On this post I will highlight what we visited in the small time we spent in Gibraltar city on Day 3. It will give you an idea of what to do in a very limited time in the city.
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We left Marbella at about 11 o’clock and arrived in La Linea de la Concepción in about an hour. We returned the car at the car hire company and crossed the border to Gibraltar for the last time.
Our flight with BA was cancelled and we could not get through the phone lines while in Marbella, so left to sort this out at the airport when we arrived in Gibraltar.
When we arrived at the airport, there was no one at the BA desk and we were informed that the descks are only open when there are flights leaving or arriving.
That was a surprise, and the only option left was to call them. After some time trying to get through, I managed to speak to someone, and a new flight was booked for next day.
It meant that we had to stay in Gibraltar for another night and we had to find a last-minute hotel for our stay.
Where is Gibraltar? Below is a map showing the places we went to or passed by on our last day in Gibraltar:
We booked Hotel Elliott in the centre of Gibraltar and got a taxi to take us there.
That was a very nice hotel in a good location and when we arrived although we were earlier for the check-in, they allowed us access to the room and they upgraded us to a better room without any extra charge. That was something good from a not very good situation.
However, there are worse things in life than being held for an extra day/night at as nice as place as Gibraltar!
It was lunch time, so we walked down the high street to Casemates Square and had lunch at one of the restaurants there.
After lunch we walked all the way to the Botanic Gardens which is next to the cable car.
We didn’t have time to visit it on our previous 2 days in Gibraltar, (see my posts Gibraltar Day 1 and Day 2), so took the opportunity to do it now.
Gibraltar Botanic Gardens also known as “The Alameda Gardens” was created in 1816 by the British Governor of Gibraltar General George Don. The main purpose was to create a recreational area for the stationed soldiers to enjoy while off duty.
The entrance to the gardens is via some stairs leading to iron gates and a small square that has the bust of General George Elliott, Governor of Gibraltar during the Great Siege of 1779/ 1782. The entrance is free.
From there you can chose to stroll via the various paths amongst the plants and trees. Some of them are native and some are from abroad. Some of the trees are from the early days of the gardens and are at least 200 years old. These trees are Stone Pines, Olive trees and Dragon Trees.
As you would expect, the gardens are a place of relaxation, in a shaded oasis of luscious plants, a lake full of Koi carps with water lilies and a waterfall.
There is a bridge over the lake and also an open-air theatre where cultural events take place. There is a special place called “The Dell”, where weddings can also take place.
We strolled all over and spent about two hours enjoying the gardens. Afterwards we walked back to the hotel and sat at their terrace to enjoy the rest of the afternoon with some drinks.
We decided to have dinner at the hotel and have an easy and relaxing evening, hoping everything would be OK with our flight back home next day.
Dinner at the hotel was OK, but they were having problems due to not enough staff to serve the amount of people staying (many from the same flight that had been cancelled and another flight from Easy Jet that had also been cancelled).
We heard from the hotel staff that flight cancellations were a normal occurrence and at least one flight was cancelled every week, but we don’t know why.
Next day we had breakfast at the top of the building near the swimming pool. It was a very good breakfast with all the usual breads, fruits, yogurts, and familiar British breakfast.
We checked-out after breakfast and ordered a taxi to take us to the airport. However, other guests had the same idea, and the reception area was full of people checking-out and waiting for taxis.
Taxis took ages to come and there was a point that I started to worry that we would be late and could miss the flight. So, people started sharing the taxis and that was what we did to get to the airport in time to catch our flight.
We managed to get there on time and this time and, better, the flight was not cancelled. After we got back home, we asked for a refund of our expenses and BA had refunded us for the extra night accommodation, food and taxis fares that we had paid.
This was the end of a very nice trip to Gibraltar and the south of Spain. I hope the Spain series can give you an idea of what is possible to do in the time allocated for this trip and I hope it helps you to plan your own itinerary to Gibraltar and the south of Spain.
There is still a lot to see in the area and I hope I can return one day to explore again this beautiful part of Spain.
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TRIP
Below you will find a list of what to visit, where to stay and where to eat in Gibraltar. I classified each place as follows:
BOLD – Visited, tried and recommended
NOT BOLD – Not visited or tried, but planning to visit or try and heard very good reviews
RED – Visited and tried but do not recommend, avoid or be cautious
*** – Excellent
** – Good
* – OK
£££ – Expensive
££ – Fair and affordable
£ – Cheap
WHAT TO SEE IN GIBRALTAR
1 – The Cable Car – ***
1 – Gibraltar Nature Reserve – ***
2 – The Ape’s Den – ***
3 – Sky Walk – ***
4 – O’Hara’s Battery – ***
5 – Mediterranean Steps – ** (two stars only because of the hike)
6 – St. Michael’s Cave – ***
7 – Windsor Bridge – ***
8 – The Great Siege Tunnels
10 – The Moorish Castle
11 – Europe Point
12 – Gibraltar Botanic Gardens – ***
WHERE TO STAY
1 – Sunborn Gibraltar – 5* – £££
2 – Studio Apartment in EuroCity Carrara – 4* – ££
3 – The Elliott Hotel – 4* – ££
4 – The Rock Hotel – 4* – ££
5 – Downtown Suite – 3* – ££
If you prefer to look for your own accommodation just search and book via the widget below:
WHERE TO EAT
1 – Monique’s Bistro – *** – ££
2 – Charlie’s Steak and Grill – ££
3 – Nunos@The Express – ££
4 – Lord Nelson – ££
5 – The Rock Hotel Dining – £££
If you tried any of my recommendations above, please send me a message and tell me about your experience good or bad, so I can update the list accordingly. Thanks!
If you enjoyed reading this post you might also like to read:
On this trip to Spain:
1 – Experiencing Gibraltar -Day 1
2 – Experiencing Gibraltar – Day 2
3 – Cádiz, The Jewel of Andalusia, Spain – How to spend Day 1
4 – Cádiz, The Jewel of Andalusia, Spain – How to spend Day 2
5 – How to Explore Jerez de la Frontera and Seville – Day 1
6 – Seville – Day 2
7 – Córdoba
8 – Granada – Day 1
9 – Granada – Day 2
10 – Setenil de las Bodegas and Ronda
11 – Marbella
12 – Gibraltar – Day 3
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