Fez May — Bab Bou Jeloud blue gate at dusk in spring

Fez · Morocco

May

Warm spring peak — ideal conditions and the Sacred Music Festival approaching.

Best match

#4 of 12 months

There are better months for Fez — see the full ranking below.

See when to go instead →

Climate

High

27.8°C

Low

14.2°C

Rain

30mm

Sun

9.4hrs/day

30-year climate normals · Open Meteo ERA5

How May scores in Fez

Weather
Excellent
Value
Good
Crowds
Above average
Events
Excellent
Atmosphere
Outstanding

What you gain in May

  • May sits at the boundary of ideal and warm: 27.8°C is hot for sustained midday medina walking, but mornings (before 10am) and evenings (after 5pm) are outstanding — the golden hour light on Fez el-Bali's thousand-year roofscape is at its richest in May.
  • The Fes Festival of World Sacred Music begins in late May or early June: one of Morocco's greatest cultural events, it draws sufi music, gospel, Gregorian chant, and sacred traditions from across the world to outdoor venues in the medina and the historic royal gardens. The concerts in the Bab Makina palace square under stars are genuinely world-class.
  • Sefrou's cherry blossom festival is in late May: the small city 30km south of Fez is one of Morocco's most charming day trips, and the cherry orchards in full fruit are spectacular on the surrounding hillsides.

What you sacrifice

  • Heat building: 27.8°C highs mean the Chouara tannery visit (notoriously pungent in heat) is best done early morning when temperatures are below 20°C. Guides will tell you the best time is 10am — ignore them and go at 8am.
  • The approach of the Sacred Music Festival means accommodation prices in May's final week rise to festival-week levels — book ahead or target early May before festival pricing applies.

How May compares to October (best month)

FactorMayOctober
Weather
8
9
Value
6
7
Crowds
5
7

May in other destinations

Lisbon (20.7°C)Barcelona (20.8°C)Tokyo (23.8°C)Bali (31.2°C)Santorini (19.8°C)Paris (18.1°C)New York (20.4°C)Marrakech (26.4°C)Amsterdam (16.4°C)Maldives (31.5°C)Rome (21.7°C)Bangkok (32.6°C)Istanbul (20.7°C)Vienna (19.7°C)Seoul (21.4°C)Dubrovnik (20.9°C)Rio de Janeiro (26.2°C)Kyoto (25.2°C)Phuket (32.6°C)Cape Town (18.9°C)Prague (21°C)Amalfi Coast (23°C)Mexico City (27°C)Medellín (27°C)Fiji (28°C)London (18°C)Sydney (19°C)Iceland (10°C)Tulum (32°C)Dubai (38°C)Singapore (33°C)Hoi An (33°C)Chiang Mai (33°C)Miami (30.6°C)Florence (23.1°C)Queenstown (11°C)Madrid (21.7°C)Porto (21°C)Edinburgh (15°C)Copenhagen (16°C)Budapest (22°C)Kraków (20°C)Tbilisi (23°C)Palawan (32°C)Hanoi (31°C)Osaka (25°C)Goa (33°C)Cusco (20°C)Buenos Aires (19°C)Mykonos (23°C)Zanzibar (28°C)Sri Lanka (31°C)Costa Rica (27°C)Cancun (32°C)Krabi (33°C)Athens (25°C)Seville (27°C)Cartagena (31°C)Siem Reap (34°C)Havana (30°C)Split (22°C)Taipei (30°C)Kuala Lumpur (33°C)Valletta (24°C)Ho Chi Minh City (34°C)Hawaii (29°C)Cappadocia (22°C)Dominican Republic (31°C)Jamaica (31°C)Tanzania (23°C)Seychelles (28°C)Nepal (28°C)Jordan (28°C)Azores (21°C)Bora Bora (28°C)Los Angeles (22.8°C)Cairo (34.8°C)Kenya (26.1°C)Jaipur (40.2°C)Las Vegas (33.8°C)San Francisco (17.5°C)Madeira (23°C)Vancouver (17.8°C)Muscat (40.1°C)Lima (20.5°C)Cinque Terre (21°C)Kotor (22°C)Tel Aviv (27°C)Santiago (17°C)Bogotá (18°C)Bruges (17.8°C)Penang (33.2°C)Lombok (31.5°C)Cape Verde (27.8°C)Kerala (33°C)Kigali (26°C)Hong Kong (28°C)Oslo (17°C)Auckland (17°C)
Climate data: 30-year normals (1991–2020) from Open Meteo ERA5 reanalysis. Scores compare months within Fez, not across destinations. Methodology →