Oct 30, 2024
Excellent local guide - Excellent guide, knowledgeable and spoke English very well. Friendly and kind.
Has grown up in the Medina and knows everyone but never pushed us to buy anything etc. Best guide we have had in Morocco within our two week tour. Was recommended by Riad Fez and they are very picky and choose their guides carefully.
Review provided by Viator
Oct 30, 2024
Perfect guide and host for Fez Medina - Our guide, Yahya, who was born and raised in the medina, was the perfect guide and made us feel welcome into his home. The Fez medina is a beautiful medieval labyrinth of homes, shops, markets, bakeries, butchers, etc. and you will feel transported to one of the most advanced cities in the Middle Ages. Having a guide is a must if you don’t want to get lost, and Yahya made the whole experience authentic.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 29, 2024
Won’t regret. - Just what you want. A man who knows the area, it’s people and do’s and don’ts. He took the time to guide us through the medina and let us see some great places. A part of guided tours is often to go into shops where you feel obliged to buy. On this tour, we did not felt that at any time. On the contrary. Imad, helpt us a couple of times to get the deals done for the most fair prices.
Keep up the good work Imad. 💪🏼
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 28, 2024
Don’t overthink it, just book! - I am not kidding when I say the best part of my entire trip to Morocco was this tour! My friend and I had the best day with Hicham - what was supposed to be a tour of only a few hours ended up taking the whole day! Hicham is passionate about Fez and literally showed us everything - we learned so much about the city and the culture, and because of that it is now my favorite city in Morocco. He also let us shop as long as we wanted in the stores, and gave us tips for navigating the city and places to go. I also learned so much about the Muslim faith, which was a highlight for me. By the end of the tour Hicham felt like one of our friends that we’d known forever - it’s a trip memory I’ll cherish always!
So just to make sure I say it - book this tour, you won’t regret it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 28, 2024
Visit the medina of Fez with Mouhcine - Mouhcine is a very knowledgeable, committed and professional guide. He gave us a tour not only diversified the medina, but also the main points of interest of the city of Fes.
He also takes care to adapt his itinerary to taste and expectations, and to the group and the individual.
Always available and in a good mood, he was respectful and an excellent fellow traveller that I do not hesitate to recommend to everyone and hope to meet next time!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 28, 2024
A day in Fes - Tour was really fantastic, perfect if you like to ask a lot of questions like me! The tour was only supposed to be half day but our guide spent the whole day with us, almost 8 hours. He was really interesting and has so many great insights and strokes. I felt like a really was able to see all of Fes. Would highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 26, 2024
Amazing Guide & Private tour of Fes - We could not have asked for a more perfect private tour of Fes than from our guide Yasin today. He picked us up from our riad and we were immediately engaged in the sights sounds, culture and beauty of this city. His knowledge of the city, souks, photo spots, restaurants and cultural sights brought the city to life in such a meaningful way for our family of three. His English was fantastic and his recommendations were exceptional on local cuisine and Hammans. . it was a genuine pleasure to spend the day with him. I would highly recommend this tour and guide.
Review provided by Viator
Oct 26, 2024
10/10 tour! Highly recommend!! - Imad was an amazing tour guide and really took the time to make sure this experience was perfect for me and my friends. He gave very helpful tips for shopping in Fes, restaurant recommendations, and other fun things to do during our stay. We went to so many authentic spots in Fes that I would never have known about if it wasn’t for Imad’s guidance. I was able to buy high quality souvenirs from the spots he took us to and Imad knew exactly where to take best pictures.
Would recommend this tour to everyone, especially for your first day so you get to see a lot of Fes and then figure out what to do during the rest of your stay.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 25, 2024
The Medina with Yahya: a beautiful discovery! - Very good visit to the Medina with our guide Yahya! He knew how to listen and he adapted the visit to our desires. Thanks to him we have made beautiful discoveries. Very professional. We recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 27, 2024
High pressure sales tour. The Fes Medina is amazing, but there are better guides out there.. - This walking tour started off on the wrong foot (no pun intended). I booked a PRIVATE tour, not a group tour. Literally 45 minutes before the tour was to start, Imad messaged me saying an Australian lady would be joining us (yes, in that presumptuous way)... and then said would I mind. And yes, I minded, so I objected. I paid for a PRIVATE tour, not a group tour. He said there must have been a glitch on Trip Advisor that allowed the woman to book even though I had already booked this tour months earlier. Yeah, right.
When later I said to him that he didn't even offer us any discount for asking for someone else to join us (because group tours are cheaper than private tours), he said if I had agreed, he would have instructed the other lady to pay for lunch for my wife and I. WHAT??? This really shows poor character. I don't need some random person buying my lunch. The proper thing to do would have been to offer both parties a discount for agreeing to be in a group, but it's clear Imad just wanted to keep as much profit as possible for himself.
The tour itself was not what it is advertised to be. I stated very clearly at the beginning, I am not interested in shopping. Half the tour included VERY high pressure sales in various locations where he obviously gets a cut. In fact, my wife bought some face cream at one of the stops (thankfully the only thing she bought), and the lady (not knowing we were standing behind her) gave a big thumbs up to Imad lurking across the store. Imad confessed later that they give him free products for his family to bring customers there.
In another shop (carpet), Imad actually participated in the high pressure tactics and tag-teamed the shop operator in trying to get me to buy a carpet, with Imad forcibly negotiating on my behalf! It was quite ridiculous. In the end of course I didn't buy their carpet and when we exited, I saw the EXACT same carpet for a fraction of the price without even negotiating. Of course Imad tried to convince me it's not the same, but I'm not stupid, I'm not blind, and I am a very well-experienced traveller (more than 60 countries, and lived on 3 continents) and know a lot more than what he thinks.
After Imad felt comfortable with us, he opened up about making so much money on his tours that he likes to take 3 months off each year to travel in Europe and Asia. So don't believe the initial stories like "the average wage in Morocco is X. Poor me. Life is so expensive and hard. I can't afford to live in the city. I can't afford to get married yet. Blah blah blah. Tip me."
After 3.5 hours he said the tour is supposed to be finished (i.e. by lunch). That was odd considering I had previously confirmed in WRITING with him that the tour is 5-6 hours. He was trying to make it like he was doing us a favour by continuing with the tour (obviously to get a tip).
The reality is that the tour is only about 2.5 hours, with the rest of the 5-6 hours being stops at grossly over-priced, high pressure tourist traps and lunch. After 2.5 hours, ALL of the stops were for shopping.
Imad was friendly on the surface, and the conversation was lively throughout (hence the 2 stars instead of 1), but in general neither my wife nor I got a good vibe. He demonstrated poor character by trying to add someone to my tour at the last minute, participating in VERY high pressure sales (and he starts the negotiating process himself before even entering by saying they don't bargain... which is not true), telling me he would force someone to pay for my lunch, and by trying to convince me he's doing me a favour by giving me the full tour which I had already paid for anyway. Based on this, we didn't find him honest.
I booked him because of all the very positive reviews, but I can tell you that I cross-checked some of the info he gave with other guides in Morocco (which I did because some of it sounded fake), and I confirmed that some of the info just wasn't accurate or true.
Find another guide. Based on my tour experience in the Marrakech medina, there are definitely better guides out there. The Marrakech tour was like night and day compared to this one (the guides, not the medina itself).
Review provided by Tripadvisor