The Rock Of Gibraltar
For the sake of this book, putting about 100 thumbs-up symbols before this listing just wouldn’t be economical. But we will let you know that visiting the Rock of Gibraltar will be one of the most fascinating, awe-inspiring, stunning, spectacular, exciting, and overall fun things you ever do. The Rock takes up about 50% of Gibraltar and probably contributes about 85% of what this strait has to offer. Millions of years of tectonic plates, earthquakes, and volcanoes helped create this 426m tall landmass, reaching about as high as the Eiffel Tower with a Ferris Wheel sitting on top of it. The climate on the Rock has changed significantly over time, but today this limestone body perfectly houses caves, tunnels, greenery, birds, and those adorable little monkeys. The Barbary Macaques won’t be sitting in any cages as you climb to the top of the Rock; instead, they’ll be roaming completely free, so make sure to be careful opening up any snacks—they have grabby hands and aren’t afraid to make new friends. You can get so close to these fuzzy friends that you can stare eye-to-eye with mama, papa, or baby macaque, and maybe even reach out to pet them. They’ll accompany you as you hike or drive the paths going steeply up and down this Jurassic land mass. Feel like Indiana Jones, stepping carefully around the stalactites and stalagmites taller than you in Saint Michael’s Cave. Ignore all you learned at middle-school cotillion as you crouch and hunch through the kilometers of tunnels used during the 1782 Siege of Gibraltar. Embrace your inner royalty while exploring the grounds of the ancient Moorish Castle and looking out onto the Mediterranean Sea and all of Gibraltar.
There are a couple ways to go about visiting the Rock of Gibraltar. If you’re up for it, we’d recommend taking the cable car and walking between the sights. While you may need to commit about three hours to this style of travel, you’ll save the most money, see the most things, and get the most one-on-one monkey time. You can take a cable car to the top of the rock to start your hike (and it is a hike—although manageable in flip-flops, you will be most comfortable in walking shoes) by purchasing a ticket at the Cable Car Gibraltar booth (}200 42683wwww.gibraltarinfo.com~Open daily Apr-Oct 9:30am-7:15pm, Nov-Mar 9:30am-5:15pm. Cars every 15min., 6min. trip to the top.) off Europa Road, next to the botanical gardens. Cable Car Gibraltar offers multiple packages for visiting the Rock: just views (£9); views and Nature Reserve, which includes monkey dens, St. Michaels’ cave, Great Siege tunnels, and Moorish castle (£19); views and a dolphin-watching cruise to be conducted after you visit the Rock (£23.50); or views, dolphin watching, and Nature Reserve (£33.50). All tickets are £1.50 less if you decide to purchase a one-way cable car ticket and take the extra 10min. walk down the Rock. If you decide you’d rather take a shorter visit to the Rock, the local Gibraltar Taxi Service (}200 70027wgibtaxiass@gibtelecom.net*4-person min.) runs tours of the Rock as well. They run a 1½hr., four-stop tour for £12 and a 2½hr., six-stop tour for £16. Beware of marketing tactics: while these prices may seem like a bargain, you will have to pay the additional entrance fees at each of the sites on the Rock, some of which are as high as £10.