Chefchaouen

Do you know why it is called the Blue Pearl? Because blue is the most characteristic color of this city. It has a medina made up of buildings painted blue. It is said that being a city of Jewish origin, its inhabitants painted it that color, since its identifying color was blue. But it is also said that it is to scare off mosquitoes. What is the real reason? It is not known exactly, so each visitor can keep the legend they like the most. Which one do you prefer?

Chefchaouen's name means "look at the horns . " The city is located in front of two large mountains that are shaped like a horn. So Chefchaouen is the city that looks to the horns. For us, on a route discovering the best cities in northern Morocco, stopping to see the Blue Pearl is practically an obligation.

Chefchaouen is a charming city in every way and different from the rest for its color and energy. We enjoyed a day in it, even staying to sleep, which we recommend to all travelers. Now, we are going to give you all the tips to organize your visit.

How to go to Chefchaouen from Fez

Most travelers who come to Chefchaouen do so from Fez, the great city in northern Morocco . If you also want to get from there, we are going to tell you how to do it. These are the different means of transport to make the journey Chefchaouen - Fez: There are many tours that you can take and among them the Morocco desert tours 3 days from Fes.

Bus. This is the means of transport and the cheapest way to go from one city to another. The price of the journey is 75 MAD (€ 7.00) per person and 2.5 MAD (€ 0.25) approximately per suitcase. The duration of the trip is about 4 hours, which can be longer depending on the traffic. The CTM company is in charge of making this trip between cities and you can check the schedules on their website. Although to buy the tickets you will not be able to do it online, since a Moroccan credit card is needed to be able to carry out the transaction. So to buy the tickets, you will have to go to the nearest Bus Station. What we recommend is to buy the tickets one day in advance, since if it is high season, you can risk running out of tickets. The buses are very comfortable and there is a stop of about 20 minutes.

Private transfer. This is the most comfortable option, but not the cheapest. Always a private service is more expensive, but more comfortable for travelers. There are endless agencies in Morocco that offer this service. You can hire both the round trip, or one way. The price of the trip is about 300 MAD (€ 30.00) per person per trip. The duration of the trip is also about 4 hours.

We had the experience of trying both means of transport: we did the outward journey with a private mini-van service shared with other travelers, and the return with the bus. We did it this way because we ran out of one-way tickets, as the buses that day were full. After our first-person experience, we recommend taking the bus journey, since it is much cheaper and is just as comfortable, as long as you plan to stay the night in Chefchaouen.

However, if your intention is to do only one day of excursion, in that case it is best to go with a private transport service that will take you and bring you back the same day. Normally, it leaves Fez at 08:00 in the morning , to arrive in Chefchaouen around 12:00 noon. The traveler has about 4/5 hours to walk through the Blue Pearl. And the return is around 5:00 p.m. , arriving in Fez late at night.

All in all, Morocco is a beautiful counrty to visit especially the desert, there are many agencies who offer Morocco desert trips from Chefchaouen or any other city of your choice.