lbaz95

Hello,

We are planning a three-week European trip, a substantial part of which is going to be in the Southeastern part of Spain and Madrid (we have already covered Barcelona and are not covering other parts of Spain on this trip). We have decided to have three bases for our trip: Malaga, Madrid, and Valencia. Is it worth extending the Spain part of the trip to add a couple more days for Gibraltar or is Gibraltar merely worth a day trip from Malaga??

Either way, how do you recommend we get into Gibraltar? I read that driving is a bad idea. I also read that going through customs is a disaster and can take several hours--is this true.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Macross

Park in Spain and walk across border. There is a Holiday Inn Express there now. I would spend the night. Be careful with the monkeys, they are sneaky.

Gardyloo

Driving is iffy - it can be fast or slow, depending on how the Spanish authorities are feeling on a given day. Assuming you'll be coming by car, you can make it something of a real-time decision, based on the Twitter feed or webcams - https://www.frontierqueue.gi/ and https://twitter.com/gibraltarborder

Many people park in La Linea on the Spanish side of the border; there are huge garages right on the border. Note that traffic is stopped when the airport has a landing or takeoff - the main road crosses the main runway.

We've stayed there overnight a couple of times and really enjoyed the place. We stayed at the Rock Hotel - https://www.rockhotelgibraltar.com/ - which gives off a definite colonial vibe - lots of fun. While you certainly can walk around if you don't want to bring in a car, it's an interesting place to drive around.

Europa Point lighthouse



Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim Mosque (supposedly visible from Morocco)



Local residents (on our hotel terrace)

Macross

Great pictures Gardyloo.

twk

Park in La Linnea, walk across the border, and take a taxi tour of the rock. We did it as a daytrip from Marbella, so you'd have a little further to drive, but it's doable. If you must stay the night, you'll be better off sleeping on the Spanish side, as the border checkpoint can cost you a lot of time, and parking in Gibraltar is scarce. Click on my name to read my trip report from 2018 to see how we did this daytrip in detail.