Chefchaouen is a magical place I’ve been wanting to visit for a very long time. The colours, the peacefulness, the traditions, the nice people. There were so many reasons I wanted to visit Morocco’s “blue city”. As I was approaching Chefchaouen, I got off our van to take a picture. The rain was pouring and the fog was so dense I could barely see anything. But the many shades of blue in the distance were stubbornly making their way as if to show off. And they sure did! As I was indulging in the views from the hill overlooking Chefchaouen, I knew we had just arrived at a remarkable place where time had simply stopped.
Chefchaouen is indeed a very small place which is why most people just go for a day trip. To have a truly amazing one or two days in Chefchaouen, read on to find out some essential information to make sure you have a truly stellar time.
Plan how you’ll get there
Me and my friend were travelling from Fes and the original plan was to get a CTM bus directly to Chefchaouen. The idea was to get tickets online. Sadly we had missed the fine print saying that to pay with an international card you need to purchase a ticket 3 days in advance. Now that this option was gone, all we could do was turn up at the station and hope they’ve got a couple of tickets left for us. Sadly they didn’t, for the bus we wanted anyway. Tickets to Chefchaouen sell like a puffy bread just gone out of the oven. So unless you have a ton of luck or are flexible with your timing, you should prebook your ticket! And remember, to pay with a card issued outside of Morocco, book no less than 3 days in advance.
A day trip is not enough
A few people we met on our trip were only doing a quick trip to Chefchaouen just for a few hours. Well, I can tell you right now that a few hours in this fascinating little place are simply not enough. Luckily we had almost 2 full days to explore Chefchaouen but we still felt a bit rushed to do everything we wanted to. It’s not that the place is huge or you can pinpoint to a ton of different sighseeing places you gotta explore. It’s the athomsphere, the colours, the amazing people we got to meet that made us wanna stick around for longer. So if you want to truly experience Chefchaouen, stay for the night. Chefchaouen at night is actually pretty awesome too!
Women and kids despise the cameras
Morocco is an Islamic country which means that women tend to cover up to keep most of their feminine beauty away from the public eye. Although I knew that pretty well, women in Chefchaouen surprised me. Whenever they were seeing a camera that could somehow capture them, they were getting extremely agitated. On a few occasions I was proper yelled at to put my camera down. I hope that’s what they meant anyway 😀 . I did not meet a single woman in Chefchaouen who spoke English so I can only guess what they were screaming at me. Even just by looking at their body language though, I could tell they were pissed. As every loyal kid would do too, kids didn’t fail their mums and were ready for a fight if they saw me shooting 😀 .
Funny story! One kid even started running towards me with a stick at hand to show he’s ready to take me down 😀 . Luckily, my camera didn’t take a hit! Looking back, this sounds like a funny story but do have that in mind and try to put your camera down when you see women or kids getting angry. They’re only protecting their privacy and as tourists we should respect that! Having said that, as soon as I put my camera down, all the rage immediately disappeared. So it definitely was the camera which was the trigger and not me as a tourist or anything like that!
Don’t panic if younger locals ask you for weed. Yes, weed!
As soon as we got off in Chefchaouen, a guy who had randomly jumped in our van (he turned out to be a relative of our driver 😀 ), whispered to me if I had some weed to give him 😀 . He had a little in his pocket so he felt the need to show me his leftovers as if to make sure I definitely knew what he was on about. Sadly for him, I had to disappoint him. At that point I thought he was just a one off. But as we got to the Spanish mosque, a couple of guys asked us again if we had some weed. There clearly was a trend going on.
From talking to a few people, including those who asked for the weed, it turned out that young people in Chefchaouen don’t really do a whole lot. Drinking alcohol is generally not allowed as well. So it kind of clicked why so many people get tempted. Having said that, I never felt unsafe or imtimidated so don’t worry if this happens to you too.
If a random local decides to jump in your taxi to “share”, that’s ok 😀
This happened to us a couple of times and at first I was thinking to myself “WTH” 😀 . I mean, who jumps into your taxi just because he’s going in the same direction? And don’t get me wrong, we didn’t share the bill either 😀 . I found it so amusing. Chefchaouen honestly is such a small community. People seem to know each other and sharing a taxi is absolutely normal. So if your driver pulls over to take another passenger, don’t worry and don’t get off! He’s just doing another pick up 😀 . Just have fun with it and make a new friend or two!
Taxis are cheap but negotiate the price before the ride
Taxis in Chefchaouen are super cheap. A ride within town is ususally 10 MAD (0.8 EUR/ 1 USD) which turned out to be cheap even for the locals. It comes as no surprise then that taxis are everywhere. But wherever you’re going with a cab, always negotiate on the price. It’s way easier to say “no” before you’ve had your ride than once you’ve enjoyed the service. Also, always have small change on you. It’s hard to negotiate a ride for 10 MAD when the smallest note you’ve got is a 100.
It’s not a one off to see people washing their clothes in the waterfall
Chefchaouen truly is a wonderful beautiful place. But for better or for worse, there are a lot of people who don’t enjoy even the basics that we enjoy in the more developed parts of the world. Think indoor bathrooms and washing machines! As we were walking toward the Spanish mosque, we crossed a little bridge over the town waterfall and with the corner of my eye I saw clothes hanging on the branches of the trees on both sides of the waterfall. I had no idea that people refresh their clothing in the waterfall. So I was stunned when I saw people hand washing and hanging their items outside. Later on, I had a chat with our host and turned out people simply don’t have facilities to wash up at home. I know, it sure makes you think!
To talk to the older locals, pack up your Spanish dictionary
Chefchaouen used to be a Spanish colony back in the days so although most older locals don’t speak any English, all of them speak great Spanish. I was pretty happy about that actually. I finally got to practice my Spanish and that meant I could talk to the older people which is always extremely insightful. So do take your Spanish dictionary if your Spanish isn’t up to speed yet, it’ll definitely come in handy.
Have your hammam experience here
Hammam as you probably know is the traditional public bath, similar to the Turkish baths. We were doubting whether to try a hammam in Chefchaouen or in the city. Originally I thought that a hammam in Fes or another big city will be cheaper and generally better. But after talking to a few locals, it turned out that Chefchaouen is home to one of the oldest traditional hammams. And we sure wanted to do it the locals’ way. Most hammams in the cities are designed for tourists to be more like spas and naturally the experience is much more different. So if you’re looking for an authentic experience, definitely do your hammam in Chefchaouen. It truly is an Experience, with a big capital E 😀
It’s ok to go into a local’s home (if invited) or have tea with a stranger
One of the things you will have probably read before is how genuinely nice and friendly people in Chefchaouen are. And I can testify to that any day! Chefchaouen welcomed us with so much warmth, sunshine and smiles. As soon as we arrived, we went for our first walk and shortly after, we met the nicest local who invited us to see the view from his terrace. I know what you’re thinking “Are you crazy to go into a stranger’s house? To see the view? Come on”. In any other place I would probably think the same, but all I could think when I saw this guy was how smiley and genuine he looked. So we went into his messy flat which, as our new friend had promised, opened up to a stunning terrace with a mesmarising view over the town and the mountains. It was absolutely breathtaking!
Chefchaouen welcomed us with a smile and a view and saw us off with a smile and a delicious tea! As we were doing our final stroll, we stopped to buy water without realising we had just met one of Chefchaouen’s most genuine store owners. He was so giving and so happy. Although he spoke no English, this didn’t stop him from treating us to his special tea and just made smoothie. He didn’t want anything in return either. No money, no nothing! Just to do a nice thing and make us happy. And he sure did. I was so inspired and grateful that the least I could do was take a photo and remember the moment.
Chefchaouen is a place like no other so just be open minded, don’t doubt the locals and enjoy it. Under the rough and sometimes grumpy faces of the locals, there’s a big smile and clear heart waiting for you to smile back at. So put your happy smile on and fill up your backpack with new experiences.
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