Tips for visiting Gibraltar as a family
Gibraltar. Little England. A piece of England in the blazing Spanish sunshine where cigarettes are under £3 a packet and wine just as cheap! Because of this, I thought it might be a bit like Booze Britain but I was pleasantly surprised at how picturesque and historical it was.
From the carpark, we had to walk across a flight path which was pretty cool and not something you do everyday. Again, I was very grateful for my cycling shorts when the plane took off right above us…
Are you planning a trip to the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar? Here’s some of our recommendations.
Cable Cars
Located over 400m above sea level and it takes just over five minutes to get there – hold on to your hats!
Guided taxi up the rock (kids on laps!)
We opted to take a guided taxi ‘up the rock’, it’s really the only way to do it (unless you do cable car or feet!), as the journey up is blocked and guarded to standard vehicles. On our tour, we were in a ‘private’ minibus with four other families and couples. We stopped at various viewpoints along the way and had a personal photographer taking family photos for us. Our driver was also hiding stashes of digestive biscuits to lure the monkeys over if you wanted a photo with the hairy little mammals…I defo didn’t but Stu hesitatntly did!
Shopping
The shopping here reminded me a bit of a sunnier Blackpool – basically full of tut and knock off plastic toys! Everything is tax free, which makes a huge difference and you can pick up some real bargains. There are a few ‘familiar UK’ shops (Next and M&S) and a few nicer shops along the strip but nothing that would make me rush to go there just for that. There’s tonnes of eateries and places to stop for icecreams and drinks too. You can spend in GBP or Euros too, dependent on your preference.
St Michaels Cave
This was included as part of our taxi tour, we got our history hats on and explored the caves. They are really spectacular with stalactites and stalagmites lit up in varying colours, with colours changing all the time. The flooring and steps, as you might expect, are quite wet so do watch your footing if you’re planning a trip. At the end of the tour you are treated to a short light/music show which really was spectacular. Definitely worth a visit. When we exited, Sofia and I went on the hunt for a toilet; as we reached the top of the stairs about to go in, a massive gibraltan monkey leapt out of nowhere so we very quickly hotfooted it down the stone stairs and decided we’d rather wet ourselves than get savaged by a monkey whilst we wee’d!
Sky Walk
Again, the Sky Walk was part of our taxi tour, it was a fantastic viewpoint but honestly, if it wasn’t included I wouldn’t have paid to do it as a solo landmark. In short, the Sky Walk is a glass platform which offers 360 degree views of Gibraltar, the Med and the coast of North Africa and stands at over 425m above sea level. Stu defintiely got wobbly legs looking over the jutted platform but I just used it as a cool photo app (thank god for cycling shorts!)
Trinity Lighthouse
Trinity Point / Europa Point Lighthouse, stands at the Southernmost point of Gibraltar. We actually stumbled acorss the lighthouse by accidnet after our day of exploring, we wandered along the promenade area surrounding the lighthouse but didn’t actually venture inside (you can if you want too – the kdis were historied out). There is a large carpark close by so plenty of space to park if you are driving – and on a clear day there are stunning views of Morocco!
Would I go back to Gibraltar? Maybe – but not for a while. I remember going as late teen when you could drive up the mountain yourself and I remember it being so much more fun. The shops I remember being amazing because they had a taxfree Topshop and fags for about £2…but now neither of those appealed to me, so the shine was dulled a little!
