Have you ever imagined what it would feel like to be inside an iceberg looking out at the world through a blue-ish lens where everything is a variation on a theme. Blue, Blues-y, Blue-ish, Blue-ming lovely!

Well, that is a little what it feels like to explore the town of Chefchaouen in Morocco’s Rif Mountains. This town is surrounded by imposing, craggy snowtopped mountains (in the winter anyway), babbling brooks, and more than a few goats.

But what do you do in a town that is primarily famous for being blue?

Well, I’m here to give you my Top 3 Things To Do in Chefchaouen

Wander The Streets of The Medina

Get lost. Take photos. Talk to stray cats. Shop.

Honestly, wandering around the Medina is an absolute pleasure. It is a lot smaller and friendlier than the bigger Medinas in Fes and Marrakesh so getting lost here is more relaxing and really quite enjoyable! Start down miniscule alleyways, get turned around in dead-ends and pass the same blue house 10 times before realising you’re going round in circles!

Maybe it was the calming hues that made my time here so very enjoyable or the teeny tiny shops selling everything and anything. The delicious pastries, the copious olives, the many many cats!

Visit The Andalucian Gardens

In the centre of the Medina there is a lone non-blue building! Shock horror!

But we can forgive it its unwillingness to conform to the whimsy of the blue town since it is, in its own right, a proper stunner! The Kasbah is an old fortress with a tower that gives unrivaled views of the rest of Chefchaouen all the way up to the Spanish mosque on top of the hill on the way out of town. It also has a small but lovely garden and in the summer I imagine you could easily while away some time in the shade surrounded by beautiful flowers.

There is also a small museum on site which is pretty interesting to have a look around.

Climb Up into the Mountains and Get Out into the Countryside

Now, I visited Chefchaouen in the dead of winter and was absolutely freezing so not great walking weather!

There are some famous waterfalls a short way out of Chefchaouen – you can take a taxi to a location about half an hours walk away from the Cascades d’Akchour or you can walk all the way as described in this pretty handy post by World of Waterfalls.

You can also easily wander up into the mountains in any direction you please. Keep an eye out for obvious farm land and try not to disturb anything but it seems like people are relatively open to walkers in this region.

Even just wandering up the roads out of town to get a view over Chefchaouen is a great thing to do.

I nearly didn’t go to Chefchaouen but I’m so glad I did! It was easily my favourite place that I visited in Morocco and also one of the most beautiful towns I have ever visited. Anywhere. Seriously!

Make sure to spend a few days here, soaking up the atmosphere, eating everything, people watching and taking thousands of blue photos!

Also Cats…