Inania with its carved cedar and zellij tilework, and the funduqs, the old merchants' inns with wooden galleries around a courtyard. Fez was the intellectual and religious heart of Morocco for centuries, and its pride shows in its craftsmanship and cooking.
A motorcycle cannot go inside, and shouldn't. Donkeys and handcarts carry the loads, and you walk. Park the bike at a guarded lot near Bab Boujloud, the blue gate, or outside the walls, and agree a fee with the attendant. Official guides are worth hiring for a first visit, since signage is scarce and the lanes confuse everyone. Stay out of the way of the loaded mules, who do not stop, and keep a hand over your pockets in the busiest streets.
Summers are very hot, so mornings and evenings are best, and winter can be cool and wet. From the city, the roads lead south into the Middle Atlas cedar forests toward Ifrane, and west toward Meknes and the Roman ruins of Volubilis. Fuel is readily available around the new town. Eat bastilla, the sweet-savoury pigeon pie, or a lamb tagine with prunes, and drink mint tea in a rooftop cafe as the call to prayer drifts over the roofs.