Shopping in Fes

Shopping in Fes: Where to Shop and What to Buy

Shopping in Fes is shopper’s dream: THE SOUKS!!! What is a souk? The definition of a souk is a marketplace in Northern Africa or the Middle East, often filled with stalls, some permanent stalls and some not. In Fes, these stalls were all more like small shops in permanent spaces they rent or own, not tables and tents like a flea market, although you will still see cart purveyors slinging goods and food along the walls adjacent shop fronts.

First thing to note about the souks: you will be overwhelmed!!!! Prepare for this, and possibly limit yourself to an hour a day to shop so you don’t get burned out. It can also help if you have an idea of what you are wanting to find when you are there. Are you in search of a leather poof, babouches (Moroccan slippers), copper lighting, spices, etc.?

Leather

If you are looking for leather goods, the leather tannery has floors and floors of leather goods.  It is absolutely worth a visit to the tannery just to see the process.  To see more about our visit to the tannery visit out Fes See & Do page.

Keep in mind the prices at the tannery will likely be higher than random leather shops throughout the souks.  So unless you are looking for something very specific and you see it at the tannery and have not seen it anywhere else then I would recommend not buying here.  If you do buy at the tannery, don’t forget to haggle just as you would at the souks.

While Fes is the leather hub of Morocco, I did find my favorite leather items in Marrakech, so if you are going there too, check out my Marrakech shopping page here for the contact info of the leather guy I really liked.

While shopping in Fes for leather, we purchased a few poofs as gifts for friends, some belts and a jacket.

Copper Lanterns

Shopping in Fes is not complete without copper lanterns.  Most houses, hotels and restaurants throughout Morocco boast these beautiful works of art for lighting or just for show.   There is an entire area of the souks in Fes dedicated to this copper beauty.  However, if you have sensitive ears, be warned, there is constant hammering and banging of metal here that could be uncomfortable for some.  I went on my own with Boujeema, Dawson would not have survived with his sensitive hearing.

There is a difference between hand cut lanterns and machine cut lanterns.  The machine cut do not have such intricate detail and are less expensive.  If you want the good stuff, make sure you buy from someone that sells hand cut lanterns.  There are so many shapes and sizes to choose from so surely you can find something to your liking.  If it is small you can probably stuff it with closes and get it home in your luggage.  If you are making a larger purchase they can ship it to your home for a cost.

I went a little crazy and bought eight of them, but my back patio looks like a little Moroccan oasis now so I have no regrets!  I liked the shop I ended up purchasing from, he seemed to have the Largest collection and all of his lamps were cut by hand.  Boujeema looked them over with me and confirmed they were good quality.

We purchased our lanterns from Fes Lampe Chez Sqalli   |   Tel: +212 662 52 13 99   |    Email:sqalli.lampes@gmail.com  |  11-13 Mellahine Nejjarine, Fes, Medina

Shoes!

In case you haven’t noticed, or are just starting your adventure with us…I have a thing for shoes.  Although you will almost never see me in heels!  I prefer a more functional shoe, but I still like to find something unique.  Art Fes Shoes is exactly what I look for in a shoe.  I am also a sucker for leather.

Zakaria, the shop owner is a young artist that is living his dream creating works of art on handcrafted shoes.  His loafers are made of leather uppers and either cactus silk or camel leather that is hand painted.  Each shoe is unique and made only in that one size and all have soft leather lining inside to make it as comfortable as it is artistic.

I bought a pair for myself and Dawson, and to date these are my favorite shoe’s I have bought in any country.  They are not only one of a kind but so comfortable to walk around in.  Even better still they only ran me $40 USD, a steal if you ask me for the quality of the craftsmanship!  Zakaria also threw in these cute woven rainbow shoes for Kaida, free of charge.

Visit Art Fes website here or visit trip advisor here to read the many great reviews Art Fes Shoes has received from visitors and to see more examples of his work.  Of all the shopping in Fes we did, this was probably my favorite little shop.

It is pretty easy to find this small shop as it is located on the main medina streets, Talaa Kebira, and almost directly across the “street” from the restaurant Fon Douk Bazaar (which we ate at and enjoyed, you can read about that on our Fes Eats page).

Pottery

I’m pretty sure most people that visit Morocco come home with a Tajine, but there are so many other items you could pick up in the pottery department. Our guide took us to Art D’Argile for a peek at the incredible process and methodical, time consuming efforts that go into making the final products.  Each tile is cut by human hand, no machines here!  Viona even got to try her hand at pottery throwing while we were there, check out that experience on our Fes See & Do page.

To be able to see the process before buying some goods is pretty neat.  In addition to the shop full of finished items, you can also have them create a custom piece and ship it to you.  They were working on some pretty elaborate custom fountains while we were there.  These large pieces do not come cheap though, they can sometimes take up to a month to make since every piece of tile is cut by hand.

Art D’Argile can be found at N 41 Hay Lalla Yacout rue N3 ain nokbi, Fès, Morocco

Rugs and Blankets

Another quintessential item to pick up while shopping in Fes, or rather anywhere in Morocco, is a rug.  There are wool rugs and cactus silk rugs.  I prefer the look of cactus silk but the the wool rugs are hardier.  We bought one of each and the wool rug we mostly use for outdoor picnics and events.  There were two places I would recommend for rugs.

First is Le Petit Coin Berbere 

This is the shop that our AirBnB owner purchased all of his rugs for the rental and he highly recommended them.

There is a young man named Kamal, pictured above, that works there and he speaks great english. And when they didn’t have what my picky self was looking for, he hooked me up with my next recommendation.  But I did get some great cactus silk throw pillow covers here that I am obsessed with.  If you are heading to Fes and want Kamal’s number, shoot us an email and I would be happy to share it.  I believe he would  help you find what you want on your visit!

Le Petit Coin Berbere is located at 57 Rue Ahl Tadla Talâa Sghira   |  +212 05 35 63 63 75.

Second is this place pictured below.  It is on the corner of Rue Talaa Kebira and Derb El Horra and pretty close to Fondouk Bazaar restaurant.

I was able to haggle a pretty good price for the rug and blanket I wanted.  The owner was friendly and very accommodating.  When he didn’t have what my heart desired in his storefront, he took me to his shop where I was able to see where all of the blankets were made.  This was super cool to see!

I found a blanket that I really liked but wanted tassels and he said no problem, give me 20 minutes, and they added tassels right on the spot!

I believe this shop owners name is Idriss.  Below is a picture of his smiling face holding the rug I purchased.

I am sure you will have good experiences purchasing from most shop owners.  But my experiences with the places above were all pleasant and I am happy with the products I brought home.

Helpful Tip:  Before we left, I googled popular things to buy in morocco and found items on Etsy that I liked that came from morocco and screen shot them. This was helpful for two reasons. First, I was able to show a picture of what I was looking for to the gal that came as a host with our vacation rental and she was able to shop with me and take me to the spots I might find these items. So nice!!! Second, when it came to bartering (which is customary) if there was a certain item that I couldn’t get the price down on, I could show them that I could buy the item on Etsy from the comfort of my own home at X price and don’t have to lug it back on the plane with me. From a business standpoint, I felt it needed to be cheaper than what I could buy it for on Etsy. The vendors had a hard time arguing that point and usually agreed to my offer (winning!).

Happy Shopping in Fes!!!

Tips for Shopping in Fes With Kids

Shopping in Fes with kids in tow is its own sport. A few things that made it work for us.

Go early, and cap it at an hour. The souks get hot, loud and crowded by late morning. One focused hour is worth three exhausted ones.

Give each kid a job. Ours had a small budget and one thing to hunt for. It turned endless browsing into a treasure hunt and cut the whining in half.

Skip the copper souk if anyone is sound sensitive. The hammering is constant. Dawson would not have lasted five minutes, so I went with our guide instead.

Keep small bills and a hand on the stroller. Honestly, a carrier beats a stroller in the medina. The lanes are narrow and uneven and there are donkeys.

Screenshot what you want before you go. Showing a photo gets you to the right stall fast, and it is the best bartering leverage there is.

Doing the rest of Fes with your family? Start with our guide to visiting Fes with kids, then see the things to do in Fes with kids and where to eat in Fes with kids.