We arrived to Chefchaouen after a long and pretty stressful day of travel. Our flight from Malaga experienced some pretty hefty turbulence, to the point that we were unable to land on the first attempt. After descending most of the way, the pilot abruptly pulled up and announced that we wouldn’t be landing at that time. There was a lot of panic in the cabin, and I saw many people praying. It turns out that it was too windy to land, so we circled back over the Mediterranean, and were able to land on our second attempt. We disembarked in Tetouan, Morocco, where we were greeted by the incredibly lush Rif mountains. We found a taxi from the tiny airport to the central bus station, then found a bus from there to Chefchaouen.

            On the ride to Chefchaouen, we noticed that almost all of the men we passed were wearing these wool cloaks with pointed hoods. They would walk the narrow alleyways with their hands in their pockets and heads facing down, making us feel like we’d wandered into a Star Wars movie. We made it to our hostel – Dar Dadicilef but had to wait outside for 20 minutes while the owner was at the mosque. After getting checked in, we went out to enjoy our first Moroccan meal – chicken tagine and mint tea. We sat in the main square eating our meal while also getting harassed by many street cats, something that would come to be a theme of the whole trip. After dinner, we walked through the blue streets a bit before calling it a night.

We started the next day with a wonderful breakfast at our hostel, made up of eggs, various breads, jams, and honey, and coffee. After breakfast, we set out to explore the city. We were amazed by the blue buildings and narrow, winding alleyways. We passed many shops selling souvenirs, cats snoozing on doorsteps and chairs, local women buying their goods at the market, and tourists taking selfies in front of the blue walls. We would later come back to take some photos of the city, but on this day we were set on exploring the mountains. We climbed the steep streets and staircases on our way to a mosque high above the city. We made it to the mosque and sat on its steps, enjoying the view overlooking the valley and blue city below. After taking a few photos, we ventured further up the mountainside, finding our way to another mosque, even higher up. On our journey we met a kind Moroccan man, who offered to show us his hashish farm (Chefchaouen is one of the largest cannabis growing areas in the world). We declined on his offer, and continued on our way.

Once we reached the second mosque, we decided to turn back, though we continued to explore the mountainside on our way. Arriving back in town a few hours later, we went to a restaurant in a river (yes, our table was literally in a river) to eat some French tacos. French tacos are nothing like Mexican tacos but are actually more like a panini stuffed with chicken, French fries, and spicy mayo. Needless to say, we loved our French tacos, and would order them many more times on our trip through Morocco.

The next day was our last in Chefchaouen before heading to Fes, so we spent the morning exploring the city and taking photos of its famous blue streets. We meandered slowly through the alleyways, allowing ourselves to get lost. We admired some of the rugs and wool cloaks for sale, along with basic touristy keychains and magnets. We grabbed a few snacks that we’d need on the bus ride and set out for the station. All in all, it was an incredible few days in this small city. While the famous blue buildings are beautiful (and great for photos), we were honestly more impressed by the mountains towering over the city. Chefchaouen had the most impressive scenery we saw in Morocco, and if we did this trip again, we’d definitely spend more time here. I read about a number of great hikes in the Rif mountains that are pretty easily accessible from town, and I’d love to come back one day to walk them. Most people visit Chefchaouen only as a day-trip from Fes, but I think it’s worth at least a few days, especially if you’re interested in hiking. Even if you only have time for a day-trip, don’t skip this city! It’s worth it.