Chefchaouen in January

January is full Rif winter in Chefchaouen, and the mountain setting makes it genuinely cold and wet. Daytime highs sit around 14°C and nights drop close to freezing, the surrounding peaks often wear snow, and rain comes in real, sustained spells rather than passing showers. The reward is a blue medina almost entirely to yourself: the famous lanes — Rue Targa, the alleys near Bab El Ain — are empty of crowds, the blues deep and saturated under grey skies, and the town belongs to its residents and its cats.

This is a month for slow, sheltered pleasures. Mint tea and goat cheese on a covered rooftop, an hour in the Kasbah Museum out of the wind, a warming bowl of harira, and unhurried photography in soft, even winter light all suit January's pace. The steep, stepped lanes turn slick in the rain, so grippy shoes matter, and the Spanish Mosque sunset hike is only worthwhile on a clear, dry afternoon — when it does clear, the snow-dusted Rif behind the blue town is unforgettable.

January suits travellers who want beauty, solitude and rock-bottom prices over warmth, and who don't mind weather that dictates the day. Accommodation rates are at their lowest, and the town's relaxed character is at its most authentic. Akchour Waterfalls and other mountain trails are best skipped or kept very flexible — winter rain swells the rivers and chills the trails — making January more a town-and-rooftop month than a hiking one.