Each of our winter getaways to Spain have taken on a bit of a tenor or theme. The theme this year is definitely “road trips”. It started in Madrid where we decided to take off to the city of Toledo one day. It continued in Nerja with a trip down to Malaga… Which you haven’t even read or seen about yet… and then back up to the city of Córdoba, which I am assuming you have already read about here.
Because one of the Love-goddess’ dearest friends and her husband were also in Nerja for five weeks, we agreed that we would do an overnight trek down to Gibraltar, and then work our way back along the coast, so that they could have a look at Estepona and Marbella. It is probably best if I present this outing to you in two parts. Gibraltar by itself, and then the other two towns together.
When I say “trek” down, it is a bit of a stretch. Distances are relatively short here on the Costa. If you were to consult Google maps, you would see that it only takes about two hours and fifteen minutes to drive from Nerja to Gibraltar. And that, as far as we know, or understand, is more or less, the full length of the Costa del Sol.
Driving means renting a car, of course. We have done this several times before here, so not a big deal. We ended up renting through Autos Nerja and paid a semi-reasonable €234 for three full days. Last winter, because of how unsettled the car rental business was, a couple of rental places we spoke to wanted us to pay close to €200 for just one day. Yikes!
I would have to say driving here is certainly no more difficult than at home. A beautiful four-lane highway runs up and down the full length of the coast, so it is easy to get to places quickly. We were heading towards Algeciras, which adjoins Gibraltar.
Driving through and in cities here, isn’t that big a deal. You only have to be mindful of the differences in signage. There are traffic circles here, but we have lots of experience with those at home, so that’s not problematic either.
Driving in Gibraltar, however, is a bit different. When I explained to Alejandro at the car rental agency that we were going to Gibraltar, he immediately explained to me how to get the sideview mirrors to pull in tight to the car when driving on Gibraltar’s occasionally incredibly narrow streets. Having been in a car on the narrow streets of Gibraltar before, I knew what we were in for and paid attention. 🙂
GIBRALTAR
Perhaps a little bit of general information about historical and modern Gibraltar is in order – from the font of all knowledge, Wikipedia. Some text and links have been removed. You can find the whole article linked here.
“Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory and city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi) and is bordered to the north by Spain. The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, at the foot of which is a densely populated town area, home to over 32,000 people, primarily Gibraltarians.
The name is derived from Arabic: جبل طارق, romanized: Jabal Ṭāriq, lit. ’Mount of Tariq’ (named after the 8th-century Moorish military leader Tariq ibn Ziyad). That continues to be its name in Arabic.
Today, Gibraltar’s economy is dominated by four main sectors: financial services, online gambling, shipping, and tourism, which includes duty-free retail sales to visitors.”
We had been to Gibraltar in 2017, but it was basically a drive-by photo shoot. This time we decided to stay overnight and try and get a sense of what Gibraltar, and what living there, was all about. And we are glad we did.
Arriving and Staying
When going to Gibraltar, the most important thing to remember is that you need your passports to get in. It is part of Britain and there is a border between it and Spain. The other thing you must deal with is that the currency is pounds sterling, not euros. Most retail outlets and restaurants will accept euros, but you get really stiffed on the currency exchange in most. We simply used our credit cards to pay for everything.
We booked rooms at the O’Callaghan Eliott hotel. It is centrally located, and we did want to treat ourselves a bit on this outing. Getting from La Línea de la Concepción on the Spanish Side of the border to our hotel was a wee bit of an adventure Have a look.
“Photo Carousel” – Once again, I am using the “Carousel” format to present the photos in the best possible manner. If you click on the first photo (top-left) in a grouping, the whole thing pops up allowing you to click through the collection of images in a large format.
The Peak
Well, let’s cut right to the chase. The main reason tourists are drawn to Gibraltar… other than the duty-free shopping I suppose… Is to mount the heights and check out the view from the top of the rock of Gibraltar and visit the many other attractions it offers. Those include visiting St. Michael’s Caves, checking out the military Great Siege Tunnels, and frolicking with the “Apes”… Barbary Macaque monkeys. Actually, stay well clear of the apes because they are prone to thievery, and can be vicious.
That said, I do not do high places, so I have never been to the top of the peak. What I have to offer though are some nice photos that the Love-goddess and friends took up there the last time we were in Gibraltar in 2017.
Main Street & Walking Around
Meanwhile, back on planet Earth. The original principal hangout in the town itself is the main pedestrian street called… ta-da… Main Street. I probably should have taken some photos to make this fact stand out, but it is clear that most of the retail outlets identify themselves as duty-free shopping opportunities. A nice enough street to stroll, however.
There are a few interesting places and historical sites to visit in the town and its outlying areas. We did not get to many of them – Moorish Castle, Lighthouse at Europa Point, Botanical Gardens, Museum, etc. If you are coming here, it would probably be worth a two-night stay if you want to see everything. You can walk to most places if you are fully mobile, but there is a local bus service.
Let’s check out the local scenery.
Eating In Gibraltar
Let’s face it, the other thing that tends to consume a lot of time when you’re visiting interesting places (when you’re not doing all the touristy things) is looking for places to eat. I love eating in new places and I’m always on the lookout for something interesting and “local” to try out.
That goes even if that means eating in an English pub hundreds of miles away from England. 🙂 This little collection of photos shows you places where we had lunch, dinner and breakfast and how much it cost in each of those places. Right after check-in, we ended up at the Horseshoe Pub, which reminded me of one of my old musical haunts in Toronto, the Horseshoe Tavern.
Later that night we went out in search of an open restaurant. Rick Steves wasn’t kidding when he basically said that they roll up the streets at night. The Love-goddess, Joan L. And Bruce B. wandering the empty streets.
We ended up heading off towards Irish Town where we found an open pub called the Clipper. We did not see a single open restaurant on the the way. The following morning we had breakfast at another local restaurant on Main Street.
The Waterfront
When we checked into the hotel, the front desk clerk (when I asked him where we should go to have lunch) encouraged us to walk down to the end of Main Street to the Casemates Square to check out its cafe culture.. He further suggested that, alternatively, we could also go down to the waterfront and eat at Ocean Village.
We did neither, but on our second day, while Bruce and Joan were up on the mountain, we decided we would walk down and check out Ocean Village on the waterfront. I’m not sure I can give it a fair appraisal because it was cloudy and coolish the day we went. Not terribly inviting.
Leaving Gibraltar. The Love-goddess, takes one last photo of the runway… and herself.
If you end up wintering on the Costa del Sol at some point, I would suggest that you put Gibraltar on your short list of places to visit while you were there. Just remember to take your passports!
And now, it is time to move on to our next destination, Estepona.
