▶ Watch the guide Give Chefchaouen two days, three if you want the mountains. Start on Place Uta el-Hammam, then climb the kasbah Moulay Ali ben Rachid raised in 1471 and take its tower for the roofline view. Spend the rest of the day walking the lanes above Bab el-Ain with no route at all. Late afternoon, follow the water to Ras el-Maa and on to the Spanish Mosque for sunset. Day two belongs to the Rif.
Chefchaouen is a mountain town that happens to be blue. Moulay Ali ben Rachid founded it in 1471 as a fortress against Portuguese raids, and it filled with Muslims and Jews pushed out of Spain, which is why the medina reads as one continuous piece of Andalusian building. Two days covers the town; a third buys the mountains.
The town's living room, and the only flat open space in a medina built on a slope. The kasbah walls close one side, the Grand Mosque and its octagonal minaret stand on another, and terrace cafes run the rest. It fills in stages: families in the late afternoon, the evening crowd after dark, and a quiet hour after dawn.
The fortress Moulay Ali ben Rachid built in 1471, when Chefchaouen was a garrison rather than a town, and the best hour indoors here. Inside the red walls sit an Andalusian garden, a small ethnographic museum and the cells that served as a prison. The reason to buy the ticket is the tower and the roofline from it.
A small white mosque on the ridge east of town, built by the Spanish administration in the 1920s and never taken into regular use, which left the northern Rif with its most reliable viewpoint instead. The walk climbs about 1.5 km through olive trees, half an hour of steady work, and delivers the medina in one frame.
The spring where the town's water leaves the mountain, at the eastern gate of the medina, and the practical answer to why Chefchaouen is here at all. It is still in daily use: households bring washing to the troughs, and cafes have grown along the bank with tables almost in the stream. Come late in the day.
The best day out from Chefchaouen. The Oued Farda drops through a wooded gorge in two stages: a 20 metre cascade forty minutes from the road, walkable in trainers, and a 100 metre upper fall that is a five to six hour round trip. Riverside cafes run the length of the lower walk, so the easy version turns into a long lunch.
A natural rock arch standing high over the Oued Farda, cut by the river rather than built, and the other half of the Akchour day. The path branches right where the waterfall path goes left, and it is a steeper three to four hours there and back. The arch is far bigger than photographs suggest.
The mosque the town grew around, raised by the founder's son in the fifteenth century and unusual for its octagonal minaret, a shape almost nobody else in Morocco built. Non-Muslims cannot go in, so this is an exterior building. Time it for the call to prayer, when the square drops to a murmur.
Created in 2004 and covering around 58,950 hectares of the western Rif, this is the park Chefchaouen sits at the door of. It exists for the Moroccan fir, which grows nowhere else on earth, and it forms part of a biosphere reserve shared with Andalusia. Access is free and unstaffed, and Akchour is its most visited corner.
This is what people come for, and it needs no plan. Above the main gate the medina climbs in stepped alleys where every wall, stair and drainpipe carries the same lime wash tinted blue, refreshed by hand each year. Two rules make it better: go early, before the day groups arrive, and go up rather than along.
The keyhole gate between the new town and the old one, and the point where Chefchaouen changes. Outside it the modern town starts; through the arch the ground tilts up, the walls turn blue and the noise stops. It is small for a Moroccan medina gate, which tells you how small the walled town once was.
The best known address in the medina, a few steps off the square, with two stacked terraces looking at the Grand Mosque. Come early for the upper terrace.
A small, plain room near the gate of the same name. Vegetarians are properly catered for rather than tolerated. Ask what came in that morning.
The dining rooms of Casa Hassan: a fireplace and a warren of small rooms downstairs, a terrace above, and Rif cooking served by candle and lantern.
A grill kitchen with a handful of tables and a short menu cooked over charcoal. No view, which is the point: the fish comes off the fire in front of you.
Built in the 1920s as the Spanish governor's residence, with the valley dropping away in front. You do not need a room to sit down, and it is licensed.
Not one address but a row of them, wrapped around the square under the kasbah walls. They charge for the position. Take the first-floor tables.
The long version of the waterfall walk, up the gorge on rough ground to the 100 metre fall. Five to six hours there and back. Proper shoes, and more water.
The peak standing over the town at 1,616 metres, and the classic full-day ascent straight out of the medina. Steep and unmarked in places, so take a guide.
The high point of the park at 2,159 metres, reached by track and then on foot through the Moroccan fir. A longer day than el-Kelaa, and one for a guide.
The state-run craft hall on Place el-Makhzen, selling blankets, woodwork and leather at fixed prices. Walk through first to learn what a good blanket costs.
Chefchaouen has woven wool for centuries, and the blue, white and red striped Riffi blanket is what it is known for. Buying at the loom is cheaper than the shop.
Twice a week the Rif comes down to Chefchaouen. Farmers set up on the edge of the medina with vegetables, herbs, honey and wool. Go in the morning.
The second square, uphill and far quieter, with a fountain and a bakery in the lanes off it. Where the medina goes back to being a neighbourhood.
The open ground below the kasbah, holding the Ensemble Artisanal, the Parador and a taxi rank. Cars reach it, so it is where you arrive with luggage.
The market gate on the northern edge of the walls, the way in from the newer part of town. Less photographed than Bab el-Ain and more useful.
One of the medina's older guesthouses runs a hammam and massage alongside its dining rooms. Arrange it at the desk rather than turning up.
Every quarter has a public hammam, men early and late, women through the middle of the day. Bring a towel and your own soap, and expect a scrub rather than a treatment.
About 65 km north, and the one day trip that is a city rather than a landscape. Its medina is a UNESCO site, built by Andalusian refugees and several times the size.
Roughly 110 km north through Tetouan, about three hours each way, which makes it a long day. Worth it if you are heading that way anyway.
The holy town southwest, built around the zaouia of Moulay Abdallah Sharif and known for its olive oil. It takes a fraction of the visitors.
The Mediterranean, over the mountain road along the edge of Talassemtane. A working fishing village with a long beach and grilled fish at the end of it.
The shrine of Moulay Abdesslam Ben Mchich, one of the most venerated saints in Morocco, on a mountain west of town among cork oaks. The drive is half of it.
The fasting month. Kitchens shut through the day and the medina wakes after the sunset call. Hours shift across the town.
The feast that closes Ramadan. Two public holidays, families visiting all day, and reduced transport. Book buses ahead.
The feast of the sacrifice, and the biggest family date in the calendar. Much of the town closes for two or three days.
Documentary and feature programming around World Environment Day, organised with the Moroccan Cinema Centre.
The national holiday marking the king's accession, and the one date when a provincial town puts on flags and speeches.
The town's own music festival, running since 2004 and unusual in Morocco for the Latin and world music on the bill.
The anniversary of the end of the protectorates in 1956. The town was under Spanish administration until that year.
Not a festival, but the season worth timing a trip around: from late autumn the valleys are picked and the presses run.
The usual way in from outside Morocco, about 110 km north and served from across western Europe. Allow the better part of a day between landing and your riad.
The closer airport, about 65 km away, and much smaller: a handful of domestic and seasonal routes. When a flight fits it halves the transfer.
CTM runs into Chefchaouen's gare routière, roughly two and a half hours from Tangier with a stop at Tetouan. The station sits below the medina. Book ahead in summer.
Six passengers to a car, leaving when full rather than to a timetable. The fastest way to and from Tetouan and the standard way to reach Akchour. Agree the fare per seat.
Lamb cooked down with prunes, cinnamon and almonds until the meat gives way. Order it ahead.
Layered flatbread, folded and griddled to order, eaten hot with honey or cheese. Morning food.
The tomato, lentil and chickpea soup that breaks the fast in Ramadan and is served all year.
Gunpowder green tea, a fistful of spearmint and more sugar than you expect, poured from height.
The fresh goat cheese of the Rif, soft and lightly salted. Eat it with bread, mountain honey and tea.
Fava bean soup, thick enough to hold a spoon upright, finished with olive oil, cumin and paprika.
Sharp rather than sweet, and the one dish that tells you whether a kitchen can cook.
Spiced minced meat pressed onto skewers and grilled over charcoal, with bread, cumin and harissa.
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