Opted out of going to my long term bucket list location (Marrakesh) to visit Chefchaouen instead. Good choice! Although I still would like to visit Marrakesh someday, I was just turned off by everything I read about how touristy it is anymore and how much you get hassled, etc. etc.
I'd seen photos of a "blue city" a few years ago and was completely fascinated. The vision of that village and the fascination with it stayed with me all this time and was what made me finally decide to ditch Marrakesh ...this trip. After a bit of research I found it was totally doable and fairly close to Tangier, just a short hop from Portugal where we were staying visiting family.
Morocco is next level travel for sure and not the best option for a travel novice (doable of course, but needs extra prep). It's a gorgeous, amazing country, you just have to be aware of the issues. Crazy taxi system (and drivers that WILL rip you off), language issues (first place that I've visited where most people do NOT speak english, this was both cool and frustrating - they speak Spanish and French along with native languages), serious lack of decent tours, etc. etc.
We opted to rent a car, I was worried at first but we were reassured by our Airbnb hosts that it's very safe and easy to travel by car, at least in the more populated areas. I am very glad we did, it allows a freedom that is very nice, especially going to Chefchaouen from Tangier where the buses leave very infrequently and the taxis are crowded (they fill the car before leaving) and hot (old cars with no air conditioning), private taxis are an option, but fairly expensive and you still have to worry about taxis and such if you want to move around much. Also, we took the opportunity and travelled up around the entire coastline of northern Morocco, just because we could. :)
This post is just about Chefchaouen, but I'll make another post about Tangier and the coast.
Chefchaouen is gorgeous and friendly and super clean compared to Tangier. You don't get hassled by vendors and it's small enough to wander without fear.
Enjoy!
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| Everything... EVERYTHING... is painted blue! It's like a city underwater. :) |
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| I took most of these early in the morning before even the shops open (Chaouen is a fairly late awakening village) |
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| All the blue makes it seem extra cool... not so much actually though, it was HOT. |
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| Tiago and the super, duper old olive tree. |
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| Full of arches and doorways! |
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| I think someone used this little hut to charge tourists to take photos, but we were there early enough to get a freebie, lol. |
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| I love the fresh greenery with the cool blues! |
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| doesn't it just look like you're submerged in water? |
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| A Chefchaouen cat. They were everywhere! |
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| Lots of ladders and buckets of blue paint. The people are dedicated to keeping their village gorgeous shades of blue! |
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| This momma kitty and her two kittens were adorable, playing in the empty streets early in the morning. |
A short walk-thru.
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| One of the gates of the Medina, on the top of the hill. It was so odd walking out of the gate, going from cool, beautiful blues to browns and emptiness and mountains... I truly felt like "Here be Monsters!" lolol. |
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| Outside the gate. Such a dichotomy to the inside. |
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| Plenty of shopping. |
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| The Kasbah (or fort) |
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| Look at those mountains! Amazing. The Atlas mountains. |
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| The Medina from the Kasbah. |
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| A walk up to the Spanish Mosque to see the sunset over Chaouen. |
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| Traditional dress of the women of the region. |
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| The Spanish Mosque |
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| Walking through the Medina after dark. Everything stays open late. |
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| Aladdin's Grandmothers shop. :) |
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| Pigment powders popular in the region. Mixed with gesso powder and... not sure, water maybe, these make the paints the people of Chefchaouen use. I bought some to play with, maybe make some art with. :) |
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| This is literally our bill for dinner. We asked for the check, he thought about what we ordered and wrote it down on the corner of our paper placemat. Hilarious. btw, that's about $13 for 2 full dinners, an appetizer, a liter of water, and two drinks! |
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| There is a river (stream) that runs down the side of the medina. It's noted in travel mags as where the women go to wash laundry, which is true, in little sections off to the side, but the main attraction, that I didn't see written anywhere, is the cafe that sits IN THE WATER. Like, literally, a lot of the tables and chairs are sitting in the water, wedged in and around boulders and trees. Not only do the waiters have to navigate all this to take orders and bring food, but the customers do also! Honestly, grandmas are balancing on boulders and treading through water to get to a table! It was AWESOME!!! :D -- There's also a ton of people who just sit in and around the stream hanging out, chatting, reading, whatever. |
A walk-thru of the stream cafe.
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| So, this is how the cafe keeps their drinks cool. In a little "cave" to the side of the stream. That's chilly water! ;) |
Hope you enjoyed the photos. There's so, so much to say about Chefchaouen that I didn't get to. I'll try to add edits as I think of things but if you have anything to add or questions, please comment, I'd love to hear from you.
-xo deb.
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