24 Hours in Gibraltar

This summer was marked by some pretty fun firsts; first time living in a new country, first time speaking completely in a language that wasn’t my first language, and first time crossing a border on foot. Hence was my experience going to Gibraltar. 

Traveling to Gibraltar was an extremely unique experiences due to the fact that our hired cars couldn’t cross the border so we had to hoof it. It was actually really cool, and very easy to make the journey (woe to me we didn’t get stamps in our passports). Once you cross the border between Spain and Gibraltar it really is like a completely different world. Our new driver had a Manchester-British accent and everything rings of Great Britannia. It was so cool! Gibraltar itself is a very small peninsula and for us, 24 hours was the perfect time to experience everything we wanted and then head on. We had a tour arranged that took us to all the main sights on and around the Rock.

Pillars of Hercules

We started our tour at the pillars of Hercules and the monument that stands there. We had the worst luck and arrived in Gibraltar on the only cloudy day of the week and couldn't see Africa. I was disappointed to say the least. However the pillar monument was still cool and the view of the bay was spectacular. Next we went to the caves where we caught our first glimpses of the infamous monkeys that surround the Rock. The caves were cool but not my favorite, I prefer the ones in Nerja more. But it was still cool (haha, get it? it was underground and cooler).

Not happy that I interrupted his meal

Next we continued up the mountain and stopped at the point I’m going to refer to as the monkey spot. This area was the feeding pavilion for the monkeys and had a great view of the bay on one side and a beautiful view into a cloud on the other. It was really something. The monkeys were cool at first but kind of creepy after a while. They tried to get into some tourists’ backpacks and one brave monkey was sitting on a guy. I was a little alarmed.

The cliffs above the underground fort

After the monkey extravaganza, we continued on to the British fort. We walked deep into the mountain where there was a very informative museum about the British and their excavation in order to assemble spots for their canons. There is a whole fascinating history behind it and it was well worth the walking. Our final spots were the 100 ton gun and the lighthouse. By this point I was extremely tired (it was siesta time, what did my family expect) and while I enjoyed the views at these places, I was ready to rest. We then stopped for some coffee and walked back to the hotel. After a nice rest and some champagne for my mom’s birthday, we headed to El Faro, an amazing restaurant that I wrote about in my Foodie in Spain blog. Again, it was amazing food and we got to walk around the harbor a bit after to watch the sunset. 

Beautiful Gibraltar night from the hotel

My only disappointment in the entire trip to Gibraltar was that I wanted to go to Morocco for dinner and my parents said no. You can catch a ferry from the port across the harbor in Spain and it takes two hours to get to Tangier. I was all gung-ho and ready to go and no one else was. Bit disappointing, but my brother made a good point that we would want to spend more time there anyways and promised that he’d go with me some other time. Ah well. Point of that story was that it is very easy to get to Morocco from Gibraltar which is another reason I think it was great to do Gibraltar in one day. Its a great little resting spot and everything can be done in a day or two and then your journey can continue on. I would totally recommend a quick layover here to enjoy the British comforts. 

Also fun fact, I didn’t know Gibraltar was part of the U.K. until two days before we visited. Oops, I think my geography teacher would be disappointed.