Official Language:
English
Secondary Language:
Spanish
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Currency:
Gibraltar Pound
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Population:
Approximately 29,272 people call Gibraltar home.
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Weather:
Climate and current weather information for Gibraltar: Temperatures during the summer range from 60-80°F/16-27°C. Evening and early mornings are cooler, from the 40-50's °F (4-10°C). If arriving later in the summer, expect slightly cooler temperatures. Sunshine is plentiful across the region, however summer travel brings a bit more rainfall and humidity.
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Gibraltar is a large promontory of jurassic limestone, situated in the western entrance to the Mediterranean. The 5km-long (3 mile-) rock contains 143 caves, over 48km (30 miles) of road and miles of tunnels.
Cruising this region gives you the opportunity to see this rock. Therefore, go ahead and explore it. At the base of this rock, you can either shop or sunbathe. For nearly 300 years it was British, its unique setting gives the Mediterranean mood.
In 1462 Spain recovered Gibraltar from the Arabs, but during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1704, it was taken by British troops and under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 it was given to Britain. However, since then, ownership has been up for debate between Spain and Britain.
The most famous residents of Gibraltar are the Rock apes (a species of tailless monkeys). They are playful and friendly but at the same time they are wild animals. Be careful when near them, do not try to touch them. An internal self-governing British Crown Colony, Gibraltar has given its name to the Bay and the Straits which it overlooks. The town of Gibraltar is an 18th-century British Regency town built on a 15th-century Spanish town which was, in turn, built on a 12th-century Moorish town. Well worth a visit is St Michael’s Cave, part of a complex series of interlinked caverns, which is used for concerts and ballet. Another popular tourist activity is the cable-car trip to the top of the Rock, stopping at the Apes’ Den on the way. Gibraltar’s history as a British colony means that it can offer a large selection of British dishes as well as more international fare. The Colony has a number of discos, nightspots and a casino complex, open until the early hours of the morning.
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Attractions |
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The Upper Rock Nature Preserve:
If you're pressed for time, you bypass most of the attractions of Gibraltar and concentrate instead on The Upper Rock Nature Preserve, accessible from Jews' Gate, where you will find: St. Michael's Cave, the Apes Den, the Great Siege Tunnels, and the ruins of the old Moorish Castle. All of these attractions are open daily from 9:30am to 6:30pm. A combination ticket to the attractions costs £7.50 ($13) and includes the price of the one-way cable car to the Upper Rock. You can purchase a ticket for only the cable car if you wish, a round-trip ticket going for £6.50 ($11), £5 ($8.25) one-way, but individual tickets to the attractions. The cable-car departure point is signposted near the eastern end of Main Street in the center of Gibraltar. Cable cars (tel. 350-778-26) depart every 10 minutes form 9:30am to 5:15pm, with the last return at 5:45 pm.Contact Addresses: For more information on the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, contact the Gibraltar Tourist Board.
Apes Den:
The cable car stops first at the Apes Den, along Old Queen's Road. Here you can see the famous Barbary apes cavorting on the sides of rocks. Despite their name, they aren't really apes but cinnamon-colored tail-less monkeys (macques). Legend has it that the first monkeys were either brought in by the Moors or that they found their way through a tunnel that linked St. Michael's Cave with Africa. Regular mealtimes -- the monkeys are fed daily at 8am and 4pm by a member of the Gibraltar Regiment -- have helped to stop their descending to the town for food. The monkeys are carefully tended and protected by the British, since they have a saying, "When the apes leave the Rock, so will the British."The other two major attractions here are located in opposite directions from the Apes Den. To reach St. Michael's Cave.
St. Michael's Cave:
You have to walk east along Queen's Road. The caves are a natural grotto whose magnificent auditorium is used for concerts and live performances. The lower cave and lake, reached by guided tour, are connected to the Upper Cave (open to the public) by a passage spanning the 15 to 45m (50- to 150-ft.) difference in depth. A labyrinth of passages has formed naturally in the porous rock and it's possible for even an amateur to travel miles underground
The Great Siege Tunnels:
The final of the big three attractions, the Great Siege Tunnels lie at the western end of the Nature Preserve, facing Spain. To reach them, you have to walk west along Queen's Road, bypassing the Apes Den.
There are fine observation points along the road with views over the harbor and toward Spain. At the end of the road you reach The Upper Galleries, now known as The Great Siege Tunnels. These are not picture galleries but large tunnels hewn in solid rock which are used mostly as vantage points for guns hauled up to the Rock to protect it from the Spanish mainland. The tunnels were carved out during the Great Siege of 1779 to 1782. Governor Lord Napier entertained Ulysses S. Grant, the former U.S. president, in 1878, with a banquet here in St. George's Hall.
Directly south of the tunnels lie the ruins of the Moorish Castle, which you can skip if you're short of time. It was constructed by the descendants of Tariq who captured the Rock in 711.
Tower of Homage:
Dates from 1333, dominating the only land entrance to Gibraltar. The tower and adjoining walls are floodlit at night, a dramatic sight for passengers on ships sailing through the Straits of Gibraltar. Little remains of the original castle, other than parts of its outer walls running between the castle, the harbor, and the ancient Moorish Pier.
Most day-trippers end their sightseeing of Gibraltar at this point. Those who want to make a full day of it return to the Apes Den and take the cable car back down into the center of Gibraltar, where they can explore some of the city attractions. A few hearty souls walk down the mountain, some of them spending as much as 2 hours doing so. Once you reach the heart of town you can cover the attractions immediately below on foot.
The Gibraltar Museum:
Bomb House Lane (tel. 350-742-89), is installed in a 14th-century Muslim bathhouse. The museum lies close to the Roman Catholic cathedral, just off Main Street. To anyone intrigued with the history of the Rock, the exhibits are fascinating. There is a large-scale model of the Rock, showing every dwelling existing in 1865, plus the land reclamations since then. There is also a reproduction of the famous "Gibraltar woman," the ancient skull discovered in 1848 in Forbes's Quarry. Other exhibits depict the history, from prehistoric cave-dwelling days to the present. There is a mass of artifacts, cannon balls, weapons, and military uniforms. Charging £2 ($3.30) for admission, the museum is open Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm and on Saturday 10am to 2pm.
The Convent and King's Chapel:
Main Street, is the official residence of the governor, Queen Elizabeth's representative on Gibraltar. The Changing of the Guard takes place every Monday at 10:30am -- a ceremonial occasion with the full band and the governor and his family on the balcony to take the salute. The convent was named in 1531 when a wealthy Spaniard gave the Franciscan friars land, materials, and money to erect a convent and a chapel for the burial of himself and his family. There is no sign today of their graves. King's Chapel is open to view, but the convent, a private home, is not. There is a 1,000-year-old Dragon Tree standing on the grounds that you can see if you look down the hill behind the Roman Catholic cathedral.
Main Street:
Which means what it says, runs from Casemates Square, the street proceeding between old buildings and modern stores past the Main Post Office and on to the Piazza, a colonnaded entrance to a paved square where people drink, children play, and desultory business is conducted.
A wander among the narrow lanes and streets leading into Main Street will give you a sense of the past. You come next to the square facing the impressive Roman Catholic cathedral, a converted mosque and one of the first buildings on the Rock. Then it's on to Cathedral Square where the Anglican Cathedral faces a green garden and the harbor.
Just outside the town gate, where there was once a drawbridge and a moat, is the Trafalgar Cemetery, a charming garden blazing with geraniums. Tombstones commemorate many who fell in the battles of Algeciras, Trafalgar, Cádiz, and Málaga in the early years of the 19th century.
Europa Point:
For a final look at Gibraltar, many visitors like to head out to Europa Point, called by many visitors "the end of Europe." Europa Point can either be a stop on your taxi tour or you can reach it from the center of Gibraltar via bus no. 3 or 1B from Line Wall Road, lying just on Main Street. Departures are every 15 minutes during the day, costing 70p (90¢) one-way.
The most southerly point in Europe is actually Tarifa, which is in Spain and can be viewed in the distance. Europa Point was one of the two ancient Pillars of Hercules. The other so-called pillar is 23km (14 miles) across the Straits of Gibraltar in North Africa.
The lighthouseAt Europa Point is the lighthouse built in 1841 by Trinity House, the general lighthouse and pilotage authority for Great Britain, incorporated in 1514 by Henry VIII.
Standing by the lighthouse, you can see across the straits to the west of Ceuta to Jebel Musa (formerly Mount Abyla), the other Pillar of Hercules. Here also is Lloyd's of London's only foreign spotting station, recording every merchant ship entering or leaving the Mediterranean.
The Chapel of Our Lady of Europa:
On Europa Road, back toward the town and east of the Rock, this chapel is much venerated and often saluted by passing vessels. Before the lighthouse was built, the small chapel kept a light burning day and night to warn vessels of the treacherous passage. This small Catholic chapel, converted in 1462, was once a mosque. Today there is a small museum with a 1462 statue of the Madonna and some artifacts. Admission free, the chapel can be entered Monday to Friday 10am to 7pm. You can also visit St Michael's Cave, the Siege Tunnels and, of course, those Barbary apes.
The “Rock” itself can be seen from every spot and no visit to Gibraltar is complete without a cable car ride up its face. Mid-way up the Rock are the Upper Galleries, tunnels excavated in the 1780s to provide strategic defense.
Cruise ship tours include stops at major points of interest. It is not recommended that visitors rent a car since the roads are very narrow and winding. In the cruise terminal you can get tour information and walking tour maps from the Gibraltar Tourist Board.
Shopping:
If you're a shopaholic, you've come to the right place. Gibraltar has been called the shopping center of the Western Mediterranean, with two million people a year coming here just to shop!
Try any of the many shops and pubs in Main Street and Irish Town or enjoy a cable-car ride to enjoy the views of nearby Africa. Here you will find the only completely duty-free port in Europe. Shops along Gibraltar’s main street offer bargains on a variety of quality goods. Jewelry, glassware, porcelain, pottery, leather items, perfume, cashmere, silk, wines, and spirits are all good buys. Lladro figurines sell for half the United States price and 20% less than other parts of Europe. Inside the cruise terminal is an exhibition area where local artisans sell a variety of crafts and paintings.
Beaches:
Closest to the cruise ship terminal is Camp Bay. On the eastern side of the Rock you fill find three beaches, Catalan Bay, Sandy Bay, and Eastern Beach. The most popular is the Sandy Bay beach.
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More Information |
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Tourist Information: Gibraltar Tourist Board
Duke of Kent House, Cathedral Square, Gibraltar
Tel: 74950. Fax: 74943.
E-mail: tourism@gibraltar.gi
Useful Links About Gibraltar:
Gibraltar Travel Information
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