Chefchaouen, Morocco

This past September, Jason and I got to take an incredible “babymoon” trip to Spain and spent a little less than 48 hours in this fascinating mountain town of Morocco, called Chefchaouen. I wanted to explore more Moroccan cities, but with our whole trip being 10 days and not wanting to rush Spain, we chose to visit Morocco at the very tail end of our trip and narrowed it down to this one city. What we missed out on in terms of typical Moroccan architecture and design was made up for in this place that was unlike anywhere else I had ever been in my life.

To be really really real with you though, as beautiful and magical as it looks in photos, getting here and staying here was a little bit more…rugged? I want to share the story in case a) you ever decide to visit for yourself, I think you should! and b) because it’s fun to write down and remember as I already find myself almost forgetting the little details of the trip.

In total, from Tarifa, Spain (the ferry port city) to Chefchaouen, it took us about 8 hours of travel, which really ended up being a whole day, both ways. We arrived to the ferry station Spain side, bought tickets, and had about 2 hours to kill until our ferry departed. We ate delicious pizza and salad for lunch, while not being entirely sure what type of cuisine would be awaiting us on the Moroccan side. The ferry ride itself was pleasant and efficient. I think we arrived to Tangier, Morocco in about 45 minutes. Once there, we had to take a quick 10 minute taxi ride to the bus station from where we’d get tickets to Chef. It had been a while since I had traveled in a place where we had to haggle for taxi rides, though it wasn’t a foreign experience for me. I typically get really aggressive because I don’t like being taken advantage of, and I want to stand my ground. Jason had actually never been in a place or situation like this, so it was definitely a new experience for him, to say the least. Not surprisingly, his reaction is totally the opposite of mine and he would have rather paid whatever price the taxi drive asked, just to get on with it and not endure further stress. It’s so interesting how much of your personalities come out in travel, for better or for worse. It can be stressful, but it can also be a really growing experience for friends or couples, to go through stuff like this and learn from each other, and to simply add adventures to the memory bank that you otherwise would never have at home!

Once we arrived at the bus station, we got tickets immediately, which turned out to be a fairly smooth process. The only part that annoyed me is that there are touters that get you as soon as you get out of a taxi and take you to the desk (which you absolutely could find yourself) then expect you to tip them. Ugh.

Also, it turned out that knowing Spanish served me really well in Morocco because they really do not speak English, so the majority of my transaction at this bus station was in Spanish. French will also serve you well here. We waited at the station for another hour or so for our departing bus. I actually was expecting some super jank quality school bus that we’d be on for 3 or more hours, but it was a relatively comfortable coach bus. We were one of I think 3 foreigners on the bus? I just kept being nervous that we wouldn’t know when to get off because by the time we were getting remotely close to Chef, it had gotten really dark and there were no announcements of stops. People just knew when to get off, so I mimed/ asked a nice looking lady where Chefchaouen was. She just kind of pointed and I gathered that it was coming up?? At least we hadn’t missed it.

Once we arrived at Chefchaouen, it was nightfall. We would have been completely lost had it not been for having activated an international phone plan for the trip, which enable me to call our hotel. I asked how we’d get there from our current place standing in some deserted bus stop while all the other passengers from our bus wandered off in to the night. We needed to get to the city medina, which was a 5 minute easy taxi ride, or a 20 minute walk uphill in the dark. Eventually, a magical taxi appeared out of what seemed like nowhere and he took us into the medina of Chefchauoen. A man who worked for the hotel was waiting for us, and turned out to be our bright shining beacon of hope, as he carried our bags and led us through the dark windy walkways you’ll see below, to our hotel. This is the type of person you absolutely tip!!

And here we are…safely in our hotel in Chefchaouen, Morocco…a place we were really starting to wonder if we’d ever see.

After a restful night (well, as restful as you can get with prayer bells and 40 minute prayers going on at 4am…I forgot that would probably happen!) we mostly walked around the city. This is pretty much what we did in all of Spain too, and we personally enjoyed that. Neither one of us is big on tours of touristy landmarks, so it worked out for us. We like walking, stopping in shops, finding yummy places to eat, and I am happy taking photos.

Chefchaouen is actually really tiny, and you could see the whole town in an afternoon. So we dragged out the day, checked out shops, talked, ate. We came back and napped at some point too and then went back out. I think this is more of a place you visit if you are spending an extended period in Morocco, and visiting multiple cities. Definitely include this on your itinerary but don’t spend more than a day here. We needed a little bit more time because of our travel needs, seeing as how it took us 8 hours each way to get here, but typically, most of the Moroccan cities worth visiting are anywhere from 3-5 hours from each other.

All in all, I am really glad we got to visit such a unique place that I don’t think we’ll ever have a reason or chance to go back and see. It did make me realize that I am probably not the same traveler I once was. The funny thing is, I still have this ability to turn off my Western standards and switch into traveler mode, where I am totally ok just going with the flow because I know that this is how it is in this country. But then I still found myself exhausted from the numerous forms of public transportation, haggling, and constantly needing to be on alert for our surroundings more than we were in Spain.  Spain was relaxing. Nobody bothered us, and we also had a rental car there which made city hopping a breeze.

Although, I did kind of enjoy that Jason got to see a side of me that was something other than my typical Type A, OCD, clean freak self, which is almost all he sees at home, and he said it did surprise him. Our roles kind of flipped here, mostly because of my experience doing similar types of travel before I was married to him, so I got to be the one to tell him, “it’ll all be alright!” And one of my favorite quotes from him this whole trip was, “If anything happens, I’ll meet you back at O’hare.” ha!!

So what do you think, does this totally sound like a trip you want to take for yourself or did I scare you out of it completely? :) Hopefully the photos speak for themselves as you see that it really was a lovely and magical place, one I would absolutely recommend adding to your travel bucket list. Because travel really is a funny thing, you kind of have to work for it, as not all experiences are going to be super easy to come by, but those are usually the ones that were worth it.