Gibraltar: all you need to know

One of the places you shouldn't miss when visiting Andalusia is this little piece of England. Surrounded by Spain on one side and washed by the sea on the other, Gibraltar really does belong to the UK, so if you have an irresistible urge to take a photo in the iconic red phone box or grab a proper English breakfast, you've come to the right place. However, the biggest draw here isn't the typical English stuff, but rather the Gibraltar Nature Reserve, where you'll be the only place in Europe where you can spot wild monkeys.

What you need to visit Gibraltar?

• Travel documents - Gibraltar is not a member of the EU or part of the Schengen area, so you will be going through border checks, which require you to present valid travel documents. Officially you need a PASSPORT to enter Gibraltar, but EU citizens should make do with an ID card. For peace of mind, I preferred to pack everyone's passports, but in the experience of some travellers, even with an OP there was no problem. The Brits are now making it compulsory to get an ETA to enter the UK from April 2025, but so far Gibraltar doesn't seem to be affected. Check the official website here for the latest info, just enter your citizenship and you'll see what you really need to enter.

• Money - considering the UK prices, be prepared to spend rather more money :) As far as currency is concerned, the official currency here is the LIBRA, but believe me, it's completely unnecessary to go to an exchange office to visit Gibraltar. In fact, in most places you can pay by card, and where you don't, they will take euros from you.

• Have a plan - especially if you don't want to spend too much money or have too much time to spare. Think ahead: HOW you will get here, WHERE you will leave your car, HOW you will get around and WHAT you want to get done. Maybe the following lines will help you...

Where to park? How to get downtown?

First of all, check with the car rental company whether you are allowed to cross the border into another country at all. Many of them charge some kind of fixed fee for crossing. In this case, you'll probably very quickly find that you park in Spain before the border crossing in the vast parking lot of the Aparcamiento Santa Bárbara. Parking for an hour here will set you back €2.10, with a maximum of €16.80 per day, and can be paid for by card. The border is about a 5-minute walk from here.

And then how? If you don't mind walking, you can walk to the main square, Grand Casemates Square, in about 20 minutes. On the way, you'll walk right across the Gibraltar Runway, which is such a local rarity. Where else are you going to walk around a (working) airport, right? In practice, this means you stick to the marked walkway, don't hang around too much, while praying you don't have the bad luck to have a plane take off/land. In this case, you would have to wait. And those who don't want to walk from the border can use bus routes 5 and 10, with one ride costing an adult £1.60. Specific routes, stops and current fares can be found on the official website here.

Then you also have the option of driving all the way to Gibraltar and getting parking there. Don't worry, it's normal to drive on the right here, but be warned - finding a parking space can be a hassle, as you won't find a car park as huge as the one on the Spanish side, and free parking isn't exactly on the agenda either. I'd also see the downside as the fact that queues can form at the border (especially in high season, this is not uncommon), so you'll spend precious time driving around in your car. 

Rock of Gibraltar: how to get there?

You might think that if you can get to Gibraltar by your own car, you might as well drive to the Rock of Gibraltar. Unfortunately, you'll be disappointed here, because you won't be able to get plates other than Gibraltar plates up to the reservation. You will therefore have to choose one of the following options:

• cable car - probably the most popular option, unfortunately it must be taken into account that it is not always in operation (e.g. due to maintenance or weather conditions). Be sure to keep an eye on the official website for updates. The cable car journey to the top station of Signal Hill only takes about 6 minutes and the price as of 2025 is £44 return for an adult, £41.50 one way. For a child (5-11 years) you will pay £26. The price already includes entry to the nature reserve and admission to the included attractions, which you can find listed here. You may also benefit from the shuttle bus, which will take you from the state border to the lower cable car station for free as part of the fare. This shuttle runs every 30 minutes.

• on foot - as it happens, self-powered is usually the cheapest. Even with this option, however, you have to pay an entrance fee to the reservation, it is simply unavoidable. A self drive ticket comes in at £25 for an adult and £17 for a child. The big minus is the rather uninspiring journey, with most of it being on the road. So don't expect any romantic walk through the woods. I'd also recommend to at least roughly calculate the route beforehand so you don't take too big a bite. As I wrote above (all approx!): 5 min. from the car park + 20 min. to the centre + 60 min. up the rock + the way back. Alternatively, you can combine with some local buses, which have quite a dense network (see map here).

• taxi - you're sure to see white Mercedes minibuses on your journey through Gibraltar. If you walk, you'll probably avoid them quite often. Originally I didn't want to use their services at all, however the cable car was out of service at the time of our visit and somehow I couldn't quite imagine trudging up there with the kids (4r + 1r) and a stroller. We found out about the out of order cable car right at the border, where we arranged a taxi ride. Cost €50 for an adult, we left the kids on our laps so we didn't pay for them.

What about the monkeys?

As I mentioned in the introduction, the most attractive spectacle in Gibraltar for most people are the wild monkeys. This is a species of macaque, specifically the barbary macaque. On my first visit to Andalusia, I deliberately didn't include Gibraltar in my itinerary because... I'm just not particularly fond of these little monkeys :) In Thailand, for example, we had the opportunity to see what kind of beasts they are. They take what they see from food to hats to sunglasses, unzip your backpack so fast you don't even notice, etc.

Unfortunately, tourists in pursuit of a great photo do not respect feeding bans or any minimum distance. So those individuals who try to force a bag of chips on the monkeys are then terribly surprised that they jump on their shoulder or head. In short, it takes a little common sense and judgement here. For myself, I can recommend the basics: don't unpack any food in their field of vision (you can snack a little further away), put everything you have "free" like hats, bottles with drinks, etc. in your backpack, and above all, keep an eye on the kids, lest a monkey chase them or bite them - it's still an animal, albeit a cute one, so you never know.

And where do you find monkeys? There are currently five groups of monkeys in Gibraltar - one at St. Micheal's Cave, three groups live in the area of the cable car top station, where there is also a "feeding zone" for them. On maps.cz you can find it under "Top Monkey Feeding Station", on google maps "Barbary Macaque Feeding Station". The last group is smart = wild, and shies away from people.

Our experience with Rock of Gibraltar

1. Queen´s Balcony - The first taxi stop is located right at the entrance gate to the Rock of Gibraltar. The viewpoint was named after the Queen's visit in 1954.

2. St. Michael´s Cave - beautiful karst caves full of stalactite decorations, which you must not miss. A popular photo point here is the rock formation, which, if lit correctly, will show you the Angel Michael. What's more, the acoustics inside are so good that you'll even find a concert hall. At the end of the tour, you'll be able to try this unique experience with video mapping, which we loved. 

3. Sky Walk Gibraltar - a glass observation deck from which, on a clear day, you can see all the way to Africa, to Morocco. Unfortunately, we were not lucky enough to have such visibility, but the views from here were still really beautiful.

4. Great Siege Tunnel - The Rock of Gibraltar is literally riddled with a network of tunnels (more than 55 km in total!). These were specifically used to move military equipment in the 18th century and were later used in World War II as part of the line of defence. At these points we say goodbye to our driver and continue on our way, although we could have been driven by minibus all the way back to the border. But we want to spend some more time "unorganized" and explore the town at our own pace.

5. Princess Caroline Battery - an gun battery named after King George II's daughter, from where you can get a nice view of the city of Gibraltar itself. There is also the Military Heritage Centre, which houses various military artefacts from weapons to grenades and more.

6. WWII Tunnels - These tunnels are known as the "underground city" because during the siege they could accommodate an entire garrison of 16,000 people with more than a year's supply of food. Today, the biggest attraction here is a model of a Spitfire aircraft, but you can also see other artefacts of the war and various historical footage. Count on the fact that this exhibit is really huge and you can spend quite a bit of time visiting it.

7. Moorish Castle - The first mentions date back to the 12th century and since then this Moorish fortress has been part of many battles. There's not much to see inside today, but it is possible to climb its massive tower and take in the panoramic views. 

 

From Moorish Castle we just walked down to the centre of Gibraltar, which is full of restaurants, typical English pubs and shops of all kinds. Overall, I found this trip to be very good, but I was quite surprised at how many interesting places there are to see in such a small area. We missed, for example, Windsor Suspension Bridge, Mediterranean steps or Europa Point, which is a bit disappointing, but you can definitely include them in your itinerary :)

Where to stay?

We only took a day trip to Gibraltar, spending the night before near Estepona in a golf resortu Ona Valle Romano, which had great off-season prices. For a beautiful apartment with kitchen, terrace, living room and two bedrooms we paid €86. And mind you, the price included breakfast with quite a wide selection. In short, we recommend it. After our visit to Gibraltar, we headed back towards Estepona again, but this time more towards the coast as I managed to book a whole house right on the beach. Specifically, this is Playa Paraíso 86, where you have absolutely everything you could possibly need to live, including a fully equipped kitchen and an outdoor seating area with barbecue. A night here cost us €87 and I actually regretted a lot that I didn't book more nights. 

If you would like to spend the night in Gibraltar, check out Eliott Hotel or Rock Hotel. If you'd rather stay on the Spanish side but stay as close to Gibraltar as possible so you can get there first thing in the morning, look for deals in La Línea de la Concepción:

• cheaper: Gibraltar Views Guest House - simple accommodation that offers rooms with shared and private bathrooms at completely normal prices
• more expensive: Ohtels Campo - not overpriced hotel near the border, where you can leave your car parked

And if you're wondering what else you could check out in Andalusia, be sure to keep checking back for more articles:

• What to do in Seville: 10 tips + trip to Córdoba
• Malaga: practical info + itineraries
• Best trips from Malaga - inland
• Trips from Malaga vol. 2 - coastal edition
• My dream come true - Caminito del Rey

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