Gibraltar - much to see and do?
Discussion
Gibraltar is a great place to visit but I agree you will struggle to find enough to do for a week. A long weekend would be great. The rock tour is a good starting place, but some of the battlements need longer to fully explore. Cable car to the top of the rock and the dolphin boats are worthwhile. Beyond that socialising is the main activity. Gauchos steak restaurant is well worth a visit and is positioned behind Ocean village in the wall near the bus Station.
Robertj21a said:
So why go to Gibraltar, why not stay on the mainland and do just a day trip into Gibraltar ?
Gib is an peninsular not an island.I always hire a car from Autos Aguirre (either at the airport or just over the border). Then visit the Andalucian white villages (Casares, Gaucin, Ronda, Vejer). Saville, Jerez and Cadiz are also all great towns / cities as mentioned above.
In Gib you can walk the Med Steps, visit St Michael's cave, WWII and Great Siege tunnels, Trafalgar cemetery etc.
If the weather's not great the Museum is interesting, and Kings Bastian has a cinema, bowling etc. Garrison Library, the old town and Catalan Bay are also worth seeing.
There are a couple of decent restaurants in Irish town.
La Linea is a bit of a hole, but some great Tapas bars - Chimenea; Finlandia; and Alfredos.
Also some good seafood restaurants - Tomilleros.
Hotel choices are a bit limited:
Sunborn is modern and close to Main Street and the Border. Ocean village is very noisy but only on Friday and Saturday.
The Rock Hotel has had a decent re-fit and is relatively good value with the best breakfast.
The O'Callaghan is perhaps in the best location but is tired. Restaurant on the top floor is good for dinner though.
Weather is hit and miss in the winter. There may be a cloud over the Rock while Spain is sunny.
Hope you have a great trip.
In Gib you can walk the Med Steps, visit St Michael's cave, WWII and Great Siege tunnels, Trafalgar cemetery etc.
If the weather's not great the Museum is interesting, and Kings Bastian has a cinema, bowling etc. Garrison Library, the old town and Catalan Bay are also worth seeing.
There are a couple of decent restaurants in Irish town.
La Linea is a bit of a hole, but some great Tapas bars - Chimenea; Finlandia; and Alfredos.
Also some good seafood restaurants - Tomilleros.
Hotel choices are a bit limited:
Sunborn is modern and close to Main Street and the Border. Ocean village is very noisy but only on Friday and Saturday.
The Rock Hotel has had a decent re-fit and is relatively good value with the best breakfast.
The O'Callaghan is perhaps in the best location but is tired. Restaurant on the top floor is good for dinner though.
Weather is hit and miss in the winter. There may be a cloud over the Rock while Spain is sunny.
Hope you have a great trip.
Puggit said:
Dreadful for breakfast though - we got our money back for the first attempt and then ate out for the 2nd day!
That's so true! You're better off going to Jury's on Main Street. Dinner was surprisingly good though.Sunborn charged £100 extra per day for breakfast for a family of 4.
The Rock's breakfast was pretty decent, and when a relative joined me they said they wouldn't charge me. I'm staying there again with my younger daughter in a couple of weeks...
Hainey said:
Any love for the Caleta? I usually stay there out of habit and I do enjoy it. I love the sea view on a grey day 
Never tried it, but must be nice to wake up to that view.20 years ago Devil's Tower Road was very grim, but it's now much improved and Catalan Bay looks quite picturesque.
My old man lives in Ocean Village so I go back regularly to keep an eye on him.
He's a tricky old bugger though, so I always stay in hotels rather than in his flat. Even tried the AC and the Iberostar in La Linea. One day I'll give the Caleta a go...
Hainey said:
Any love for the Caleta? I usually stay there out of habit and I do enjoy it. I love the sea view on a grey day
It's fine, the rooms are nice, bigger than the alternatives. However it's too far out of the way for me, on the 'wrong' side of the rock. That will appeal to some. The restaurant is very traditional old school and rather bland, but good at that. The staff are mostly Spanish with poor English. The food at O'Callaghan is much better overall, but rooms are smaller and it can be noisy on lower floors. The staff are mostly Irish and Morrocan Gibraltans with much better English. Not stayed on the floating hotel it opened after my last trip. My favourite was the Atlantic Suites, short stay apartments.
4x4Tyke said:
It's fine, the rooms are nice, bigger than the alternatives. However it's too far out of the way for me, on the 'wrong' side of the rock. That will appeal to some. The restaurant is very traditional old school and rather bland, but good at that. The staff are mostly Spanish with poor English. The food at O'Callaghan is much better overall, but rooms are smaller and it can be noisy on lower floors. The staff are mostly Irish and Morrocan Gibraltans with much better English. Not stayed on the floating hotel it opened after my last trip. My favourite was the Atlantic Suites, short stay apartments.
The Caleta is my favourite - nice to sit at the bar looking out to sea and I always get a sea view room. Monkeys playing round the pool. The restaurant was very good I thought. I kept whacking up huge bills in it and signing for them and thought I'd get a b
king of work and they never said a word. Result!
I have ended up spending the summer in this part of the world and am smitten by it. In my opinion you will easily fill a week if you are mobile eg
Trips to
- Ronda (Ernest Hemmingway hotspot)
- Archos de la Frontera
- Vejer de la Frontera (exquisite IMO)
- World class beaches at Zahara de Los Atunes
- Sand dunes and natural park with superb vultures and roman ruins at Bolonia
- Markets of Tarifa
- Whale watching trips from Tarifa into the straight - I saw 6 sperm wales on one trip
- Cadiz - my favourite and the food is incredible. Happy to recommend restaurants. c 100km from Gib (See Rick Stein's prog on there just the other night - still on iplayer)
Gib didn't hold my interest for more than a day but each to his own. I doubt queues in and out would be too bad out of season but can't speak from much experience there -just been once and unlikely to visit again.
If you're happy to explore then monitor flights to Malaga, Seville and Jerez with Ryanair. I'm flying to the latter in a few days for ......£12.00. Direct trains from Jerez to Seville and Cadiz.
Happy planning. PM me if you want more.
Best
Trips to
- Ronda (Ernest Hemmingway hotspot)
- Archos de la Frontera
- Vejer de la Frontera (exquisite IMO)
- World class beaches at Zahara de Los Atunes
- Sand dunes and natural park with superb vultures and roman ruins at Bolonia
- Markets of Tarifa
- Whale watching trips from Tarifa into the straight - I saw 6 sperm wales on one trip
- Cadiz - my favourite and the food is incredible. Happy to recommend restaurants. c 100km from Gib (See Rick Stein's prog on there just the other night - still on iplayer)
Gib didn't hold my interest for more than a day but each to his own. I doubt queues in and out would be too bad out of season but can't speak from much experience there -just been once and unlikely to visit again.
If you're happy to explore then monitor flights to Malaga, Seville and Jerez with Ryanair. I'm flying to the latter in a few days for ......£12.00. Direct trains from Jerez to Seville and Cadiz.
Happy planning. PM me if you want more.
Best
We're back.
We had a great time and many suggestions on here proved very helpful (e.g. runway side room on the Sunborne)
Don't think we left much unexplored in our 4 days (apes, cable car, caves, tunnels, cemeteries etc) and did major amounts of walking including down from the top of the rock. As a tourist 4 days was more than enough time but would happily go back again if just to chill, sit out in the winter sun with drink in hand watching the world go by (18-20ish during the day).
We had a great time and many suggestions on here proved very helpful (e.g. runway side room on the Sunborne)
Don't think we left much unexplored in our 4 days (apes, cable car, caves, tunnels, cemeteries etc) and did major amounts of walking including down from the top of the rock. As a tourist 4 days was more than enough time but would happily go back again if just to chill, sit out in the winter sun with drink in hand watching the world go by (18-20ish during the day).
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