Visiting Chefchaouen? Here's what to expect
Check out my Ultimate Guide to Morocco for more!
When you're done reading through this guide, check out my Ultimate Guide to Morocco! With over 200 recommendations around the country including Chefchaouen, Fes, Tangier, Casablanca, Essaouira, Ouarzazate, Marrakesh, and more, this is everything you need for your trip! If you are in the market for something more specific, my Ultimate Guide to Tangier should provide you everything you need to enjoy - in my opinion - Morocco's best city!
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Chefchaouen is a touristic town
It might be easy to think a small town in the mountains would give for a super authentic experience. However, Chefchaouen is not a particularly authentic town. The economy of the town is dependent on tourism and foreign visitors. Most vendors in the town sell clothing, arts, and souvenirs marketed to visitors. While there are certainly locals around, it's not the super typical Moroccan town. This is not to say that Chefchaouen is a tourist trap; it isn't in the slightest. The town is stunning and totally worth visiting. However, if you are hankering for a local experience, Chefchaouen is not the place to get this.
I would highly recommend going to Tetouan in addition to Chefchaouen if authentic cities are on your list. The town is not particularly popular with foreign tourists, but is still a typical whitewashed town in the north of the country. Even the old town of Tangier has a lot of authentic experiences for the taking if you're adventurous. Just don't expect this in Chefchaouen.
If you go from Tangier, you'll likely hit traffic due to construction
I visited Chefchaouen on a day trip from Tangier. The journey should take about 1.5 hours by car. However, there has been construction on the mountainous road for over a decade. Will it clear up soon? Locals think the only way construction gets done in Morocco is if the King is scheduled to visit. Given the King hasn't visited Chefchaouen in almost 20 years, it's unlikely this will change.
How will this impact your visit? Hopefully not too much. Traffic in the morning tends to be lighter than later in the day. However, midday or late afternoon traffic can be really annoying. Granted, the traffic pales in comparison to the streets of Casablanca at any time of the day, but it still will be slow. Make sure to budget some extra time for transit on this road.
Someone will likely solicit marijuana to you
For decades, the north of Morocco had a tepid economy at best. The main livelihood that helped the region survive was an agricultural product: marijuana. The rocky soil in the Rif mountains made it a premier location for cultivation of the plant and all the illegal trade that goes along with it. The big mansions in the west of Tangier - all (allegedly) owned by people who profited from the marijuana trade.
To this day, Morocco cultivates a large chunk of the global marijuana supply. By and large, Moroccans do enjoy to smoke weed themselves (albeit in private). As a result, there are lots of people who will solicit marijuana to you in the north. While it happens somewhat often in the Kasbah of Tangier, it happens even more often in Chefchaouen.
Thankfully, these dealers are not aggressive. They'll usually solicit in a low voice and a simple "laa shukran" or "non merci" should suffice to make them stop. If you do choose to purchase marijuana, be aware that it is illegal in Morocco (even if it is widespread). Make sure to not consume marijuana in public places (which makes it obvious you're breaking the law) and further, make sure to consume it all while in Morocco - you'll likely face even crueler punishments if you try to fly home or take a ferry to the EU with the substance. This applies even if you live in a country where it is legal (it would be akin to illegally importing an agricultural product).
Most residents speak Spanish in Chefchaouen
In Morocco, local daraja Arabic is the primary language with many different Berber dialects spoken at home. All residents are taught French in school (until 2023, but that's a different story), meaning regardless of where you go you will likely find individuals who can converse with you fluently in French. English is less common among most residents, but is often used by those in the tourist industry (and usually a good excuse to charge you more than even the French speaking tourists).
However, Chefchaouen is a bit different. For a long time, the Spanish government viewed Chefchaouen as a piece of "Andalusian heritage". Chefchaouen was known among the Spanish public as a place where Jews and Muslims exiled after the Reconquista settled and maintained the traditions of Islamic Spain. To support the town, the Spanish government provided a large amount of funding for the upkeep of Chefchaouen, and consequentially, almost all of the tourists in Chefchaouen until the last 10 or 15 years came from Spain.
Part of the Spanish government funding in Chefchaouen included preservation of the Spanish language among the residents of the town. As a result, almost all locals around Chefchaouen can understand and speak a decent amount of the Spanish. Street signs are written in Spanish around the town as well. This should bring a sigh of relief for Spanish speakers who could easily be frustrated by the dominance of French as the European language of choice elsewhere in Morocco. Don't speak Spanish? No worries! Most residents speak French and/or English given the reliance on tourism in the town.
Despite Chefchaouen being touristic, it's a great place to go shopping
"Touristic City" and "shopping" usually means a Western tourist would be pulling their hair out at the annoyance of haggling and aggressive touts. However, Chefchaouen is nothing like Marrakech or Fez. In fact, Chefchaouen's stores are quite low-key and provide all of the great wares you would find in other parts of Morocco. If you were frazzled in the other larger cities, Chefchaouen is a great place to get your souvenir shopping complete!
That is not to say Chefchaouen is like shopping in a Western mall - it's not. Haggling is still an important part of the experience. Shopkeepers will not drive you as hard as in the other cities, but you'll still need to negotiate down. The other key is chose the location of your shop wisely. While the shops and galleries in and around Plaza Uta el Hammam (the main square in the town) are lovely, you will likely receive shopkeepers who are less likely to negotiate. For instance, I was able to buy a beautiful local shirt for 50 dirham about 300 meters away from the square. At the shop 100 meters away, the shopkeeper refused to go lower than 80 dirham for the same shirt. If deals are your goal, make sure to go a little further away from the square.
Chefchaouen is completely worth your time
For adventurous travelers, "Touristic" is a word that scares them (me included). However, Chefchaouen is a unique city in both Morocco and most of the world. The hues of blue on the wall, the cascading kasbah and old town, and beautiful mountain scenery are unique to this one town in Northern Morocco. If you have the chance to visit, I highly recommend you take advantage of it. Whether as a day trip from larger Fez or Tangier or staying overnight, Chefchaouen will dazzle you.
Staying in Tangier and want to visit? Check out these tours!
I visited Chefchaouen on a day trip from Tangier. My tour provider of choice is Xauen Tours, who offer a bunch of different options to visiting Chefchaouen. I took the first of these three options, which gives you more time for exploring the town on your own after a tour of the Medina. However, if you have interest in visiting the waterfalls at Akchour or Tetouan, there are also some great options available below!
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