Gibraltar
 

Hello!

My wife and I will be in Gibraltar next april 30th. We will have a car, but I read that it is not wise to enter Gibraltar with one (due to alleged long entrance queues, high parking fees, etc.)

We will be only one afternoon and would like to walk along Main Street, from Casemates Sq. to Governor House

After that, I would like to go to:

1. Ape's Den
2. The Rock itself
3. Siege Tunnels

You may help me telling me if:

1. Is there enough time in one afternoon to do that?
2. Is it possible to take a taxi around Main St. and ask the driver to go along Ape's Den, The Rock and the Siege Tunnels? Would it be too expensive?


I will welcome any suggestion!
Thanks,

IMHO this is one place that is a total waste of time.

You won;t have any trouble getting a car into Gibraltar - but it may easily take several hours to get back into Spain (they nearly disassembled our car).

I think that you have to take the funicular up to the top to see a lot of the sights - no cab as far as I know. And I believe the monkeys are very nasty and bite.

Yes, it is certainly doable. We hired a taxi to be our tour guide, he was great! Actually looked very much like Michael Caine. I don't know what the price was but I doubt it was very expensive, the ex arranged it through our hotel.

You may also want to include St. Michael's cave.

I know many others here don't like Gibraltar but we enjoyed it for a couple of nights.

I am not a big Gibraltar fan either, but that is not your question.

Agree with not driving across. Can't give you specific parking advice, but we did park in Spain and simply walked across the border - be sure to take passport.

Nearly as soon as you cross, there will be taxis, vans, etc. offering rides. They will take you to the top and stop for a visit to St Michael's cave, some time with the apes, and a tour of the tunnels. If has been awhile since we did it, so I do not know current prices. At the time, I thought it was pricey, but it is an easy way to do everything in a short bit of time. We had the driver drop us off back on the main street for a little walk - not much to see really.

BTW, the best part for me was the Apes, rather charming, though not the cleanest creatures and they will pick your jewelry off and fling it over the rocks, so be careful. I love animals, so having one sitting on my shoulder was fun. You are not supposed to feed them but the van drivers carry fruit that is acceptable food for them.

It was probably 15 years ago when I was there but I do not remember any problems driving in or out.

Have no idea what it may be like now with the tensions going on.

We were in Gibraltar last Sept. as part of a cruise and we enjoyed our time there. I would not want to have a car there. Parking is really bad and everyone says it is really miserable trying to get back into Spain. We took a taxi and were able to see everything we wanted to see (including caves and apes. We were warned not to have earrings or other jewelry that came off on while with the apes and I also took off a scarf I had n my hair. Otherwise it was fine. I say go for it!!

We spent a day there (actually from 12:00-16:00-ish) in December and were able to eat at a mediocre English pub, ride the cable car up, see the moneys, see the tunnels, walk down the rock, grab a beer, and leave.

I will say that it is worth the trouble if you're interested in history 8escpecially the Napoleonic Wars. The tunnels are interesting and the monkeys are cool (but don't touch them unless you want lice).

There is a certain thrill on a good day of being able see Africa across the Straits.

It was fun to watch the ape jump on the head of the German woman who decided that the sign prohibiting food outside the restaurant didn't apply to her.

It was fascinating to hear the Gibraltarese fervid in their loyalty to the Queen and Great Britain (99% were pro-British in the latest vote).

Was it Worth It? Mmmmmmm.

As other says
Park in Spain, the Spanish customs problem changes daily or even hourly. Walk across and grab a taxi.

Interesting that you taged this "Spain" :-)

I guess I'm one of those strange people that enjoy Gibraltar a lot. Yes, traffic can be lousy, and sometimes (not all the time) getting back into Spain can be a pain. (However the Gib police maintain a website with webcams and running estimates of wait time - http://www.frontierqueue.gi/ )

Last time we stayed at the Rock Hotel, which could easily have been the setting for the Grand Budapest Hotel or some Agatha Christie book - pictures of Winston and Ike (who planned the North Africa campaign there) on the walls, as well as John and Yoko, who were married there (as was Sean Connery.) Gin and tonic on the verandah overlooking the harbour - http://gardyloo.us/20120223_1516hd1s.JPG - while the apes try to steal things. Watch out, they can be spiteful - http://gardyloo.us/Spiteful%20Apes.JPG - but not these two - http://gardyloo.us/Barbary%20apes%20Gibraltar.JPG

There's a good lighthouse at Europa Point - http://gardyloo.us/Europa%20Point%20Lighthouse.JPG and a remarkable mosque built by the Saudi government that ostensibly can be seen from Muslim Morocco, perhaps to remind them that restoration of the Caliphate is still possible? http://gardyloo.us/20120224_40s.JPG

One interesting aspect of Gib is the high number of Jewish residents; if I had to guess I wouldn't be surprised if there as many Jews living in Gib as there are in the rest of southern Spain.

It's a fascinating little place, quite anachronistic. IMO definitely worth a visit.

Thank you guys.....I see that not everybody likes Gib.
I will have to go there to submit my opinion!
Tks

Sparkchaser, I was reviewing your help, and wonder if you can tell me if all the ride you did it in a taxi or with your own car?

If it was a taxi, where did you take it?

Do you remember aproximately how much did you pay and from where to where was the ride?
Tks!!

We drove into Gibraltar, parked somewhere near main Street by a bank, walked to the cable cars, got off at the end, walked to the top, and walked back down to the siege tunnels. After the siege tunnels, we managed to talk a taxi driver into taking us down to the WWII tunnels before they closed. I think I paid him 5 pounds but it saved us time from walking down. After the WWII tunnels we walked back down into town, meandered around back towards Main Street, ducked into some alley pub for beers and fish & chips, then went back to the car and left. It was a long day but I felt it was worth it.

As an aside, I cannot recommend The Angry Friar (the big pub on Main Street).