What is Chefchaouen like in December?

December brings full winter to the Rif, and I set expectations carefully because it surprises anyone picturing warm Morocco. Chefchaouen sits high in the mountains, and December is genuinely cold and damp — daytime highs typically around 13 to 16°C, nights dropping toward freezing, and the Rif being one of the rainiest regions in the country means frequent rain, low cloud and mist clinging to the slopes. On the colder snaps, snow dusts the peaks that tower over the town, and very occasionally the higher streets themselves. This is a southern-European-style mountain winter, not a desert one.

The practical thing I always flag first is heating. Many of the beautiful traditional riads in the medina were built for summer cool, and their stone walls hold the December chill stubbornly — so I deliberately seek out places with proper heating, a fireplace or a wood-burning stove and good blankets, and I tell everyone to pack warm layers, a waterproof and shoes with grip for the slick, steep cobbles. A misjudged riad makes a December stay genuinely uncomfortable; the right one, with a fire and a warm salon to retreat to, is wonderfully cosy and a pleasure to come back to each evening.

What you get in return is the blue city almost nobody else sees. The day-tripper crowds vanish in December, so on a quiet morning you can have the famous blue staircases entirely to yourself — mist drifting through the lanes, woodsmoke in the air, the call to prayer echoing off empty walls. The saturated blues look extraordinary under brooding grey skies and after rain, and the hills, greening fast from the winter rains, frame the town beautifully. Prices are at their lowest, the cafés feel especially warm and glad of company, and there is a real romance to the empty, atmospheric winter medina.

My honest verdict: December Chefchaouen is for a particular traveller — someone who values emptiness, atmosphere and value over guaranteed sunshine, and who packs for proper mountain cold and rain. Serious hiking is hit-or-miss, with Akchour often muddy and the high park sometimes snowed in, so I keep those plans modest. But for a quiet, characterful couple of nights in a warm riad with the blue city to yourself — and perhaps a festive, off-season calm — December has a magic the busy months cannot match. Just come prepared for cold and wet.