Take some dramatic mountain peaks, add a sprinkle of red-roofed houses chasing higgledy-piggedly down the mountainside, small houses with wrought-iron balconies and roof terraces with magnificent views. Now wash it all in an indigo-blue rinse and you have the delightfully laid-back town of Chefchaouen in northern Morocco. Originally built by Riffian tribesmen in 1471 as
Spring is by far the best time to visit Morocco, and that’s March, April and May. The snow has gone except for the highest peaks, the valleys are full of spring flowers and it’s not yet too hot. March sees the first of the orange blossoms appearing on the trees and being sold in the
In 1683, the English diarist Samuel Pepys dubbed Tangier ‘the excrescence of the earth’. In the 1950s, the city became an International Zone that attracted foreigners, artists, spies and hippies. It was neglected, sleazy and dissolute,with a nasty breed of hustler who’d make life miserable for every visitor. Hardly the place to spend a few