Chefchaouen is the most photographed small town in Morocco and one of the least accessible. It sits at 600 metres in the Rif mountains with no airport, no train station and only winding mountain roads in from every direction. Public buses run, but they are slow, infrequent and leave you at a station below the town.
The result is that almost every visitor arrives by private car. From Tangier the drive takes about two hours over 115 km, from Tanger Med around the same, from Fes three and a half hours, and from Casablanca four. Each of those roads passes through Rif landscape that is worth slowing down for, particularly in spring when the hills are green.
The blue medina itself is small, steep and entirely pedestrian. A driver drops you at Bab el-Ain or the Place el-Haouta car park and collects you at the same point, which matters here because the streets climb sharply and dragging a suitcase up them in August is nobody's idea of a holiday.
Why hire a driver here
- No airport and no railway - road is the only way in
- The mountain approach roads are continuously winding and slow
- Buses arrive at a station below the town, not at the medina
- The blue medina is steep and pedestrian - drop-off point matters
- The Akchour waterfalls trailhead is 35 km away with no transport
Included in every booking
- Fuel, tolls and driver fees for the agreed route
- Pick-up from Tangier airport, Tanger Med port, Fes or Casablanca
- Stops for photographs at the Rif viewpoints on the way
- English, French, Spanish or Arabic-speaking drivers on request
- Luggage help from the car to the medina gate
