What can you do in Chefchaouen besides photos?

Chefchaouen's blue lanes are world-famous and yes, they're ravishing — but I always tell guests there's a real town and a beautiful slice of the Rif Mountains here to enjoy beyond lining up the perfect photo. Chaouen (as locals call it) rewards travellers who slow down, lace up their walking shoes and treat it as a mountain town rather than a photo backdrop, and that's when it goes from a two-hour stop to a genuinely lovely couple of days.

The best thing to do here is walk into the landscape. The short, steep climb up to the Spanish Mosque on the hill east of the medina is essential — twenty minutes of effort delivers the definitive panorama of the blue town spilling down the mountainside, and it's magical at sunset when the walls glow. For more of a trek, the Akchour waterfalls a short drive away are the headline hike of the Rif: a riverside trail through the gorge leads to a series of cascades and pools, with a longer path to the dramatic natural arch known as God's Bridge (Pont de Dieu). It's a proper half- or full-day outing into beautiful, green, watery scenery that very few visitors who only come for photos ever see.

Closer in, at the edge of the medina, the Ras el-Maa cascade is where the mountain stream tumbles into town — a lovely spot to dip your feet, where you'll still see local women washing wool and laundry as they have for generations, with little riverside cafés to sit at. Back inside the walls, the Kasbah in the main square houses a small museum and a garden, and a climb up its tower gives another view. And the great central Plaza Uta el-Hammam, ringed with cafés beneath the Kasbah and the grand mosque, is the place to do as the locals do: sit for hours over mint tea or a tagine and watch town life drift by.

Chefchaouen is also a quietly excellent place to shop and taste, away from the hard-sell of the big cities. The Rif region is known for its wool, so this is one of the best spots in Morocco to buy genuine hand-woven blankets, throws and rugs, along with locally made leather, woven hats and natural cosmetics — and the haggling here tends to be gentler and friendlier. Foodwise, seek out the local goat's cheese (a regional speciality you won't find everywhere), fresh mountain produce, and simple, hearty Rif cooking. It's a relaxed, affordable, low-pressure place to browse and eat well.

My honest take: come for the blue, absolutely, but stay for the mountains. Hike to the Spanish Mosque and out to Akchour, paddle at Ras el-Maa, shop for a real wool blanket, taste the goat cheese, and let an afternoon dissolve in the main square. Do that and Chefchaouen becomes a restful, scenic highlight of a trip rather than just a famous photo — exactly the rhythm our two-day Chefchaouen itinerary is built around.