Morocco · Fès-Meknès
Where to Stay in Taza, Fès-Meknès
Taza is a walled hill town in northeastern Morocco, guarding the mountain gap between the Rif and the Middle Atlas.
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Where to stay in Taza
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Where you stay in Taza turns on the old town or the new. The walled medina on the hill keeps the mosque, the gates, and the bazaar within a walk, and staying in the old town suits anyone here for the ramparts. The old lanes climb the hill.
Rooms sit near the medina walls. Down in the new town below the hill, the streets run wider and busier. A room in the new town trades the old lanes for shops, the station, and an easy road on to Fez.
The green mountains rise past the edge. If you want the medina, stay on the hill; if you want the shops, take a room below. From either side of town, the medina is a short climb away.
About Taza
Taza guards the great gap between the mountains.
What is Taza known for?
Its old walled medina climbs a hilltop above the pass that links the Atlantic plains to the eastern lands, once the gate through which armies marched on the Moroccan throne, and a fine Almohad mosque crowns the old town. Deep caves open in the hills nearby. Walls and gap mark the town.
What are the main landmarks in Taza?
The Great Mosque is the pride of the old town of Taza. The Almohad mosque, famous for its huge bronze chandelier, rises among the lanes of the walled medina, the emblem of the town, on the hilltop. Walls and gates ring the medina.
The old ramparts and the gate of Bab Rih guard the hill, while the deep Friouato caves open in the mountains nearby.
What is the history of Taza?
Taza has guarded the mountain gap since ancient times. Berber tribes built a stronghold on the hill above the pass, the one easy road between the Atlantic plains and the eastern deserts, and whoever held Taza held the gate to Morocco. Dynasties rose through the gap.
The Almohads made the town a base and raised its great mosque, and later rulers marched their armies through the corridor on the way to the throne at Fez. The walled town held the pass for centuries. Sultans strengthened its ramparts and gates against the tribes of the mountains, and the medina filled with mosques, houses, and a busy bazaar.
War touched it in modern times. A rebel who claimed the throne held out near Taza against the sultan, and later the French built a new town below the old walls to guard the strategic gap. The old medina still crowns the hill.
Taza keeps its walls and its mosque above the mountain road.
Where is Taza?
Taza lies in a mountain gap in the northeast of Morocco. The town sits on a hill in the corridor between the Rif range to the north and the Middle Atlas to the south, on the old road from Fez to the eastern border. Wooded mountains rise on either side.
The gap opens east toward Algeria.
What is the climate of Taza?
Taza has a mild mountain-edge climate. Warm, dry summers cross the gap, and the winters turn cool and wet with snow on the peaks, softened in the corridor between the ranges, with rain in the cooler months. Winds funnel through the gap year-round.
The hills stay green above the town.
How do you get to Taza?
Taza lies on the road and rail line between Fez and Oujda in northeastern Morocco. Trains and the highway run to it through the mountain gap from Fez in the west, and roads climb into the ranges around. Buses reach the mountain villages near.
Most arrive by road through the gap.
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Updated August 2026