Travel from Fes into the Rif Mountains to spend around three and a half hours exploring the blue-washed lanes, kasbah and viewpoints of Chefchaouen.
Chefchaouen was founded in 1471 as a small fortress in the Rif Mountains, and its medina is now famous for walls, doorways and stairways painted in every shade of blue. The town clings to the slopes below two peaks at an altitude of around 600 m, about 200 km north of Fes. The drive takes roughly 3.5 to 4 hours each way through olive country and the rolling hills around Ouezzane, so this is a full day, but it is the easiest way to see the Blue City without changing hotels.
On arrival you have around three and a half hours to explore at your own pace; your driver points out the main landmarks and a meeting point before you set off. Most visitors start at Plaza Outa el Hammam, the main square, overlooked by the Grand Mosque with its unusual octagonal minaret and the red-walled kasbah. The kasbah, with its small garden and ethnographic museum, can be visited for a small entrance fee, and its tower gives a good view over the rooftops.
From the square, the lanes lead uphill to Ras el Maa, the spring where locals still wash clothes in the stream, and beyond it a path of about 30 minutes climbs to the Spanish Mosque, the best viewpoint over the whole town, particularly in the afternoon light. Lunch is easy to find around the square, where restaurants serve Rif specialities such as goat's cheese, as well as tagines and bissara, a fava-bean soup.
Chefchaouen is busiest at weekends and in summer, when the most photographed stairways can get crowded; wander into the side lanes for quieter corners. If you are travelling on from Fes to the south, combine this day with our 3-day desert tour from Fes to Marrakech. For more on the town, read our Chefchaouen travel guide.
Pickup from your hotel or riad and drive north through the Saiss plain and olive country towards the Rif.
Short break on the road near Ouezzane before the final stretch into the mountains.
Your driver shows you the meeting point and the main landmarks, then you set off to explore.
Explore the medina, Plaza Outa el Hammam and the kasbah, walk up to Ras el Maa and, if you have the energy, to the Spanish Mosque viewpoint. Lunch at your leisure.
Meet your driver at the agreed point for the return journey.
Drop-off at your hotel or riad in the evening.
Pickup from your hotel or riad in Fes. For riads inside the medina we meet at the nearest car-accessible gate, such as Bab Boujloud or Bab Ftouh; the exact point is confirmed the day before.
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A practical guide to Chefchaouen, Morocco's blue city in the Rif Mountains: history, the best streets and viewpoints, when to go and how to visit on a day trip from Fes.
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