Things to do
5-
Akchour Waterfalls
Two walks leave the same trailhead in Talassemtane National Park, one to a natural rock arch above the river and the longer one to a cascade and pool at the head of the valley. The route is rough in places and takes the better part of a day. Grand taxis run from town, and the last returns in the late afternoon.
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Chefchaouen Medina
Lime and pigment in a dozen shades of blue cover walls, steps and doorframes across the old town, repainted often enough that the colour stays saturated. Lanes are short, and the whole quarter can be walked in a morning. Coach groups arrive around eleven, so first light and the hour before dinner are the quiet windows.
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Kasbah of Chefchaouen
A walled fortress from the fifteenth century anchors the main square, with a shaded garden, an ethnographic museum and a tower that opens onto a rooftop view of the medina and the mountains behind. Old prison cells sit off the courtyard. Visits are brief, and the tower stair is narrow and dark.
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Ras el-Ma
Water comes out of the hillside at the eastern edge of the medina, where old washhouses and mill buildings line a stream still used for laundry. Cafes with terraces sit along the banks. The path continues uphill from here toward the Spanish Mosque, which takes half an hour and catches the sunset over the town.
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Talassemtane National Park
Cedar and fir forest over limestone ridges in the Rif, reached from the top of the medina or from the Akchour road. Trails climb to God's Bridge, a natural arch over the Farda river, and on to the summit ridge in a long day. Spring brings snowmelt to the streams and the best walking; summer afternoons are hot on the open slopes.