In short
Chefchaouen is blue, and the colour is recent on the scale of the town: founded in 1471, it was painted this way only in stages during the twentieth century. The explanations offered — Jewish tradition, mosquito repellent, coolness — coexist without any of them being established.
The town is small and clings to the Rif, at about six hundred metres. Uta el-Hammam square, overlooked by the kasbah and the great mosque, is its centre. Everything else is a tangle of sloping lanes.
Arriving and getting around
There is no airport and no railway station. You arrive by bus or shared taxi from Tangier (about three hours), Fez (four hours) or Tetouan. CTM and Supratours coaches serve the town.
The medina is covered entirely on foot, and the slopes are steep: decent shoes change the day.
What it really costs
Chefchaouen is among the cheapest towns in touristic Morocco to stay in, and the medina has many guesthouses.
Prices are negotiated in the souks as elsewhere in Morocco, but the pressure is markedly lower than in Marrakech or Fez.
When to come
April–June and September–October. The altitude keeps nights cool even in summer, and winter is cold and wet — snow sometimes falls on the surrounding peaks.
Morning light, before the groups arrive from Tangier and Fez, is when the medina is both empty and lit.
What nobody tells you
Ras el-Maa, the spring emerging from the mountain at the edge of the medina, is the public washing place. Women still wash clothes there: it is not a set, and it is photographed with restraint.
The Spanish Mosque, on the facing hill, has been a ruin without worship since the 1920s. The climb takes half an hour and gives the only overall view of the blue town. It is the sunset spot, and you need a light for the way down.
The Rif is a cannabis-growing region, and approaches may be made. Possession and trade remain criminal offences in Morocco: apparent tolerance on the ground has no legal value.