Megan Banner
Visits Gibraltar, samples the local sights and meets its most famous inhabitants
Reach the top of the Rock and you’ll feel like you’ve conquered the world. With views stretching across to Africa, all 1,400ft of Gibraltar’s defining rock provides the best natural vantage point to see how the land lies – and who’s coming.
Dominating the landscape, this famous iceberg-shaped rock has provided a natural defence from attackers and shaped history.
Now a source of curiosity, packed with the relics of war and lives once lived, amazing natural wonders, and some famous cheeky inhabitants, it’s high on the list for tourists visiting Gib, as locals call it.
Although the most popular way to the top of the Rock is via the cable car, we take the Mediterranean Steps, a steep walking trail on the eastern side.
Starting at the Jews’ Gate Cemetery, the burial site for some of Gibraltar’s chief Rabbis near the entrance to the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, we go through dense shrubs, before it opens out to spectacular views across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco and Algeria.
We pass Goat’s Hair Twin Caves, a pair of caverns once used for goat herding, as well as eerie abandoned military battery outposts. At O’Hara’s Battery at the top, we stand and stare for a while, taking in the sweeping views over the water, the Spanish coast behind us.
Although Gibraltar sits at the tip of the Iberian peninsula, this 2.6 square miles of land is a British overseas territory.
Which means you get the much-loved staples of our country – pounds sterling, red postboxes, pubs, M&S – all blended with laid-back Spanish life, tapas, seafood, sunshine and siestas.
The Rock is also, of course, known around the world for its resident monkeys, Barbary macaques. Not in the slightest bit shy, these cheeky tailless creatures roam freely all over the area, so be prepared to have your picnic pinched! Their home, the Apes’ Den, is outside the top station of the cable car.
We move on to another of the highlights – St Michael’s Cave, the most visited of the 150 caves within the Rock.
Slow seepage of rainwater through the rock has created deep caverns, plus the most amazing stalagmites and stalactites.
Utilised by the British during the Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779-83) to protect the people from bombardment by Spanish and French attackers, it then became a munitions store and an emergency hospital in the Second World War. Now it houses an auditorium, the largest chamber called The Cathedral Cave seats 400 and hosts ballet, drama, music and mesmerising light shows.
The most recent addition to The Rock is the Gibraltar Skywalk, a glass viewing platform, higher than The Shard in London. It links to the thrilling Windsor Suspension Bridge, stretching over a 165ft gorge, which is part of the Thrillseekers Trail.
To familiarise myself with the many other jewels of Gibraltar, I hire an e-bike. You can see most of this nation state in around two hours, taking in its yacht-filled marinas, quirky beaches and bustling squares.
Catalan Bay, with its curving beach, is a great place for paddle boarding. At Camp Bay and Little Bay, there’s a cool beachside lido.
Seafood, caught by the resident fishermen, is one of the highlights of the culinary scene in Gibraltar. Take