Getting Here
- If coming over the Spanish border remember you are passing into another country (UK), so bring your EU identity card or passport!
- By car: driving your own car in is finethough at times the wait can be long to enter. Once inside, gas is cheaper by about 10 cents per liter. If driving a rental car, check to see if you need to buy extra insurance from the company as someSpanish agencies exclude Gibraltar from their area of permitted travel. You can also park your car just outside of the border, there are hotels nearby which offer decent rates for leaving your car for the day. There is also pay parking on the street for about a euro an hour, up to six hours on most streets. On Sunday you're in luck, parking is free on these streets.
- By bus: the bus depot (estación de autobuses) lies easy walking distance from the border crossing on the Spanish side.
- Walking: join the local Spanish who cross on foot to pick up cheaper cigarettes. Entry is especially easy for EU citizens; for Americans, it's not tough either. Coming back into Spain is even easier.
- By air: flights into Gibraltar airport are also available via Easyjet and British Airwasy.
If you brought your car in, you can drive up to several tourist attractions on the Rock itself, though the roads are pretty narrow and shared with pedestrians and Barbary apes, so be careful! If you are without a car, the buses are fairly convenient to get around- a 1.50 GBP or 2 Euro ticket is good all day and the #5 will pick you up from the border crossing to take you to the city center. Walking is also convenient to get to most sights.
Key Attractions
- The Rock:
- Getting up: You can take the cable car up to the observation deck for about 8 GBP one way/9.50 up and down. Or, hire a special Tour Taxi (really a minivan packed with 6-8 tourists) or join one of the tour buses that weave up the roads and stop at each of the highlights. It's free to walk up and down, but a real challenge do it! Be careful of those taxis and buses, which share the narrow roads with you but won't slow down to let you get out of the way.
- What to see:
The views from the top are the best highlight. From the observation deck you get a good look at the Gibraltar stone, as well as pretty great views of the bay looking back at Spain, the town of Gibraltar below, and across the Straight at the Atlas Mountains. - The Barbary Apes (Macaca sylvanus) which may even greet you straight off the cable car. Please remember that our cousins should be treated with care and respect- do not feed, taunt, or touch them, or you can spread disease and train them to have bad habits.
- St. Michael's Cave is a beautiful stalagtite/stalagmite cave that is welcomingly cool in the afternoon. A few apes might be playing with the tourists just outside. To enter, you will need the Nature Reserve ticket (10GBP), which gives you entry to other points of interest on the rock as well. Unfortunately, there is little information or displays on the area's prehistory, you might need to visit the Gibraltar Museum for more on the Neanderthals that once lived here.
- The Moorish Castle is visible from the town below along the rock's northern side. It offers good views and an interesting perspective on the history of seiges to this strategic point. To enter, you will need to buy the Nature Reserve ticket (10 GBP).
- There are also several points of interest about the Rock's World War II history and the British story of their 300 years in Gibraltar.
- Shopping: many come to Gibraltar for the favorable tax rates, and there are plenty of stores to keep you busy on Main Street and elsewhere. Sunday is not the day to come for shopping, you'll find all but a few closed for the day.
http://www.gibraltar.gi/tourism/
http://www.gibnet.com/index.htm
http://www.gibmuseum.gi/Welcome.html
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