Chefchaouen

Spring and autumn are the most pleasant seasons, with mild days, green hills in spring and good hiking. Summer is warm and busy with Moroccan tourists. Winter is cold and rainy, sometimes with snow on the mountains, and many buildings have little heating.

The medina is small, hilly and best explored on foot. Petits taxis are available outside the medina. CTM and other buses link Chefchaouen with Fes, Tangier, Tetouan and Casablanca. There's no railway station; the nearest airports are Tangier and Tetouan, about two hours away.

• Dress modestly, covering shoulders and knees.
• Ask before photographing people, and avoid photographing doorways where residents are sitting.
• The region is known for cannabis cultivation; politely decline offers, as it's illegal for visitors.
• Carry cash; few small shops accept cards.
• Bargain politely in the shops.
• Hire licensed guides for longer hikes in the mountains.
• Nights are cool year-round; bring a warm layer.

Try local goat cheese, a speciality of the region; tagines; bissara, a fava-bean soup; and fresh bread from the communal ovens. Mint tea is served everywhere, often on rooftop terraces with views of the mountains. Small family restaurants around the main square serve set menus at modest prices, and street stalls sell msemen, flaky pancakes, with honey for breakfast. In the evening, sit on a terrace overlooking the square and watch the town settle down as the call to prayer echoes off the mountains. Alcohol is rarely served.

Chefchaouen has riads and small guesthouses inside the medina, often with roof terraces overlooking the blue town. Staying inside the walls lets you enjoy the medina at its quietest. A few hotels just outside the medina have parking and views.

Tetouan, about an hour north, has a white-walled medina, a World Heritage Site, with Andalusian architecture. Tangier, on the Strait of Gibraltar, about two and a half hours away, is a lively port with a storied history and views across to Spain.

The mountains around Chefchaouen are some of the best hiking country in Morocco, with trails through cedar forest, limestone peaks and terraced Berber villages. From the town, a steep path climbs Jebel el-Kelaa, the mountain directly behind the medina, at about 1,600 metres, for a sweeping view over the valley. Longer treks of several days cross Talassemtane National Park to villages such as Akchour and Bab Taza, staying in simple guesthouses (gîtes) with local families. Local guides know the paths, which are not always well marked, and can arrange mule transport for bags.

Chefchaouen is known for its woollen goods, especially heavy striped blankets and the djellaba, the hooded robe worn in the mountains, as well as leather goods and painted ceramics. On Mondays and Thursdays, farmers and craftspeople from the surrounding villages come to the town's weekly market (souk) outside the medina, selling produce, cheese, livestock and household goods; women from the Rif often wear distinctive straw hats with woollen pompoms and red-and-white striped cloths.

Nobody knows for certain why the town is painted blue. Some say Jewish refugees in the 1930s introduced the colour as a symbol of the sky and heaven; others that it keeps houses cool or repels mosquitoes. Whatever the origin, residents repaint walls each year, often in spring.