What is Chefchaouen like in autumn?

Autumn is one of Chefchaouen's quietly perfect seasons, and I find it underrated compared with spring. September still carries summer's warmth — comfortable days in the mid-to-high 20s°C — but the fierce edge has gone, the evenings turn cool and pleasant, and the peak-season crowds begin to drain away once the European holidays end. Through October the weather stays lovely and stable, and by November you are into mild, sweater-friendly days in the mid-teens to low 20s°C with proper chilly mountain nights. It is a long, soft slide from summer toward winter.

What I love about autumn here is the light and the atmosphere. The harsh summer glare softens into a warm, low golden light that makes the blue walls and ochre rooftops glow, and the medina feels calmer and more lived-in once the day-tripper crush eases. The hillsides are still dry and tawny in early autumn but the olive harvest gets going across the Rif, so the terraces around town come alive with families gathering fruit — a genuinely local, seasonal rhythm you can watch from the trails above town.

It is also a fine season for walking, with a caveat about timing. Early and mid-autumn give warm, dry, stable conditions ideal for the Akchour waterfalls hike and the climb to the Spanish Mosque, and the cooler air makes the steep medina lanes easy going. As November progresses, though, the Rif's rainy season starts to return — the first wet, misty days arrive, the slopes begin to green up again, and you should pack a waterproof and a warm layer. The shoulder months of September and October are the sweet spot for reliably good weather.

My honest framing: autumn gives you most of spring's beauty with even thinner crowds, especially mid-week in October and early November. The trade-off is the encroaching chance of rain late in the season and shorter daylight. But for travellers who want the blue city calm, golden and comfortable — and who like the idea of slotting it into a wider northern or imperial-cities trip in those ideal autumn weeks — Chefchaouen in September and October is a genuine highlight that too few people prioritise.