Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen is Morocco's "blue pearl": some 43,000 people in the Rif mountains in the north of the country, about 115 km south of Tangier. The walls, doors, steps and flowerpots of the old town are painted in every shade of blue, which makes it the most recognisable town in the country after Marrakesh.

There is no single explanation for the tradition. One version ties it to the Jewish community that settled here after the expulsion from Spain, for whom blue was the colour of the sky in Jewish symbolism. Another holds that the paint deters mosquitoes. A third says the colour simply marked out the Muslim quarter. All that is certain is that the wholesale blue washing spread in the 20th century, and that it is now maintained partly because it brings visitors.

What to see

• The blue medina — the town itself: a maze of narrow 15th-century lanes on a slope, where every turn opens a new angle. Half a day covers it, and getting lost is hard — everything runs downhill to the main square.
• Place Uta el-Hammam — the centre of the medina, with cafés under the plane trees, the 15th-century Grand Mosque and the kasbah.
• The kasbah — a fortress of the same century with towers, a garden and a small ethnographic museum inside; the tower looks out over the whole old town.
• The Grand Mosque — with an octagonal minaret, a rarity in Morocco. Non-Muslims are not admitted inside.
• Ras El Maa — the spring on the eastern edge where the town's stream begins. Washing is still done here, the old water mills survive, and it is the liveliest spot in town in the mornings.
• The Spanish Mosque — an abandoned mosque of the 1920s on the hill facing the medina. The climb takes twenty to thirty minutes, and this is the main viewpoint: the whole blue town below, best at sunrise or sunset.
• The Mellah — the former Jewish quarter inside the medina, from which, by one account, the blue tradition began.

The country around

• The Akchour waterfalls, 30 km away, are the main natural draw of the region. A path along the river leads to the Small and Great falls; the first is about an hour's walk, the second three to four hours each way. Cafés stand in the riverbed along the way, with wicker tables set in the water.
• The Bridge of God (Pont de Dieu) — a natural stone arch about 25 metres high over the same river, on a separate path from the entrance to the gorge.
• Talassemtane National Park — the only place in Morocco where the endemic Moroccan fir grows. Treks run from one to three days, with nights in mountain refuges and villages.

What is nearby

Tétouan, 60 km away, is a colonial town with a UNESCO-listed medina and a marked Spanish imprint in its architecture. It is easy to combine on the way to or from Tangier.

Food and prices

The cooking is Moroccan with a mountain slant: goat tagine is the local speciality, along with bastilla, couscous, goat's cheese and olives. Mint tea is served everywhere and constantly. Lunch at a café is 65-140 dirhams ($7-15), dinner at a restaurant 168-326 dirhams ($18-35), and a glass of fresh orange juice 9-19 dirhams ($1-2).

A petit taxi around town costs 19-47 dirhams ($2-5). A grand taxi from Tangier comes to 93-140 dirhams ($10-15) per person if you share, or 280-420 dirhams ($30-45) for the whole car.

Transport

Chefchaouen has no airport. The nearest are Tétouan (TTU, 60 km) and Tangier (TNG, about 115 km). CTM coaches run from Tangier in three to four hours for 75-112 dirhams ($8-12), and grand taxis take about two hours. From Fez the CTM coach takes around four hours. Within the town it is walking only: the medina is compact and closed to cars.

When to go

March to May and September to November, 15-25°C. In summer it is 25-35°C, but at around 580 metres in the mountains it is appreciably easier than on the plains. Winter brings 5-12°C, rain and occasional snow.

Photograph the medina at dawn: by ten in the morning the coaches arrive from Tangier and Fez, and queues form on the popular stairways for the shot.