Is the Chefchaouen medina free to visit?

Yes, walking through the medina and its blue streets is free and open at all hours. You only pay if you enter a paid site such as the Kasbah museum, or buy from the shops, cafés and craft workshops in the old town.

How do you get to Chefchaouen?

Chefchaouen has no airport of its own and is reached by road, roughly two hours from Tétouan and its airport, and about four hours from Tangier or Fez. Buses and shared taxis serve the town, and many visitors arrive on a day trip or driver from the coast.

CHEFCHAOUEN · LOCATIONS

Chefchaouen Medina

The blue-washed old town in the Rif Mountains

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Chefchaouenlocations

Chefchaouen Medina

The blue-washed old town in the Rif Mountains

The medina of Chefchaouen is the blue-washed old town that gives Morocco's 'Blue City' its name, set at about 564 metres in the Rif Mountains. Founded in 1471 by Moulay Ali ben Rachid, its steep, car-free lanes are painted in every shade of blue and lead to the central square, the Kasbah and the Grand Mosque. It remains a lived-in medina of craft workshops, riads and mountain views rather than a museum piece.

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Chefchaouen

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The old town of Chefchaouen is painted in shades of blue, a tradition with several explanations: some link it to the town's Jewish heritage, others say the blue keeps mosquitoes away or simply cools the lanes. The colour has become the medina's signature and the source of its 'Blue City' nickname.