Gibraltar. The Top things to do in Gibraltar. Travel To Gibraltar.
History and Location
Gibraltar covers an area of 6.7sq km. It is a British overseas territory and headland on Spain’s south coast. It is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, a 426m high limestone ridge.
It was first settled by the Moors in the middle ages, then ruled by Spain and it was given to the British in 1713.
Gibraltar benefits from an extensive shipping trade, international financial centre, tourism and is a global leader in the virtual gaming industry.
How to Enter Gibraltar from Spain
To cross the border from Spain into Gibraltar you enter from the Spanish area called La Linea de la Concepcion.
When you leave the bus station you immediately see the Rock of Gibraltar. It is so close.
You then go through border control, which is pretty easy.
Next, is the fun part, you have to literally walk across an active airplane runway. It is the only road in and out of Gibraltar, so whether you are walking or driving you have to cross over the runway.
Of course, they stop you crossing if there are planes about, but it is still pretty freaky and awesome to watch from one of the lookouts on the Rock.
The Rock Hotel
The Rock Hotel was built in 1932. It is the hotel of choice for the rich and famous – and now us.
It is built up high right against the Rock.
There is a gallery of all the famous people that have stayed in the hotel near the bar.
The rooms are spacious and very nice and the restaurant has a massive covered balcony which has views of the marina and the Straight of Gibraltar to Africa.
There are botanic gardens across the road and in these gardens is the pool area. The pool area is quite large with plenty of seating and facilities including a bar where you can buy drinks (pretty nice mojitos) and snacks.
There is a bus stop right across from the hotel if you want to take public transport around the area.
Town area and marina
The town area of Gibraltar is an easy walk from most accommodation places. It is a very English city with English pubs, English shops and restaurants and of course the red telephone booths.
Along the way to town, you can walk along the marina area. There are many restaurants of all types to sit and enjoy the view of the yachts and the sunset as well as the busy shipping port.
One of the tourist attractions at the marina are the dolphin watching tours. Dolphins breed in the waters around Gibraltar and certain times of the year and you are guaranteed to see groups of them.
The Legend of Gibraltar
According to Roman legend – while on his way to the Garden of The Hesperides, Hercules had to cross the mountain that was once Atlas.
Instead of climbing the mountain, Hercules used his superhuman strength to smash through it. By doing so he connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and formed the Straight of Gibraltar.
On one side is Gibraltar and the other is Monte Hecho, which have since been known as the Pillar of Hercules. There is a monument called the Pillars of Hercules on the Rock of Gibraltar.
The Gibraltar Straight is only 14.3km wide, so it easy on a clear day or night, to see North Africa from Gibraltar.
Tour of the Rock
There are 3 main ways to go up the Rock of Gibraltar. You can walk. It is 7km walking along a track and up stairs which is quite challenging. The second option is to take the cable car which takes you up to 412m in 6 minutes. The best option is to do a full guided tour.
On our tour after we saw the Pillars of Hercules monument, we then visited St. Michael’s caves.
The caves are a natural massive cavern in the upper rock part of the nature reserve which is more than 700 feet deep and is full of huge stalagmites and stalactites and other limestone formations. It is illuminated with lots of bright lights and it looks spectacular as you walk around the formations and view the cave from all the platforms.
As well as St. Michael’s cave there are 55km of tunnels that took 200 years to build under the rock. These tunnels can accommodate 16,000 people and all their supplies if needed to withstand a siege.
Next was the fun part of the tour where we saw the iconic Barbary monkeys. There are now over 300 monkeys, but they did decline down to 7, when Churchill ordered more females be imported. It is said that when the monkeys go, the British go.
As you travel along the road towards the monkey viewing area, you start to see a monkey or two perched on the side of the rock.
The driver calls them by name as he drives by. “Hey George, hey Mabel” he yells out. The next thing you know one of the monkeys – we think it was Mabel, jumped through the window of the car and landed on my (Leanne’s) lap.
When we arrived at the monkey viewing area there were quite a lot of monkeys, including tiny baby ones climbing all of the metal fence and falling to the ground just happily playing.
It’s possible to get a photo with the monkeys if you follow the instructions of the tour guide. They are wild animals, so you need to be aware and move very slowly. It was a highlight of the day’s events.
The last place you visit on a tour is the military lookout where you can see for miles. This is where the best view of the airport crossing is and if you time it well you might see a plane take off and the see everyone cross over the runway as the plane takes to the sky,
How much time do you need in Gibraltar?
We enjoyed our 3 nights exploring the small area of Gibraltar. You could do a day trip from Spain, but you will enjoy it more if you can take your time to explore and eat at one of the nice restaurants in town or at the marina.
Just remember that it is an English territory and you might need English pounds to pay for things if people require cash. We were able to use our card most of the time, but did need cash for a taxi and the taxi definitely didn’t want euros.
Favourite place to have a wine in Gibraltar
Lyle’s favourite place to have a wine was on the balcony of the Rock Hotel with the views over the Straight of Gibraltar, especially at night when all the lights are reflecting in the water.
Leanne’s favourite place was on the wharf along the marina at sunset.
If you would like to hear all the stories you can listen by clicking here or below.