Fez to Chefchaouen — Guided Excursion

Chefchaouen sits high in the Rif, about four hours north of Fez, and it is worth the drive. The old town is washed in a dozen shades of blue, from powder to near-indigo, repainted every year, and it is small enough to walk end to end in an afternoon without ever seeing a car.

The road out of Fez climbs through olive country and the hill towns of the Rif, and we stop where the views earn it rather than at the usual roadside cafes. In Chefchaouen your guide walks you through the medina to Place Uta el-Hammam and the kasbah, the Grand Mosque with its octagonal minaret, the Ras el-Maa spring where the women still bring washing, and the steep lanes that photograph best in the middle of the day when the blue goes luminous. You get free time for lunch and for the weavers and wool shops, which sell things you will not find in Fez.

If the weather is good there is an optional walk up to the Spanish Mosque on the hill opposite for the view back over the whole blue town, best in late afternoon. We aim to be back in Fez in the evening.