CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
383 km from Fès to Fès, about 7 h 04 of riding. The stops in between: Archaeological Site of Volubilis, Historic City of Meknes, back through Archaeological Site of Volubilis and back through Historic City of Meknes. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Fès Jedid, the New Fez, is a funny name for a district that is over seven hundred years old. The Marinid dynasty founded it in 1276 as a royal city beside the older medina, with its own walls, palace and mosque, and put the government and army there, leaving the old town to scholars and merchants. It remains a quieter quarter, where wide streets and gardens give relief from the crush of Fès El Bali.
Read the complete Fès Jedid write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fès Jedid is where the day begins. Next is Archaeological Site of Volubilis.
Olive trees have surrounded Volubilis for two thousand years, and they still do. The Roman city, on a gentle slope below the Zerhoun massif north of Meknes, was the westernmost major town of the empire's province of Mauretania Tingitana, and it grew rich on olive oil, grain and the trade in wild animals for the arenas of Rome. Its ruins include a triumphal arch dedicated to the emperor Caracalla, a basilica, a forum, temples, and above all a series of houses with superb mosaics in their floors, showing Orpheus with his lyre, the labours of Hercules, Bacchus and Diana bathing. Volubilis became a World Heritage Site in 1997.
Read the complete Archaeological Site of Volubilis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Archaeological Site of Volubilis comes up about 101 km into the recorded legs. Next is Historic City of Meknes.
Meknes is the city of Moulay Ismail, a sultan who ruled Morocco for fifty-five years from 1672 and decided that the capital needed to be as big as his ambitions. He built an imperial city of ramparts, gates, palaces, granaries and stables, using thousands of workers and captives, and the scale of it still startles. Bab Mansour, the great ceremonial gate, is covered in green and white tilework and marble columns taken from Roman Volubilis, and it stands over a large square called El Hedim, where storytellers and food stalls gather in the evening. The granaries, the Heri es-Souani, are a series of immense vaulted halls with walls several metres thick, where grain and animals were once stored, and the quiet inside is cool and heavy.
Read the complete Historic City of Meknes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 130 km into the recorded legs you reach Historic City of Meknes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Archaeological Site of Volubilis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Archaeological Site of Volubilis, about halfway. Next is Historic City of Meknes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic City of Meknes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic City of Meknes sits at 157 km, about halfway. Next is back through Archaeological Site of Volubilis.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Archaeological Site of Volubilis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Archaeological Site of Volubilis comes up about 223 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Historic City of Meknes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic City of Meknes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 252 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Historic City of Meknes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Archaeological Site of Volubilis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Archaeological Site of Volubilis, late in the day. Next is Fès Jedid.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fès Jedid write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 383 km.
Fès Jedid → Archaeological Site of Volubilis is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Archaeological Site of Volubilis → Historic City of Meknes is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic City of Meknes → Archaeological Site of Volubilis is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic City of Meknes → back through Archaeological Site of Volubilis is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Archaeological Site of Volubilis → back through Historic City of Meknes is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic City of Meknes → back through Archaeological Site of Volubilis is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Archaeological Site of Volubilis → Fès Jedid is 98 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.