Fez

Is Fez safe?

Mostly, if you treat the medina as hard work rather than dangerous. Morocco recorded 1.7 homicides per 100,000Homicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary people in 2023 (UNODC data via the World Bank), and the national police say violent crime fell 10% in 2025. Fez is a city of about 1.2 million people (2024 census), and attacks on tourists are rare; one widely reported case was a knife attack on three German visitors in the medina in 2015. What visitors remember is the hassle in Fes el-Bali, the walled old city, where unofficial guides have worked the lanes for decades.

There are physical risks as well. Summer heat in Fez is fierce, the roads are as dangerous as anywhere in Morocco, and old, overloaded buildings have collapsed with heavy loss of life. We score Fez 63, level with Marrakech (63) and below Casablanca (64).

Fake guides and the medina detour

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says people posing as official guides commonly harass tourists, and that a medina guide should carry an official badge and permission from the local authority. In Fez the problem is old enough that police run a dedicated tourist unit. It arrested 746 fake guides in the first three months of 2017 alone. In April 2024, police arrested a 42-year-old man on suspicion of extortion, fraud and impersonation after a foreign tourist posted a video saying a man posing as a guide had exploited her in the medina.

The pattern is familiar from Marrakech. Someone tells you the lane ahead is closed, offers to show you a tannery, then leads you to a shop where the guide takes a commission, or asks for money to lead you out. Keep walking, say no once and clearly, and carry an offline map. Agree any price before a guided visit. The FCDO also warns of card fraud and of goods being swapped for cheaper ones after you pay, so watch your purchase being wrapped.

The FCDO lists pickpocketing, bag snatching and drive-by motorbike theft as common in medinas, so keep your phone and bag on the side away from passing mopeds.

After dark and women alone

Gallup's 2025 survey found 68% of Moroccans feel safe walking alone at night. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary advises avoiding quiet areas, particularly after dark, because robbers in big cities have used knives against tourists, and Canada says never to resist. Inside the medina, the side alleys empty once shops close, so arrange for your riad to meet you at a gate or take a taxi to the gate nearest your door.

The FCDO says women may receive unwanted attention, especially when alone. In the souks that means comments, conversation that will not end, and sometimes being followed. It is more tiring than dangerous. Loose clothing that covers arms, legs and chest reduces it.

Heat, old buildings and earthquakes

Heat is the hazard most visitors feel. ERA5 weather data show Fez reached 40 °C or more on 15 to 38 days a year between 2021 and 2025, with July highs averaging 38 °C and a peak of 46 °C in July 2021. Visit the medina early, drink bottled water and rest through the afternoon.

Building collapses are the risk specific to Fez. In February 2024 five people died when a house collapsed in the old city. In May 2025 nine people died in a collapse in the Al-Hassani district, and in December 2025 two adjacent four-storey buildings fell in the Al Mustaqbal district, killing 22 people at a family celebration, the deadliest such accident in Morocco in recent years, The National reported. On 21 May 2026 a six-storey residential building collapsed in the Ain Nokbi district, killing at least nine people, according to Gulf News. Avoid buildings with visible cracks or wooden props, and leave any building that creaks or sheds plaster.

The 2023 Al Haouz earthquake struck about 460 km to the south-west, and the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says it killed almost 3,000 people, mostly in the High Atlas. Earthquakes remain a risk across Morocco, so read your hotel's emergency instructions.

Roads and health

Morocco's road safety agency NARSA counted 4,577 road deaths in 2025, up 25.5% in a year and about 12.7 per 100,000 people. Pedestrians and motorcyclists were 70% of the dead. Day trips to Meknes, Volubilis or Chefchaouen are safer in daylight; the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary warns about poor lighting and animals on roads at night.

The WHO database's latest figure for Fez is an annual PM10 average of 37 µg/m³ (2016), about two and a half times WHO's guideline. The FCDO calls public health care limited and private clinics better, so have insurance that covers them. Drink bottled water, eat where food is cooked hot, and drink alcohol only in licensed venues, because the FCDO reports deaths from methanol in drinks.

How we scored it

Violent crime (82) is the strongest factor, on a low national homicide rateHomicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary. Traffic safety (48) is the weakest, followed by natural hazards (55) for the heat and building collapses, and theft and scams (55) for the fake-guide trade, scored the same as Marrakech. Walking at night (65) uses Morocco's Gallup share and the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary advice on quiet areas, the same as for Casablanca and Tangier. For the rest of the country, see our Morocco page.