Gibraltar, A British Territory
Cecily, Madison, and I spent our first free weekend studying abroad exploring the Rock of Gibraltar! With just two weeks to plan a trip that didn't put too much strain on our bank accounts, destinations were limited. Some students opted to stay and explore our home-base town of Lanjaron and some stayed in a hostel on the beach just three hours away in Malaga.
Gibraltar turned out to be a great first trip. It's a perfect place to spend just a day or two. It was a place checked off my list and also assurance that I had found travel buddies for the remainder of our time abroad. I appreciate these girls and they're easy going attitudes so much, and I hope they know that!
I broke down my costs for the trip and included my total cost for the 5 day trip at the end of the post.
(Thu. 2/25- Mon. 2/29)
Transportation: $80
We took the bus from Lanjaron to Granada's bus station after class on Thursday then stayed the night at a hostel in Granada's center.
Friday morning we took a very early 4 hour ride on a Renfe Train (pre-book online) from the Granada train station (you can print your tickets at the station) to the Algeciras station, where we walked across the street to the bus station and took the bus to La Linea.
The scenery was beautiful but we could barely keep our eyes open to see it.
We walked to our hostel in La Linea De La Concepcion from the station there.
Everyday we walked along the road by the bay, through security and across the tarmac of Gibraltar's airport into Gibraltar where we walked almost anywhere we wanted to go.
Our walk into Gibraltar.
When our travel plans were super early we usually took a taxi to our destination instead of public transportation. If our hostel had 24 hour reception, they would call and book the taxi for us.
We did this on our way back since our train from Algeciras left at 6 in the morning.
Hostels: $70
I highly recommend booking hostels on booking.com! There is an option that doesn't require a down payment and you can cancel or change your reservation up to a day or two before your stay with no problems.
Pension La Milagrosa was our hostel for the night in Granada. We booked a triple and it was big and even had a kitchen but, it was difficult for us to find the office and the door to our actual room was in a different location directly on the street and because of the noise that caused, I would not recommend this hostel.
Here is a look at the door on the street and the inside of our first hostel, Pension La Milagrosa.
Hostal Carlos II was great. We booked a triple room that was clean and felt safe. There was a restaurant attached to it and it had 24 hour reception and Wi-Fi. Staying in La Linea is really the only option on a college student budget, Gibraltar is super expensive! It's British so they use pounds (but we noticed lots of places took Euros too).
Things to do: $60
It took some convincing, but Madison and I agreed to use the company that works right out of a booth before you enter into Gibraltar for a tour of the Rock.
The guide took us in a van up The Rock to see The Pillars of Hercules where you can see Morocco across the ocean, St. Micael's Cave, the Apes Den, The WWII Siege Tunnels, and dropped us off at the Moorish Castle where we walked back down to town!
I tried to get tickets to a concert in St. Michael's Cave on Saturday Night but they were sold out!
Our first stop was The Pillars of Hercules and a a view of Africa.
Then we explored the inside of St. Michael's concert cave.
Made some new friends at the Barbary Apes Den.
Crawled (okay walked) through the Siege Tunnels. This is a view from one of the man-made cannon holes, looking out onto the Tarmac/Gibraltar Airport.
And finally we were dropped off to explore the ruins of the Moorish castle and mosey back down to town.
I always recommend walking around aimlessly, trying to picture yourself as a local, and noticing the little quirks in a new place. Thanks to Madison for my new found love for that activity.
On our second full day we walked around to the east side of the rock, where the beaches are much better. We admired the colorful houses, ate pizza, and tried to soak in as much of the sunlight as we could, basking on rocks and imported Moroccan sand before the sun sank behind The Rock and we walked back to the other side for dinner.
We explored the Trafalgar Cemetery. Gibraltar has so much history.
Places to Eat: $90
For dinner in Granda we ate at 7 Gatos. Outside seating with heaters,Tinto De Verano, Free Tapas, and Deluxe Tortilla (fo cheap). Perfect.
I stopped at one of the many pastry stall on the way back for this sweet, flaky, nutella-filled treat.
The Clipper Pub - we ate here twice!
The Ocean Village Marina has several restaurants, and a Yacht Hotel & Casino. Here we ate at Bruno's.
We had fun trying to take action shots of pouring this goopy chocolate sauce onto the profiterole dessert. Also note, the Chicken Caesar Salad did not knock my socks off but it was 'ight.
Casemates Square had a few restaurants and bars to go to at night. We had lunch and Lavazza Cappuccinos at Cafe Solo.
The Star Bar is the oldest pub in Gibraltar, we didn't find it until too late, but I would recommend trying to go!
The Weather:
BUNDLE UP. It's windy,cold, and often rainy in Spring!
My total cost for Gibraltar was : $300