Zwei Königsstädte, zwei völlig verschiedene Erfahrungen. Marrakesch ist der Aperitif; Fes ist der Tieftauchgang.
If you only have time for one, this is the question we get asked most. The honest answer depends on what you want from Morocco.
Marrakech is brighter, faster, more dressed-up. The medina is large but navigable; the souks are organised by trade; the Jemaa el-Fnaa fills with snake charmers, storytellers, and food carts at sunset. There are excellent rooftop bars (Marrakech is liberal about alcohol compared to Fes), boutique hotels, and it's the natural launchpad for the Sahara — every desert tour we run starts here.
Fes is denser, older, more inward-looking. The medina (the largest car-free urban area in the world) is genuinely disorienting on the first walk; even our local guides sometimes take a wrong turn. The Karaouine — the world's oldest continually-operating university, founded in 859 AD — sits at the centre. The tanneries are still active, men dyeing leather in vats of pigeon droppings and saffron the way they have for a thousand years.
Our recommendation: if you have under five days, Marrakech plus a desert tour. The light, the markets, and the dunes are an unbeatable first impression. If you have seven days or more, do both — Marrakech to start, Fes towards the end. Take the road south through the Atlas to Merzouga, see the Sahara, then continue north via Erfoud and Midelt to Fes.
Which order matters: most travellers prefer to end in Fes. The medina rewards the slow eye, and after a week of Morocco your slow eye is sharper. Marrakech, by contrast, is the loudest welcome — best when you're freshest.