hiking in chefchaouen: the rif mountains

chefchaouen is quite small [in the best way possible] so after exploring the village on our first day we met a group of gals who were taking a grand taxi to cascades d'akchour. we obviously love hiking and thought it would be a fun experience to see this unique area, so we agreed to join them. 

the drive is about 45 minutes from the medina and costs 10 euro per person [the taxi driver will sit and wait for you while you hike/explore which is awesome]. the road winds through small little villages and is a great way to see the rif mountains. when we arrived to akchour a local man approached us offering to take us on a hike through the mountains, explaining the area  and ending at swimming holes. in all cost us $10 for 3 hours and was 100% worth it. he showed us a cool mix of things. a hike through his village up steep climbs, an entire mountain filled with marijuana/hashish plants that the locals harvest and sell, fields of lavender and rosemary, the "rock bridge" and a secret swimming hole that had zero tourists, or anyone for that matter, which was such a perfect way to end the hot ... long ... day. 

the following morning we woke up earlier to "hike" to the spanish mosque. this doesn't require a taxi and is just through town and up the mountain about 20 minutes. it has the best views of the village and mountains, great in the morning for pictures. anyone looking to get active on their trip – i would highly recommend both of these stops.

^^ spot the tiny humans 

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chefchaouen [the blue city]

after arriving in tangier, we knew that we had around 15 days/nights in morocco before our flight out of marrakech. we looked at the map and planned out which cities that were important for us to see, and how many nights it made sense to be in each, based on what we had heard from friends and from our own research. we ultimately came up with this rough plan:

tangier [2] >> chefchaouen [2] >> fes [3] >> sahara desert [3] >> marrakesh [3] >> essaouria [2].

from tangier we caught a bus to chefchaouen – the only "nice" bus line in morroco is CTM [air conditioning, good seats, etc.] of course it was sold out so we were stuck with the crowded hot sweaty bus for 3 hours. we watched forgetting sarah marshall to distract us from the brutal ride. it was all worth it when we arrived! chefchaouen was high on my list because of the obvious reason – seeing a mountain village that is completely painted blue. i had no idea that it would be such a calming and relaxing little town tucked between the rif mountains. the blue color dates back to the 15th century, when jewish refugees fleeing the spanish inquisition settled here in large numbers. the tradition of painting things blue was to resemble the sky and remind them of god. then they just stuck with it to this day.

we stayed at riad rifandalus which is right in the middle of the medina and was the perfect spot for two nights here. the overall vibe is much less intense than fes or marrakech – full of gentle artisans and craftsmen selling a variety of gorgeous hand-woven blankets, rugs, brass teapots and other trinkets, baked goods, colorful pottery, soaps, hair oils, spices – and so much more. browsing and shopping here was pleasant and not overwhelming (we caved and bought a rug from the cutest father/son duo). the prices are much better and the town square at night has such a cozy local feel. everything really is blue in this place and it's becoming very popular because of it, but the town has a special quaint vibe that pulls you in and steals your heart. 

our first day was spent exploring the village and trying some local shops/restaurants, followed by a day of hiking to the spanish mosque and the town of akchour, which i will share more details about in our next post. 
 

^^ the man who owned this home would not take no for an answer in dressing me in this local garb....

^^ we did not plan on buying many souvenirs, but this adorable father/son combo melted our hearts and gave us the best deal ever on a tiny rug for our apartment ... 

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48 hours in tangier, morocco

oh, tangier. what an experience you were. 

we filled out customs forms, drank a beer and before i knew it our ferry had already crossed the straight of gibraltar. we had gone back and forth deciding if we would simply use this as a port stop to get us into morocco, or if we would stay and explore for a day or two. this article ended up inspiring us to do the latter. 

i experienced a bit of culture shock stepping off the boat: immediately we were swarmed by men of all ages [including very young kids] and taxi drivers offering to "help us" with our bags, protect us, give us tours of the city or simply give us a ride to our hotel. all for "small price. very inexpensive. no money." ––little did i realize how much i was about to say "no shukran" [no thank you] over the next 15 days. we continued walking as if we knew where we were going and eventually negotiated a grand taxi driver to take us to our airbnb for about $5. grand taxis are interesting, because you have to sit and wait for the driver to fill the other seats before you can leave. 

we are so happy we chose airbnb for tangier – our host, fouad, was one of the nicest men in the world. he welcomed us into his home with hugs, mint tea on the patio and dinner at one of his favorite local restaurants. he told us stories about his city and it's rich history. he made us feel so comfortable and also fed us his favorite breakfast in the mornings. on our first and only full day he took us to one of his favorite beaches which was really nice and one of the perks of tangier. it's a hectic city and without staying at a high end hotel, could be really hard to navigate and enjoy - with fouad's help we really felt like locals for those 2 days. we are working on a full morocco travel guide, but in the mean time – some immediate favorites from our quick visit:

plage achakar [great beach 20 minutes from downtown] || hercules caves [near the beach, check out the rooftop restaurant] || el morocco club [one of the few spots in town that serves alcohol, good small bites and timelessly designed – gets more of a vibe later into the night] || cafe hafa [iconic cafe that is almost 100 years old, overlooking the straight of gibraltar and packed with locals, young and old] ||
 

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why you need to visit this town in southern spain

as i mentioned in this post, before morocco we were slowly making our way to tarifa to catch the ferry. the original plan was to just check out tarifa for a few nights before leaving spain – but after chatting with locals and doing some research, this place popped up on our radar. vejer de la frontera [never ever heard of] was absolutely worth the detour. this hilltop village is in the province of cadiz and is straight up cool. perched on top of a small mountain, 20 minutes from great beaches with surf and its coastal sister town [conil de la frontera]... we instantly fell in love. the entire city is painted white and is so unbelievably charming – filled with awesome restaurants & bars, tons of rad little shops, nice people & all around really good vibes. we did not want to leave.  

to get there we tried "bla bla car" for the first time [which is essentially organized hitch hiking] and were so happy with the experience – you basically type in where you're going and it links you up with other people going that same direction. we ended up riding with a cool young spainard who dropped us off right at our airbnb and recommend a great spot to see flamenco guitar. we stayed for three nights and here are a few of our favorite spots. you can also view the << FULL TRAVEL GUIDE HERE >> [below seville!]

VEJER: mercado de san francisco: very cool indoor food market that is pumping on weekend nights - tapas of all different types and they serve all the local bebidas | meson juderia: traditional spanish restaurant with delicious food, craft beers, extremely cozy vibes and epic views [also 100 feet from THE arch]

TARIFA [we quickly stopped here for a few hours before the ferry]: bar el frances: the tastiest tapas and drinks, and a very fun atmosphere spilling into the streets | El LOLA fun spot for tapas and live flamenco at night

spain + tapas + tinto de verano = we <3 and miss you!
 

^^ the wind here was insane || perfect for windsurfing 

^^ TARIFA

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72 hours in seville, spain

SEVILLE WASN'T REALLY ON OUR ORIGINAL TRAVEL PLAN: 
we just knew that after portugal we would eventually be going to morroco by way of ferry from southern spain [tarifa]. timing wise we had about 5 days until we wanted to get to morroco, and after looking at the map it was obvious that seville was our perfect next stop – i've always wanted to go, and it was directly east [a 4 hour bus ride] from [faro] the algarve. 

i'm so happy we ended up here because it was such a fun visit. despite the HOT HOT daytime temps (known as the one of the hottest cities in europe), we really enjoyed wandering the streets bopping into little shops and bodegas, walking along the river, eating countless tapas and seeking out flamenco guitar & dancing. we stayed in an airbnb private room [with a traditional tapas bar right downstairs!] for 3 nights and here are some of our favorite things: 

EAT || casa morales [a dusky, time-honored tapas joint] ||  mercado lonja del barranco [local food & drinks hall with riverside seating]  || torres y garcia or el pinton [more modern/hipstery] || cafe bar regina [coffee & breakfast, OG and authentic] ||  sal gorda [fun for tapas, but there are hundreds of options!]

DRINK || tinto de verano [the drink to order – anywhere!] || alameda de hercules [dozens of bars/cafes, great for the weekend and going out at night] || hotel inglaterra [classy old hotel with roof terrace and views] || buen trago [fun patio where people drink after dinner before going out]

EXPLORE || mercado de feria [one of the city's oldest mercados] || metropol parasol [newest viewpoint in the city // really cool local fish/meat/produce market down below // interesting modern architecture] ||  santa cruz [explore the cobbled streets of this historic quarter] || plaza de toros [we don’t support bull fighting, but the arena is incredible and you can’t deny the spanish history here] ||  plaza de españa [stroll through maria luisa park to the plaza where tiled alcoves represent each of spain’s provinces] 
 

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