Is Chefchaouen too touristy now?

Let me be honest rather than defensive: yes, Chefchaouen has become very popular, and at peak times it shows. The town’s fame as "the blue city" exploded with social media, and in high season the photogenic central lanes fill from late morning with day-trippers bussed in from Fes and Tangier, plus a steady stream of people queuing to photograph the famous blue-staircase-with-plant-pots corners. A few spots have become a touch performative — pots and props arranged for the camera, locals charging for photos — and if you arrive at midday in summer expecting a sleepy mountain village, you may be disappointed.

But "busy at peak hours" is very different from "ruined," and Chefchaouen is far from ruined. The crowds are concentrated in time and space — a few hours, in a handful of central lanes. The trick I give every guest is simple: be out early and be out late. At dawn and in the soft hour before sunset the day-trippers are gone, the light is at its best, and you can have the blue lanes almost to yourself. The same goes for the back streets climbing toward the upper medina, which most coach visitors never reach.

Staying overnight is the single biggest fix, and it changes the experience entirely. Day-trippers leave by late afternoon, and the town exhales — the Plaza Uta el-Hammam fills with local families rather than tour groups, the cafés feel residential again, and the place recovers its genuine, gentle small-town soul. Anyone who only does Chefchaouen as a day trip sees the crowded version and concludes it is a tourist trap; anyone who sleeps there sees why people love it. That contrast is the whole story.

My honest verdict: Chefchaouen is touristy but still very much worth it if you play it right. Come in spring, autumn or even winter rather than peak summer, stay at least one night, explore early and late and beyond the obvious corners, and be respectful (and ready to pay or move on) around the staged photo spots. Treat the famous viewpoints as a small part of a real, lived-in town and you will find the magic is still there. Check seasonal crowds before you go.