1st Stop Morocco Chefchaouen
Our sat nav is guiding us 2 hours South from Tanger Med ferry port on a grey afternoon. We’re driving to our 1st stop in Morocco at Chefchaouen, otherwise known as the Blue city.
It’s late March but the weather is chilly and grey reminding us of home in Wales. The clocks have gone back one hour from our departure in Algeciras, Spain and it’s now 1.30pm.
Surprisingly the roads are mainly motorway with tolls where we take a ticket and pay at a pay booth in cash. The equivalent cost of around £2.80 seems like a good deal.
Green meadows and locals
The roads are good with lots of new construction underway and reservoirs full with water alongside. Somehow it’s not quite the Morocco we imagined.
The route takes us beside green meadows, rolling hills and plenty of animals moving around. We see herds of goats, donkey’s carrying goods and chickens roaming through the grasses. Their numbers are more than we’ve ever seen in one place.
Local folk walk on the roads, wearing traditional dress and selling an array of goods along the way. Many attend to their animals, with flocks of sheep, cattle and more goats in abundance.
Towns are sparse, this area is vast yet unpopulated, with few signs of towns between regular petrol stations and stalls of pottery.
Camping Aizla, Chefchaouen
Approaching the hilly city of Chefchaouen brings a moment of anticipation for our 1st stop in Morocco.
Camping Aizla is at the end of a steep hill above the city with a sign to direct us upwards towards some trees.
Perched on a hill above Chefchaouen, we enter through the gates where a small reception awaits. The campsite looks quite busy, with an array of various types of vans parking up for the night.
At the campsite reception, we ask for a pitch for the night, hand over our passports and find a place to park up.
There’s a tiered section amongst some trees or a flat open area beyond the reception, we choose the latter.
Campsite Amenities – 1st Stop Morocco Chefchaouen
There’s a mix of various nationalities on site in a range of motorhomes and vans including overland trucks and a few tents. At the centre is an amenity block resembling an old style French municipal site from the 80’s.
Hot showers are available for 10 MAD (about £1) but you need a key from reception and each time we ask the key is out. Instead we use our own shower to avoid a wait. There are cold showers but temperatures don’t allow for braving this in March.
There’s a lot of water about from waste water leaking out from some sinks but it’s fine. Toilets are flushing but toilet paper goes into a waste paper basket, something which follows on throughout our Morocco tour.
Otherwise everything is pretty basic but equally alright. There’s dust in the air and an orange tinge covers the van under the cloudy skies with cool temperatures upon us.
A good atmosphere
A walk around the campsite gets us chatting to several people, some of them British who are on the end of their Morocco trips.
It’s good to exchange information and find out about the Morocco that awaits beyond Chefchaouen. In fact, there’s a really nice atmosphere on this campsite, a feeling of camaraderie with interesting people and fascinating stories to tell.
Our first night is spent on site, resting up ready for a day exploring in Chefchaouen tomorrow. The night is peaceful with little in the way of disruptions.
Exploring Chefchaouen on foot
It takes a while for us to actually manage to leave Camping Aizla, simply because there are so many people stopping to chat.
Finally we walk along the road which winds its way into the centre. We’re not too sure if we’ve gone wrong somewhere, but eventually we find signs for the Medina and enter through a stone gateway.
It was quite a walk, but apparently there is a quicker way down some very inadvisable steps. We didn’t come across these so will never know what that way was like.
So far locals are eagerly wanting to take us either on a tour, sell something or asking for money. There’s no room for stopping still for too long, before someone approaches, but we continue on our way, politely declining offers as they come.
The blue city is very blue – 1st Stop Morocco Chefchaouen
We’re soon realising that the blue city is indeed very blue, with buildings painted in a variety of blue colours.
Tiny alleys lead through the maize of stalls and shops of the Medina, where a range of hand made goods await. Leather crafts, shoes, metals and clothes are just some of the main items on offer. There are shoes of bright leather colours and local dress and warm woollen tops.
Buildings are basic, somewhat half complete and nothing matches, but this makes Chefchaouen all the more enticing.
Some restaurants are closed as we are here during Ramadan, although shops seem to be mostly open.
The maize of blue alleyways of the Medina bring us to a labyrinth of shops now spilling out into the small streets. Turning a corner, we bump into one of the British guys from the campsite and stop to say hello. He’s travelling alone and he soon joins us to stroll this unusual blue city.
Emerging into a lovely square filled with restaurants and a terracotta colour Kasbah brings us to our first coffee stop.
It’s a nice atmosphere here and an equally pleasant outlook. The coffee is good and bottled water comes with it too which is apparently normal and very welcome.
Tagine Lunch – 1st Stop Morocco Chefchaouen
We continue walking the blue maize of pretty streets. There’s steps of blue with goods for sale and cats tending to their litter. It’s so unusual this city and very photogenic.
Finding our way round is confusing but eventually we recognise a sign, shop or landmark we’ve been to earlier. After exploring the delightful alleys, we decide to return to the square for lunch and our first tagine.
First we negotiate a 3-course deal with one of the restaurant staff eager to get our business. Choosing an offer of soup, tagine and mint tea to follow for 70 MAD (about £7) is a good choice.
A bottle of water is given, as is bread before traditional dancers appear to serenade diners with music and traditional dance.
Pleasant outlook and great food
It’s a relaxing place for a lazy lunch, watching the locals and tourists mingle with the backdrop of the Kasbah.
There are toilets in the restaurant which are clean and we later ask to use another restaurant loos in exchange for a small fee.
Our food has been delicious, a hearty dish of chicken and vegetables cooked in traditional stone pot and served piping hot. It’s the type of wholesome food you could eat every day and never tire.
Finding our way back
Our day in Chefchaouen was coming to an end, now all we have to do is find our way out of the Medina.
It’s a confusing maize of streets before we decide to just continue on uphill. Finding our way proves a little tricky, but we finally emerge out of the blue – quite literally.
We’re back on a road with some indication of the campsite being up in the trees in the distance. It takes about 20 minutes to walk back, following our instincts and soon reaching the campsites gates.
Chefchaouen is a good introduction to Morocco and we’re unsure whether to stay another night. With the Rif mountains surrounding the city we’re eager to see what awaits beyond Chefchouen.
So, the following morning we decide to move on. First though, we speak to more fellow travellers before settling up at reception and venturing South towards Fez.
It seems most people here are heading back to Spain after spending Winter in Morocco, bringing some useful tips for us to take on our way.
Camping Aizla
- We paid 190 Dirham for 2 nights (about £19) without electric.
- The campsite sells mobile phone SIM cards which we realise isn’t commonplace afterwards.
- We didn’t book the site.
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