The blue metropolis of Chefchaouen is one in all Morocco’s most well-known sights. This distinctive little mountain city has complete streets which might be painted in shades of blue.
You possibly can go to Chef Chaouen on a day journey from Fes or Tangier, or there are hotels in the city if you wish to keep longer. I went there on a day journey from Fes and loved it, though it took all day to go there and again.
This journey information will clarify how you can get to the blue metropolis (with or and not using a tour), what to see there, and every part else that you must know earlier than you go!
Greatest Tour Firm For Morocco
For my go to to the blue metropolis, I booked a tour on-line by means of GetYourGuide.
My day tour to Chefchaouen from Fes solely value $26 USD and it included transportation in a minivan with a small group, 4 hours on the blue metropolis, and an area information to point out us round.
This is similar actual tour I used for my very own go to to Chefchaouen, and I had an important expertise with them. You possibly can ebook at the present time tour within the hyperlink beneath!
Ebook Now: Chefchaouen Day Trip From Fes / Tangier
How To Get To Chefchaouen
• From Fes
From Fes, when you don’t need to use a tour, you may as well get to Chefchaouen by public bus or personal automobile.
The bus experience from Fes to Chefchaouen takes a bit over 4 hours. It’s low-cost, protected, and comfy. This route is served by CTM and one other bus firm, and there are not less than 5 departures per day.
You possibly can examine their schedule and ebook tickets on-line here, or you should purchase the tickets in particular person on the bus station.

CTM bus

Bus seats
An alternative choice is a personal driver with a automobile, which goes to be faster and extra handy than the bus.
That is the costliest option to get to Chefchaouen, however it will probably nonetheless be pretty economical when you’re touring with associates to separate the price.
You possibly can organize a driver together with your resort in Fes, or you’ll be able to ebook it on-line here.
• From Tangier
The closest worldwide airport to Chefchaouen is the one in Tangier (TNG), which has flights from throughout Europe.
Should you’re coming from Tangier, the drive to Chefchaouen solely takes about 2.5 hours and you are able to do it by public bus, personal automobile, or shared tour. The roads are a bit winding, however they’re in good situation general.
The bus route from Tangier to Chefchaouen is served by CTM and so they have 5 departures per day. That is the most cost effective option to get to the blue metropolis from Tangier. You possibly can examine the schedules and ebook tickets on-line here.
If you wish to go together with a personal driver, that may be organized together with your resort in Tangier, or you’ll be able to ebook it on-line here.
Final, however not least, GetYourGuide has shared day tours to Chefchaouen from Tangier.

Chefchaouen
Visiting The Blue Metropolis: What To Anticipate
When you attain Chefchaouen, town is sufficiently small to be walkable on foot.
Should you include a taxi or tour, they’ll drop you on the important gate, the place you’ll be able to simply stroll into the medina of the blue metropolis and begin exploring.
Should you come by bus and you’ve got baggage, then you might need to rent a taxi to take you the remainder of the best way from the bus station to Bab El Ain, the primary gate of the medina. That’ll prevent half-hour of uphill strolling.

The primary plaza of town

Memento store
The streets in Chef Chaouen are slender and sloped, with loads of stairs to climb, so when you don’t have good mobility you would possibly discover {that a} bit difficult.
Nonetheless, it’s a enjoyable place to wander and there are many good cafes and eating places if you wish to cease for a chunk alongside the best way.
• Greatest Picture Spots
There are a bunch of excellent photograph spots in Chefchaouen, however these had been my favorites:
- Alley of Coloured Pots. That is presumably essentially the most well-known photograph spot within the blue metropolis. On Google Maps, the approximate location is marked as ‘Derb El Assri‘ and you need to use that pin for steerage, though GPS doesn’t work the best once you’re strolling round within the slender streets of the medina.
- Orange Juice Store. A photogenic little spot with oranges hanging on a vine. You should buy a drink and take some footage. Map here.
- Stable Blue Alley. That is one other nice photograph spot with pure blue partitions and doorways, which you’ll be able to see within the image beneath. It’s only a brief stroll west of the orange juice store.
- Place El Haouta. One of many important plazas within the blue metropolis, with a water fountain and good views of the mountains. Map here.
- Mural Avenue. A unusual road with murals of Santorini in Greece. Map here.
- Magic Lamp Home of Aladdin. This restaurant has nice rooftop views of town of Chefchaouen. Go all the best way to the highest terrace for one of the best view. Map here.

Orange juice store
Extra Issues To See In Chefchaouen
If in case you have further time, listed here are some extra issues within the space which might be value seeing:
- The Kasbah. This was the unique fortress metropolis of Chefchaouen, in-built 1471 to defend in opposition to the Portuguese. It’s now a museum and you may climb the tower for excellent views of town.
- Ras El Maa Waterfall. Requires a little bit of uphill strolling for the reason that waterfall is outdoors of the medina, and it’s nothing spectacular, however it may be a pleasant place to loosen up if you wish to get away from the vacationers.
- Bouzafer Mosque. Also called the Spanish mosque, this spot has good views of all the metropolis from above. You possibly can hike there in about half-hour from the medina, or some excursions cease at this spot for pictures on the best way into city. That’s what we did.

Place El Haouta

A lot of colours
How Lengthy To Keep
To remain, or to not keep? That’s the large query with Chefchaouen. Is a day journey lengthy sufficient?
There are hotels in the city if you wish to keep longer, and a few folks could choose to try this, however I used to be proud of a day journey. There actually isn’t an entire lot to see or do when you keep longer than a day.
Sure, it’s an extended day journey from Fes with a whole lot of driving; you’ll spend not less than 4 hours on the highway every method, in order that’s 8 hours of complete driving, plus 4 hours touring town itself.
Nonetheless, in my expertise 4 hours within the metropolis was loads of time to see the highlights, take tons of images, and even eat lunch at a restaurant there. A day journey from Tangier would offer you much more time.
In my view, it’s not essential to remain in a single day in Chefchaouen.

Close to the highest of the medina

One other very blue doorway
Is It Price It?
So is Chefchaouen definitely worth the lengthy detour or not? Sure, I believe so.
I’ve to confess I used to be somewhat dissatisfied by the blue metropolis, however perhaps my expectations had been set too excessive due to what I’d seen on Instagram and journey calendars.
There have been stray cats and canine all over the place, and also you see poop within the streets continually. I used to be even photobombed a number of occasions by animals pooping or peeing in the midst of the road once I would attempt to take an image of one thing.
I like cats, however this was an excessive amount of. There was a good quantity of dust and trash on the bottom in Chefchaouen, too, and general it might actually use a clear up.
Don’t count on it to be like an all-blue model of Santorini in Greece. I believe that’s what I had in my thoughts. Chefchaouen is unquestionably not as clear or spectacular because the well-known streets of Santorini, though there are just a few alleys which might be fairly good.
I nonetheless suppose Chefchaouen is value a go to, however preserve your expectations real looking. It’s a enjoyable city to discover, however it’s not fairly as nice because it appears in a number of the footage.

Mural road

Alley of coloured pots
Extra Journey Guides For Morocco
Thanks for trying! I hope you loved this information for how you can go to the blue metropolis of Chefchaouen on a day journey.
Don’t neglect to take a look at my different journey guides for Morocco earlier than you go!