6 Tourist Scams in Fez

You arrive at Bab Bou Jeloud — the magnificent Blue Gate — with your offline map loaded and a rough idea of which riad you're looking for. A man falls into step beside you almost immediately. He says the road you're planning to take is closed — construction, or a local festival, or simply that it doesn't go where you think it does. He offers to walk you the correct way. Fifteen minutes into the medina's impossible warren, you realise you're genuinely lost and now dependent on someone you didn't choose to trust. Multiple r/solotravel regulars describe this exact script. As one user put it: 'Most common scam I encountered was people who will try to tell you that the road you're going down is closed. I never listened to them but my understanding is they take you via their cousin's shop.' The destination is always a carpet shop, leather goods store, or ceramics trader where your guide earns commission regardless of your purchase. The medina roads are almost never actually closed to tourists. If in doubt, ask a shopkeeper rather than a stranger who approached you, or step into your riad and ask staff. The closed-road claim is the opening move of the majority of Fez medina cons and recognising it immediately neutralises the scam.

He says he's not a guide, just a student who wants to practice his English. Or he's a teacher on his day off. Or he grew up in this neighbourhood and would love to show you how locals actually live. The conversation is genuinely interesting, the medina views legitimately extraordinary. He takes you to the famous tanneries viewpoint and gives a real explanation of the dyeing process. And then you're in a leather shop. And then he's been there for forty-five minutes while you feel increasingly obligated to buy something expensive. This is documented so consistently across Morocco subreddits and forums that it has its own genre of post. As one r/solotravel user wrote about Fez: 'I followed one unofficial tour guide around Fez just when I got to Morocco. Being naive I followed him because he said the tour was free. Shortly after I began the tour I realized he was going to ask for money later, but it's hard to leave a tour once you begin.' The social engineering is sophisticated — the guide makes genuine effort, which creates genuine obligation. The cleanest resolution if you find yourself mid-tour: acknowledge it openly. Say you're happy to pay a fair amount for the walking tour but you're not interested in shopping. Many guides respect this directness and will continue the tour on honest terms. If you want to avoid the entire dynamic, book through an official Fez medina guide service — licensed guides wear a photo ID card and are registered with the government.

The Chouara Tannery is on every Fez itinerary and deservedly so — the honeycomb vats of dye seen from the surrounding leather shops are among the most photographed sights in North Africa. The standard arrangement is that leather shops surrounding the tannery offer free viewpoints in exchange for the social obligation to browse their goods. A man outside the best viewpoint offers you a sprig of fresh mint to hold near your nose against the smell — this is entirely genuine — and then leads you inside. The scam is the follow-through pressure, not the mint. Once inside the shop, the viewing is real, the mint is real, but you'll be guided through increasingly expensive leather goods while your host comments on the craftsmanship. The prices for jackets, bags, and shoes are quoted in euros or dollars at dramatically inflated tourist rates. The mint-holder makes it psychologically difficult to look at the view and then leave without engaging with the merchandise. Enter with the explicit understanding that you're there to see the tannery and may or may not browse. Say this up front: 'I'd like to see the tannery, I'm not looking to buy today.' Most shops will still let you in — the view drives foot traffic which drives sales even if not from you. If you want leather goods, genuine quality Fez leather is excellent; the trick is negotiating hard and knowing fair prices (a quality leather bag should be around 400-600 dirham, not the 1500-2500 first quoted).

Morocco is genuinely the home of argan oil — it grows almost nowhere else, it's used in Moroccan cooking and beauty products, and buying it here makes complete sense. The bottle you buy in the Fez medina souk for 50 dirham looks identical to the genuine article. It might even smell right in the shop. Back home, you'll discover it's either diluted to near worthlessness with cheaper plant oils, or it's not argan at all. The counterfeit argan oil trade in Morocco is well-documented — driven by high global demand and relatively easy adulteration. Saffron counterfeiting is equally common, with safflower or coloured turmeric sold as saffron at a fraction of the real price. Rose water is often synthetic fragrance in water. Ras el hanout spice blends are padded with cheap filler spices to reduce the proportion of expensive ingredients. Authentic argan oil has a distinctive nutty smell and golden-yellow colour for culinary grade, or lighter and less scented for cosmetic grade. It should be sold in dark glass bottles — UV exposure degrades it quickly, and transparent plastic bottles are a quality red flag. Legitimate argan oil cooperatives exist in Morocco and are the best buying sources; in Fez, buy from the Ensemble Artisanal (government-backed craft centre) where quality is regulated.

You're moving at a reasonable pace through a Fez medina alley when a moped horn sounds directly behind you. You press to the wall, the moped squeezes past, and in the commotion — the press of bodies, the sudden movement — your bag zipper is open. Or you've been pushed far enough off your original path that you're now in an alley you don't recognise, and the man who 'helped you avoid the moped' is offering to show you back to the main street. Mopeds in the Fez medina are technically illegal but move through constantly regardless. As one r/solotravel regular described: 'Mopeds speedily turn through blind corners and cover the air with dust.' The chaos is real and independent of any scam — but scammers exploit it. The moped distraction is used for both pickpocketing and as a pretext for the 'helpful stranger' to insert himself into your journey. Keep your bag zipped and on your front. The moment a moped passes, check your bag and orient yourself on the map before moving. If someone 'helps' you after a moped passes, thank them and walk away independently. The medina is genuinely disorienting but your riad staff will always send someone to collect you if you call — programme that number before you leave the riad each morning.

The terrace restaurant near Bab Bou Jeloud has spectacular views over the medina rooftops. The menu has photographs and approximate prices in both dirham and euros. You order a tajine and a mint tea, enjoying the afternoon. When the bill arrives, it includes a cover charge for the bread you didn't ask for and which arrived automatically, a 'terrace supplement,' and VAT that seems to have been applied twice. The total is three times what the menu suggested. Restaurant overcharging near tourist gates in Fez is consistently reported on r/solotravel Morocco threads. The tactics include automatic 'free' bread that is later charged at 20-30 dirham per person, service charges not visible on the menu, and prices that are displayed without tax even though tax is later applied. Some restaurants have two versions of the menu — a real one and a tourist one — which are indistinguishable by appearance. Always confirm the final price of individual dishes before ordering and specifically ask 'Is there a cover charge or service charge?' If bread arrives unasked-for, you can refuse it immediately. Check whether displayed prices include tax. Read the bill line by line before paying and question anything that wasn't discussed. Moving away from the Bab Bou Jeloud tourist gateway to restaurants inside the residential medina typically halves prices and doubles quality.