Chefchaouen & the Rif

The color is a real thing, not a marketing gimmick. Every few years the residents repaint, and the result is streets and staircases and doorframes in different shades that change with the time of day. Morning light is soft. Late afternoon is saturated. Evening, after the tour buses have rolled out, is when the town belongs to the people who live there.

Chefchaouen is not lowland Morocco. The Rif has its own food (goat cheese, olive oil, fresh bread, mountain herbs instead of the heavy tagines of the plains), its own language (Riffian Tarifit, a Berber tongue), and an architectural memory of the Spanish colonial period that you can see in the red-tile roofs and whitewashed window frames. The medina is small enough to walk in an hour, which means you get to slow down instead of rushing.

The surrounding mountains are genuinely beautiful. Short hikes out of town lead into pine and cork forests and to viewpoints over the valley. Ras El Maa, the little waterfall at the edge of the medina, is where locals still wash carpets and rugs.

We recommend staying at least one night. Two is better. The day trip works, but you miss the best light.

April through June and September through early November are ideal, with warm days, cool evenings, and green hillsides. Summer is busy with Moroccan and Spanish tourists but still pleasant thanks to the altitude. Winter (December to February) is cold and wet, and the blue looks beautiful against storm skies, but bring warm clothes. Snow is uncommon but not impossible in January.

Chefchaouen has no airport and no train station. You come by road. Tangier is the closest major city at 3 hours through the Rif, which makes the Blue City a very good first or last stop for travelers ferrying from Spain. Fes is 4 hours southeast, Casablanca is 4 hours southwest via Ouezzane, and Tetouan is 1 hour north. Tarla drives the route from any of these cities with a private driver.