Our base in the Rif was the “Blue Pearl” of Chefchaouen. It is one of those Insta-famous places with people queueing up to get *That* selfie in front of the famous vivid blue alleyways.

Coaches arrive from Marrakesh and people wielding selfie-sticks patrol the city looking for Likes.

At some of the best known spots someone will ask for a small fee for you to use their door as a backdrop. Others arrange something colourful (like a fake orange tree) so the colours pop and you stop for a photo (and another fee).

So yes, all the reasons to avoid a place usually – like the travel snobs we undoubtably are. But those colours are still gorgeous and off the main drag people are living their normal lives; women carrying bags of groceries from the souk, kids playing on the way from school, the call to prayer drifting over the city from its many mosques and everything surrounded by ancient buildings in brilliant colour.

The people looking for a fee are surprisingly few and far between. The atmosphere is chilled, there many quiet places and surprisingly little hassle from somewhere so used to tourists.

Should you go to Chefchaouen? Yes of course you should. There’s a reason it’s so popular on Insta…