March 18 – 19
Hotel
Dar Meziana
Derb Zaghdoud, N°7, Bab Souk
91000 Chefchaouene
Morocco
We just loved this quaint small hotel. It was tucked away at the end of a street with a lovely private roof top. We took some snacks and hung out on the rooftop for a bit and watched the sun set.
After we checked in we spent some time wondering the streets of this blue pearl. We stopped for lunch and walked around. The city is not very large and is mostly filled with locals carrying on their everyday lives.
We didn’t do any shopping but we did have recommendations on where to shop from our friends previous trip.
SHOP HERE: Take a walk to Aladan the Herboriste (on Place Outa el Hammam and rue Targui) to pick up argan oil, Moroccan spices, and soaps, and then peruse the local markets for rugs and jewelry. (Since the city is fairly off the grid, the prices on these handcrafted items are heavily discounted in comparison to the big cities).
Hamam
As our trip was coming to an ending we realized we still had not experienced a traditional Hamam. This sleepy little blue city doesn’t have a ton to do so we felt like this was the perfect opportunity to have that experience. Just a few blocks from our hotel is the Lina Ryad & Spa. If I’d known how stunning this hotel was before we went, I would have splurged on this refreshing stay with the best staff.
The gentleman from our hotel walked us over there for our appointments. Arielle and I decided to do the Hamam together while Aunt Jenny was pampered with a top notch pedicure.
You know…if you can get a Hamam together…you’re really bonded forever. We met our lady (who was hilarious)! She didn’t speak a lick of English and we didn’t speak and arabic but she had us cracking up with her gestures and stories.
We stripped down, put on our paper panties and went in to the bath room. It’s like a semi steam room with two stone beds on either side. Our lady then turns on a hand held shower head and sprayed us down like she was watering the garden. The comes the scrubbing….and when I say scrubbing….every. single. inch….places you didn’t even know you had or knew someone else would be (yikes!)
Arielle really said it best!
After being so relaxed and scrubbed fresh, we were too lazy to set out to find another dinner recommendation. We ended up just having dinner at the Lina Ryad & Spa. The staff there really is so kind and made our experience feel like five star.
The kitchen was closed down but they opened it back up and set up a white table cloth meal in the lobby by the fire place. We were finally able to try the Chicken Bastilla. It’s so unexpectedly delish! Who knew chicken in a pastry shell with brown and powdered sugar, would be so good!
From a friend || Dinner Recommendation:
“My cousin and I got up at like 7:30 am before the streets got too crowded, and we got awesome pictures that way of all the blue doors/streets unobstructed. Later that morning we asked Mohamed at the front desk to take us to all the best spots for pics, and saw some cool streets and murals we wouldn’t have found otherwise.” – my coworker
Join locals in the heart of the medina at Casa Hassan’s Tissemlal Restaurant (22 Rue Targhi Chefchaouen; +212 05 3998-6153; three-course meal from $22), which serves up classics like chicken tagine and harira soup, as well as green salad with the region’s specialty goat cheese.
The Next Morning
My aunt and I got up early the next morning to wonder the streets for a mini photoshoot. As we were wondering the sleepy streets our prince charming rode up on his white horse….
We then went back to the hotel to pack our things and head to Tangier for our last day.
March 19: Travel from Chefchaouen to Tangier
Our hotel called us a taxi and we rolled our luggage through the windy blue streets and back to the main square to meet our driver.
$69 USD for the taxi. || 2:30 drive
Swoon Worthy Travels 