Family Travel to Gibraltar
Gibraltar has been really high on our wish list of places to visit and since it was only 2 1/2 hours from our house for the month – why not. Gibraltar is actually part of the UK not Spain and it takes it’s British roots seriously. It’s located on a small outpost jutting into the Mediteranean Sea and is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar. The area was originally settled by the Moors, then Spain and then became British in 1713. This is a very strategic spot of land that overlooks Africa and guards the entrance to the Mediteranean Sea.
Our trip to Gibraltar was Feb 2018. This article has been updated since that time to add details.
Why Family Travel to Gibraltar?
Gibraltar has some amazing scenery, a wonderful and varied history, and a delightful British Culture. If you’re spending time in Andalusia Spain, Gibraltar makes a wonderful day trip. It’s drivable from Seville, Ronda, Cordoba, Olvera, Malaga and the Algarve area in Portugal. If you’re adventurous, Morocco is a ferry ride away. The city is easy to navigate and it’s a lot of fun crossing into a different culture.
How to get to Gibraltar
To get there we drove to the closest Spanish town (from out home-base in Olvera), parked, waved our passports at the border agents, and we were in a different culture. It’s better to park and walk across the border than drive. After you pass the passport check you’ll have a short walk across … the airport. Yep, pedestrian traffic is stopped when planes land and take off but otherwise walking across the airport is the way in (they’re a little short of space). It’s really a fun experience and we loved watching the planes go by.
Transportation
After the airport you’ll come to an area of busses. The buses will take you to the cute downtown area. The most popular attraction is the Rock itself. You can take the cable car, taxi or hike. We wanted to take the cable car but it was closed for wind Instead we wandered around town until we found a taxi which ended up being a great chose.
In Gibraltar the taxi drivers are the only ones allowed to drive up the mountain. They also act as tour guides (and monkey control). If you want to go straight up the rock then rent a taxi just after border control. If you want to explore first, you can rent a taxi from downtown.
The Rock of Gibraltar
The views from the rock of Gibraltar are spectacular. The road is small and the sides are steep but the taxi’s are great at navigating these tricky roads. Our driver was very entertaining and knowledgeable. We made several short stops up and down and learned a lot about Gibraltar’s history along the way.
The Apes of Gibraltar
Legend goes as long as the apes are on Gibraltar, the British will rule the rock. They are still there and they are doing well. These adorable apes (not monkeys – they have no tails) are definitely a lot of fun to watch. There are big apes, baby apes, friendly apes, snarly apes, apes making more baby apes (science lesson) and crazy jumping apes. They love to jump on the cars and people. They can be known to bite. Never go up to them. They must come to you and you can not touch them or they get feisty. If you want to get closer to the apes, I do recommend taking the taxi tour. The drivers know which apes are trouble, which ones you can get close to, and how to get them off of your kids if they jump on them (happened to both my oldest). The kids loved it – Me – I was not so fond of the ape on the head situations – I just kept imagining bite and claw marks but our taxi driver really was good at managing the animals and removing them from my kids heads. After no one got bit I relaxed, they really are adorable (the kids and the apes).
Enjoy the Town
The town of Gibraltar is very cute. There are nice pedestrian streets and since it’s British – fish and chips. Don’t forget to get your red phone booth picture. After our trip up the rock, we took a stroll through town, stopped for dinner, and watched planes take off. We then walked our way back across the airport runway, through passport check, and on to our parked car. The airport also crosses the only road in and out of town. They shut down the only road in and out every time a plane takes off or leaves – at least partially explaining the long car line.
Blog Post from 2018:
Gibraltar has been really high on our wish list of places to visit and since it was only 2 1/2 hours from our house for the month – why not. Gibraltar is actually part of the UK not Spain. To get there we drove to the closest Spanish town, parked, waved our passports at the border agents, and walked across the border. We then caught a bus going in to town, found a Taxi and up the rock we went. The cable car was closed the day we were there. To get to the top of the rock you can rent ride a cable car, rent a taxi, or walk. We didn’t have a stroller with us so Taxi it was. In Gibraltar the taxi drivers are the only ones allowed to drive up the mountain. They also act as tour guides (and monkey control). If you want to go straight up the rock then rent a taxi just after border control. If you want to explore first then you can find one downtown. The views were spectacular. The road is small and the sides are steep but the taxi’s know what they are doing.
Our favorite part of the trip was the monkeys (actually not monkeys – apes, they have no tails). There are big apes, baby apes, friendly apes, snarly apes, apes making more baby apes (science lesson) and crazy jumping apes. They love to jump on the cars and people. They can be known to bite. Never go up to them. They must come to you and you can not touch them or they get feisty. If you want to get closer to the apes, I do recommend taking the taxi tour. The drivers know which apes are trouble, which ones you can get close to, and how to get them off of your kids if they jump on them (happened to both my oldest). The kids loved it – Me – I was not so fond of the ape on the head situations – I just kept imagining bite and claw marks but our taxi driver really was good at managing the animals and removing them from my kids heads. After no one got bit I relaxed, they really are adorable (the kids and the apes).
The town of Gibraltar is very cute. There are nice pedestrian streets and since it’s British – fish and chips. After our trip up the rock we took a stroll through town, stopped for dinner, watched planes take off, then walked across the airport runway (yes, to get out of town you have to cross the runway – kids and us loved it). They shut down the only road in and out every time a plane takes of or leaves.
