# Chefchaouen: map, what to do and when to go

The blue medina of the Rif, among springs, mountains and trails.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/chefchaouen/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Chefchaouen: how do you get there?** Chefchaouen has no airport and no train station.
- **Chefchaouen: how many days should you stay?** I'd stay two full days, with two nights in town.
- **Chefchaouen: is a day trip from Fez worth it?** Doing Chefchaouen as a day trip from Fez means about eight hours on the road in total, which leaves little time for the medina.

## Souika, the Kasbah and late afternoon at the Spanish mosque
Enter the medina through Bab el-Ain, the south gate, and follow Souika, passing the small Place el-Haouta, the arch of the old market and the Aïn Souika fountain.
- Place Outa el Hammam
- Kasbah of Chefchaouen
- Souika
- Ras el Ma
- Place el-Haouta

## Akchour, the Bridge of God and the waterfalls
Leave early by grand taxi for Akchour, about 30 km away on the Oued Laou road; agree with the driver on the time and price of the return.
- Grande Mosquée de Chefchaouen

## Place Outa el Hammam
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/chefchaouen/#g-lugar-place-outa-el-hammam
Up to half an hour
The main square of the medina, probably laid out in the sixteenth century by a son of the founder, brings together the Kasbah, the Great Mosque, an old funduq (merchants' inn) and cafés with outdoor tables. In the center is a four-sided fountain. It is the best spot to get your bearings before entering the lanes, and the busiest at the end of the day.
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## Kasbah of Chefchaouen
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/chefchaouen/#g-lugar-kasbah-de-chefchaouen
One to two hours
The original fortress, from 1471, is a rectangular enclosure of walls and ten rammed-earth towers, with a taller tower to the west, probably from the early sixteenth century, with inner rooms covered by brick domes. The courtyard has become a garden, and a house from the late seventeenth century holds a small museum of archaeology and ethnography, old weapons, photographs of the town and textiles. Admission is charged and the fee differs for residents and foreigners; check the price and hours at the ticket office.
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## Grande Mosquée de Chefchaouen
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/chefchaouen/#g-lugar-grande-mosquee-de-chefchaouen
Up to half an hour
The oldest and most important mosque in town, next to the Kasbah on the central square. As in most of Morocco, the interior is reserved for Muslims; for everyone else, the visit is from the facade and the square.
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## Souika
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/chefchaouen/#g-lugar-souika
Up to half an hour
The “little souk” neighborhood keeps an arch left from the gates of the original market and the Aïn Souika fountain, a wall fountain behind an arch, with recently restored tiles. It is a good walk for seeing houses, workshops and shops away from the busiest route.
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## Ras el Ma
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/chefchaouen/#g-lugar-ras-el-ma
Up to half an hour
The spring that supplied the town lies just east of the walls, and today the water comes out through a stone structure. Nearby are an old mill and a bridge, possibly from the nineteenth century. Residents come to wash clothes and rugs in the basins, to chat and to cool off, and there are simple cafés on the bank. It is also the start of the trails to the hills to the east.
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## Mosquée espagnole
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/chefchaouen/#g-lugar-mosquee-espagnole
One to two hours
The Jemaa Bouzafar mosque, also written Bouzaâfar, was built by the Spanish in the 1920s on a hill east of town, and today it is hardly used for worship. The dirt trail starts at Ras el Ma, by the bridge in front of the Bab Onsar gate, and takes 20 to 30 minutes on an easy walk. The reason for the climb is the view: the whole medina on the slope, with the mountain behind it, especially late in the afternoon.
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## Place el-Haouta
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/chefchaouen/#g-lugar-place-el-haouta
Up to half an hour
A small square in Souika, between Bab el-Ain and the main square, with a traditional fountain in the center and painted houses around it. It lies on the way for anyone entering from the south and works as a pause, with no program of its own.
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## Pont de Dieu
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/chefchaouen/#g-lugar-pont-de-dieu
Half a day or more
The Bridge of God is a natural stone arch about 25 meters above the river, near the village of Akchour, inside Talassemtane National Park. The river carved the passage beneath the rock. The trail from Akchour takes about an hour and a half and climbs steeply after the dam; after rain or snowmelt, the path along the riverbank can become impassable.
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## Cascades d'Akchour
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/chefchaouen/#g-lugar-cascades-d-akchour
One to two hours
The Akchour waterfalls lie upriver from the village. The small cascades are about 2 km from the entrance, around 40 minutes on an easy walk; the big waterfall is about 6 km away, on a moderate trail that takes up the whole day. Bring footwear that can get wet.
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## Parc national de Talassemtane
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/chefchaouen/#g-lugar-parc-national-de-talassemtane
Half a day or more
Created in 2004, the park covers 58,950 hectares of limestone mountains, gorges and forests, including the only Moroccan fir forests in the country, as well as Atlas cedar. There are Barbary macaques and more than a hundred bird species. The longer trails, such as the crossing from Azilane to Akchour, call for a local guide, a map and clothing for the cold.
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**Chefchaouen: how do you get there?**
Chefchaouen has no airport and no train station. The nearest airports are Tangier (TNG), Fez (FEZ) and Tetouan (TTU, with few flights). From the airport, take a taxi to the bus station or the grand taxi stand in the city you arrive in and continue by road: from Tangier, the grand taxi takes about two and a half hours, according to Wikivoyage (June 2023). Those coming from Casablanca or Rabat can take the train to Tangier and continue from there. The bus station is in the new town, on Mohammed V avenue, about a 15-minute walk uphill from the medina. CTM and other companies connect the town to Fez (about four hours), Tetouan (about an hour and a half) and Tangier (two and a half to three hours, usually via Tetouan), as well as Rabat, Casablanca and Meknes. Schedules and prices change: check on the CTM channel or at the ticket window. Some buses between Fez and Tetouan stop at Derdara, 8 km away, from where frequent grand taxis climb to the town. At the bus station door there are usually petits taxis; Wikivoyage noted 10 DH to the medina in January 2023.

**Chefchaouen: how many days should you stay?**
I'd stay two full days, with two nights in town. The first is for the medina: Souika, the square and the Kasbah in the morning, Ras el Ma in the afternoon and the climb to the Spanish mosque for the end of the day. The second is for Akchour, leaving early, for the Bridge of God and the cascades, with the return arranged before mid-afternoon. With only one night, I'd stay in the medina and leave Akchour for another trip, because the trail needs a whole morning and does not fit with a fixed bus. An extra day is only justified for those who want to hike in the park, such as the climb to Jebel el-Kalaa.

**Chefchaouen: is a day trip from Fez worth it?**
Doing Chefchaouen as a day trip from Fez means about eight hours on the road in total, which leaves little time for the medina. By bus, the trip to Fez takes about four hours.

**Chefchaouen: how do you get to Akchour and the Bridge of God?**
Leave early by grand taxi for Akchour, about 30 km away on the Oued Laou road; ask for the stand for the taxis on that road and agree with the driver on the time and price of the return before starting the trail, because taxis back become scarce in the afternoon. At the entrance to the gorge, the Bridge of God trail, to a natural stone arch about 25 meters above the river, takes about an hour and a half and climbs steeply after the dam; after rain or snowmelt, the path along the riverbank can become impassable. The small cascades are about 2 km from the entrance, around 40 minutes on an easy walk; the big waterfall is about 6 km away, on a moderate trail that takes up the whole day. Bring footwear that can get wet, water and a snack bought in the medina, and cash: in Akchour, you should not count on an ATM.

**Chefchaouen: when is the best time to go?**
The best time to combine the medina and the trails is May, June and October: days are usually mild and the snow on the peaks, which can last until April, has gone. From mid-July to September, the holidays bring Moroccan and foreign tourists and the return of emigrants from the region; lodging gets tight and the heat builds in the middle hours of the day, although the mountain eases it at night. Winter, from November to March, is cold and rainy, with snow on the peaks, and rooms without heating turn damp. After heavy rain and during the spring thaw, the Akchour river rises and some stretches of trail become impassable. Ramadan changes the hours of cafés and restaurants, which fill up after sunset.

**Chefchaouen: how do you walk up to the Spanish mosque?**
The Jemaa Bouzafar mosque, also written Bouzaâfar, was built by the Spanish in the 1920s on a hill east of town, and today it is hardly used for worship. The dirt trail starts at Ras el Ma, by the bridge in front of the Bab Onsar gate, and takes 20 to 30 minutes on an easy walk. The reason for the climb is the view: the whole medina on the slope, with the mountain behind it, especially late in the afternoon. To come down after sunset along the dirt trail, I'd bring a flashlight, or a charged phone.

**Chefchaouen: can you visit the Kasbah and the Great Mosque?**
The Kasbah, the original 1471 fortress on Outa el Hammam square, has a garden in its courtyard and a small museum in a house from the late seventeenth century. Admission is charged and the fee differs for residents and foreigners; check the price and hours at the ticket office. Wikivoyage recorded 80 DH for foreigners and 10 DH for residents in June 2024. The Great Mosque, next to the Kasbah, is the oldest and most important in town; as in most of Morocco, the interior is reserved for Muslims, and for everyone else the visit is from the facade and the square.

**Chefchaouen: how do you pay?**
The currency is the Moroccan dirham (DH). There are banks and ATMs in the new town and next to Outa el Hammam square; bring cash for taxis, cafés, stalls and small shops, and for the days in Akchour, where you should not count on an ATM. The prices that follow are from Wikivoyage, with the date of each update, and serve as an order of magnitude: Kasbah admission cost 80 DH for foreigners and 10 DH for residents in June 2024; a local breakfast with eggs, cheese, olives and tea was between 20 and 25 DH in January 2023; a glass of mint tea, 7 to 10 DH; and the public hammam, 15 DH. In the medina's shops, the price of rugs, leather and fabrics is negotiable; ask the price before ordering food in a restaurant with no priced menu.

**Chefchaouen: is it safe?**
Chefchaouen is a calm town, and the most common problems are pushiness and scams, not violence. At the bus station and in the medina, there are people who offer to guide you and then charge, people who say your hotel is closed and people who offer hashish. A calm, repeated no usually solves it; do not agree to go with someone who approaches you to their home, where the pressure to buy is greater and refusing is difficult. The town lies on the edge of a cannabis-growing region, and on the trails you may pass fields; farmers usually ignore passersby or offer drugs. Buying, transporting or using it is a crime. In the mountains, the main risk is the terrain: poorly marked trails, a river that rises after rain, and cold and snow on the peaks until spring. For long hikes in Talassemtane, hire a local guide and tell your lodging which route you will take. Tap water comes from springs, but those with sensitive stomachs should prefer bottled water.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 2 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/chefchaouen/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/chefchaouen/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/chefchaouen.md