Last updated: June 2026
Chefchaouen is genuinely one of the most photogenic places I have visited in six trips to Morocco - and also one of the most misrepresented. The images you see on Instagram are real, but they leave out the queue of forty people all trying to stand in the same spot, the resident whose front door is blocked every morning, and the fact that a drone will be confiscated at the border. This guide is for photographers who want honest, practical information - including what to skip, what is worth waking up at 5:30am for, and how to behave well in a place where people actually live.
The Famous Flower-Pot Staircase (Derb El Assri)
This is the shot: a narrow blue alley curving upward, every step framed by terracotta pots of red geraniums. If you have seen one photo of Chefchaouen, it was probably taken here on Derb El Assri, sometimes called Callejon El Asri.
Here is what those photos never show. A family lives there. Several families, in fact. Between roughly 9am and 6pm, residents navigate a near-constant stream of visitors pressing against their doors and loitering on the steps they use to reach their homes. By late morning in high season there is a loose queue forming, ten or fifteen people deep, all waiting for the person in front to finish so they can take the identical shot.
If you want a clean image and some peace of conscience, arrive before 8am - ideally before 7:30am. In early morning the light comes in soft and directional, the shadows from the upper walls give the blue depth, and you may have the staircase to yourself for a few minutes. Move through efficiently. Do not drape yourself across someone’s doorstep for thirty minutes while your companion experiments with angles. The moment the tour buses start unloading from Fes and Tangier, usually around 9:30am, the alley becomes a very different place.
The staircase itself runs slightly east-facing, which means morning light catches it well and midday sun blasts it flat. Late afternoon is pleasant too, though foot traffic stays heavy until dinner.
The Best Blue Alleys (Beyond the Obvious)
The most satisfying photography in Chefchaouen often happens when you stop hunting specific locations and just walk. The medina is compact enough - roughly fifteen minutes end to end - that you can cover most of it before breakfast.
A few streets worth knowing:
Sidi Bouchouka is another staircase alley, slightly less visited than Derb El Assri, with flower pots, colourful fences, and a gentler climb. The blue here tends toward a warmer, more faded cobalt rather than the electric azure you see in edited travel photos. It photographs beautifully with a wide aperture if you want that soft foreground/background separation.
The streets between Plaza Uta el-Hammam and the kasbah are dense with texture - painted plaster at different stages of age and fading, mismatched blues that reveal thirty years of repainting over one another. Look down as often as you look up. The ground-level view along a long, gently curved alley, with light arriving at the far end, produces the kind of depth that no amount of post-processing can replicate.
The northern edges of the medina beyond the main tourist flow are quieter and more residential. The blue is patchier here - not every wall is repainted with tourist traffic in mind - but the resulting photographs feel more honest.
For broader context on the medina layout, see our Chefchaouen travel guide which covers the full geography.
Plaza Uta el-Hammam
The main square is not where you go for a quiet frame, but it earns its place in any photo trip. The Grand Mosque with its octagonal minaret, the old kasbah on the south side, the café terraces, and the constant movement of locals going about their day all make for genuinely interesting documentary photography.
The square photographs best in the early morning when the stall-holders are setting up and the light is still low enough to avoid the flat overhead glare that kills colour. By 10am the café terrace parasols open, outdoor seating fills, and it becomes a different scene entirely - still worth shooting, but busier and harder to isolate a single subject.
If you are staying overnight (and you should be - see our 2-day itinerary for the logic), you have the option of shooting the square at dusk when the cafés are lit and the crowds thin slightly. The warm lantern light against the blue plaster is a genuinely lovely combination.
The Spanish Mosque at Sunset
Walk west out of the medina, up the hillside path past the olive groves, and you reach the Spanish Mosque in about twenty minutes. It is not functioning as a mosque and is not open to visitors inside, but nobody comes here for the interior. They come for the view down across the blue medina, the terracotta rooftops, the valley, and the Rif Mountains rising beyond.
Sunset is the only time to do this properly. The golden hour light lands on the blue rooftops from the west and turns the whole medina something between cobalt and indigo. The kasbah wall picks up orange. The smoke from early dinner cooking catches the last light. It is one of the genuinely extraordinary views in Morocco, and it requires no particular photographic skill to record something worth keeping.
Arrive forty to fifty minutes before sunset to claim your position. There will be others here - it is not a secret - but the hillside is wide enough that you can spread out. Bring a tripod for the blue hour after the sun drops. The sky stays interesting for thirty to forty minutes after sunset, and the medina lights come on gradually rather than all at once, which gives you plenty of exposure options.
The path up is uneven. In the dark on the way back, it requires some care. A head torch is more useful than your phone screen.
Ras el-Maa: The Waterfall Nobody Comes For
At the eastern edge of the medina, beyond the final archway, a natural spring drops over a series of low rock shelves and runs in a channel that the Andalusian founders of the city built into the town’s water supply. Local women still wash laundry here on the stones. Children play in the pools. It is not a dramatic waterfall - perhaps five metres of cascading water at its largest drop - but the contrast with the all-blue streets is considerable.
Photograph this in the morning if you want the washing and the daily life; the women generally arrive early and are usually finished before the tourist crowds reach this far. The spring is shaded for much of the day by the hillside behind it, which means midday actually works reasonably well for exposure - you are not fighting harsh shadows.
This is covered in our things to do in Chefchaouen post if you want the wider context.
Doorways and Cats
Two things Chefchaouen has in abundance: painted doorways in every shade from sky to navy, and cats. The cats own the medina in the early morning. They sit in doorways, on steps, inside window frames, in the shade of pots and archways. They are well-fed by residents, accustomed to people, and will tolerate a camera at medium distance without moving. Get low and shoot from their level.
For doorways: the variations in blue across the medina are more interesting than any single door. Some are fresh-painted electric blue, some are faded to chalk, some are so old the paint has peeled back to unpainted plaster in patches. The ones with traditional brass knockers and heavy wooden construction tend to be toward the older parts of the medina near the kasbah. Blue doors work best photographically when you have a contrasting element - a yellow wall, a red plant, a cat.
Light, Timing, and Honest Advice
The photography advice you will read most often - arrive early - is correct, but it is worth being specific about why.
Before 8am: soft light, empty alleys, the best chance of a clean frame. The staircase spots are accessible without queuing. Cats are active. Vendors are setting up, which creates genuine movement and life rather than posed commerce.
8am to 10am: still workable, crowds building slowly.
10am to 3pm: the busiest period. Midday light is hard and overhead. Tour groups from Fes and Tetouan have arrived. The famous spots are crowded. This is a good time to eat breakfast, rest, and wait it out.
3pm to sunset: crowd levels drop slightly as day-trippers head to their coaches. Light improves steadily from about 4pm. The Spanish Mosque is the priority from 5pm onward.
Blue hour and after dark: the medina lit by its own lights is underrated. The blue walls take on a completely different quality under artificial light. Slower shutter speeds and a tripod produce work that looks nothing like the daylight photography.
Etiquette: What to Know Before You Shoot
The blue walls are people’s homes. This is worth repeating because the Instagram version of Chefchaouen has stripped that context so thoroughly that some visitors treat the medina as an outdoor photography studio.
Do not block doorways. If someone needs to get in or out of their home, step aside immediately and stay aside.
Ask before photographing people. A gesture toward your camera with a questioning look is universal. Many people will say yes, some will say no, and a no should end the matter. Children are a grey area - their parents are the ones to ask.
The pay-for-photo situation is real but manageable. In certain spots, particularly around the staircase, you will encounter women or elderly residents who understand that tourists photograph them and who expect a small payment - typically 10 to 20 dirhams (about one to two euros). This is not aggressive; it is straightforward commerce. If you want the shot, pay. If you do not want to engage, a polite decline and moving on is fine.
Drone rules are absolute. Morocco has banned recreational drone use nationally. Attempting to bring a drone into the country risks confiscation at customs. There is a permit pathway for professional commercial photography but it involves government approval and is not a tourist process. Leave the drone at home.
Sound and behaviour matter. Shouting directions at your travel companion, playing music while you shoot, or treating the street as your personal backdrop while locals wait to use it - all of these are noticed and resented. The medina is a working residential neighbourhood.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best time of day to photograph Chefchaouen?
Early morning, before 8am, gives the best light and the fewest crowds. The flower-pot staircase on Derb El Assri can be photographed without queuing if you arrive before 7:30am. The Spanish Mosque at sunset is the other unmissable slot - arrive around forty minutes before the sun drops.
Is the famous blue staircase in Chefchaouen someone’s home?
Yes. Several families live on and around Derb El Assri. The doorways you see in photographs are residential entrances. The staircase is a public street but it is also a residential access route. Behave accordingly - move through rather than camping there, and step aside immediately if anyone needs to pass.
Can I fly a drone over Chefchaouen?
No. Morocco’s national ban on recreational drone use applies across the country, including Chefchaouen. Drones can be confiscated at Moroccan customs on entry. Commercial drone use requires a government permit and is a lengthy process separate from tourism. Do not bring a drone expecting to use it.
Do I need to pay to take photos in Chefchaouen?
Not in general. The streets and alleys are public spaces and you do not need permission to photograph them. However, if you want to photograph specific people who approach you for payment, or use curated decorated spots that local residents have set up, a small payment of 10 to 20 dirhams is fair and expected. Photographing strangers without asking is discouraged.
What is the Spanish Mosque in Chefchaouen?
It is an unfinished mosque built during the Spanish protectorate period and never completed or used for worship. It sits on a hillside west of the medina and offers a panoramic view of the blue city and the Rif Mountains. It is the best vantage point in Chefchaouen for sunset photography. The walk up takes about twenty minutes from the medina.
What tours include Chefchaouen photography stops?
Several of our Morocco tours stop in Chefchaouen overnight, which is important - day trips do not give you access to the early morning or sunset windows that make the photography worthwhile. Browse our Morocco tours to find options that include a full night in the blue city.
