Monkeys and the Rock of Gibraltar: What to See in Gibraltar + Photos

Gibraltar always had a certain inexplicable pull for me, and in the end it really won me over. Because it’s a country of its own. Because it’s a little piece of England “in Spain”. Because of the unique pack of monkeys. Because of the famous Rock of Gibraltar. Because it was the key point for controlling the Mediterranean. Because the planes land on a slightly unusual runway here. And because you can see Africa from here. They say it’s one of those places that once you visit, you have to come back. I suppose I can confirm that, I’ve been here twice.

The most important things to see, know and experience:

• The Rock – the iconic rock is visible from far away and the views from it are gorgeous,
• the Gibraltar runway – the only road into Gibraltar crosses the runway,
• the monkeys live right up on the Rock and there are plenty of them,
• since 15 July 2026, entry to Gibraltar works like between EU countries – no UK ETA to deal with, an ID card is enough to enter by land and border checks are gone,
• after all those Spanish specialities you might welcome a change in the form of an English breakfast, plenty of places here serve one.

If you’re working out how to even get to Gibraltar, have a look at my detailed article How to get from Málaga to Gibraltar.

Tickets, day trips and experiences in Gibraltar

You can take the cable car up the Rock for the monkeys and St. Michael’s Cave, but in season there’s a queue for it, so it pays to have a ticket ahead.

• Gibraltar City Pass – a combo with the cable car and 20 attractions; it covers the entries in one go, no queues on the spot.
• Day trip from Málaga – a full-day trip with transport there and back, no dealing with parking at the border.
• Day trip from Seville – a full-day trip; Seville is far, so without organised transport it’s nearly impossible in one day.
• Dolphin watching – a trip from Tarifa with a dolphin cruise; the boat has limited capacity, book ahead.

What to see in Gibraltar

Gibraltar is ideal for a day trip. There’s plenty to see, but it’s all packed into such a small space that you’ll get through it fairly quickly, even if you spend two hours playing with the monkeys after a long English breakfast.

Centre: Main Street

The Rock of Gibraltar – Top of the Rock

The limestone rock, Top of the Rock, has plenty of beautiful viewpoints and it’s where the macaques live. You can walk up, it’s only about 3 km, but it’s quite a climb and if you come in season, it will be pretty hot. The more comfortable option is the cable car.

Walking down is definitely the better choice though – there are several nice, different viewpoints, and even the runway is easier to see on the way down than from the top. Otherwise no bus goes up and you can’t drive your own car up either. The only other option is a tourist minibus with fixed stops for 30 pounds.

Cable car up the Rock of Gibraltar and the Skywalk viewing platform

The second way to get up is the cable car. It costs 12 pounds, runs every 10 minutes and it’s a few metres from the centre. The cable car ticket is not a ticket to the nature reserve though (I think that’s another 5 pounds), nor to the caves and tunnels. Weather can be a problem – when it’s too windy, the cable car doesn’t run.

Up on the Rock, right where the cable car arrives, the highest point holds the steel viewing platform Skywalk, with a beautiful view of the surroundings along the whole western side of Gibraltar.

Apes’ Den viewpoint

The viewpoint sits lower on the Rock than the Skywalk and it’s a favourite spot of the Gibraltar monkeys, where you can watch them in their natural habitat.

Strait of Gibraltar and a dolphin watching boat trip

The famous Strait of Gibraltar is only 14 kilometres wide at its narrowest point between Spain and Morocco. Every now and then someone takes on the challenge of swimming between the two continents. The marine life is rich here – from Gibraltar you can head out on a dolphin cruise; three species live here and the chance of seeing them is really high. Whales live here too, and the Strait of Gibraltar is also an important migration corridor for many bird species flying between Europe and Africa. Spring or autumn is best for watching them.

Europa Point and the lighthouse

The Europa Point promontory is a fair bit beyond the town (there’s a big car park). The Europa Road leads here, and you’ll find a lighthouse from 1841 and the Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim mosque, opened in 1997; it cost 5 million pounds and it’s the southernmost mosque in continental Europe (and one of the largest). By the way, the mosque is visible at night from Tangier (in Africa).

On the other side of the promontory there are just a few hotels and nice views of the Rock from below.

View of Africa from Gibraltar

The best view of Africa is from Europa Point, the southernmost tip of Gibraltar.

In reality though, what you most likely see is the city of Ceuta, which is in Africa but doesn’t belong to Morocco – it belongs to Spain.

Gibraltar Airport (GIB) and the runway

There isn’t much space in Gibraltar, so the landing strip runs straight across the only road into Gibraltar. Whenever a plane lands or takes off, traffic on the road has to be closed – for pedestrians and cars alike. The whole thing is controlled just by traffic lights and a police officer on each side. When I think of how heavily guarded airports normally are, and how impossible it would be to get anywhere near the runway of a big airport, it almost makes you laugh.

I’ll admit it was such an experience for me that when we happened to catch a departure on our way out and were waiting at the lights, I got out of the car and ran up to the traffic light to watch. And then I enjoyed the runway crossing on foot too – I only jumped back into the car on the other side. There are about 5 to 8 flights a day here (5 arrivals, 5 departures), so there’s a fair chance you’ll see a plane land or take off.

Monkeys – macaques

Gibraltar has the only wild colony of monkeys in Europe. They are tailless Macaca sylvanus. You’ll meet them up on the Rock.

A popular legend says that as long as there are macaques in Gibraltar, Gibraltar stays British. And they take this legend really seriously here. The monkeys are pampered – every day locals bring them leftovers from restaurants and homes. In 1942, during the Second World War, when the monkeys were nearly extinct (the last 7 of them), Winston Churchill had 5 females brought over from Morocco immediately, and later ordered that the number of macaques must be promptly raised to at least 24 (from their original home in the forests of Morocco and Algeria). It worked, and today roughly three hundred monkeys live in Gibraltar. The macaque has also been pictured on the 5p coin since 1988 (while the British 5p carries Queen Elizabeth), and since 2004 on the penny too.

The monkeys, overfed daily by tourists, are actually on a diet and under supervision. They shouldn’t be fed – there’s even a 500-pound fine. That said, the monkeys don’t really wait to be offered food, they just take it – whether from your hand or your backpack. Unlike monkeys in Asia, though, you don’t need to worry much about your glasses – they really are mainly after food, and they do squeeze into cars. They’re peaceful and cuddly, but they can also pull a properly grumpy face, probably to make it clear you shouldn’t even think about getting your food back.

Botanical gardens – Alameda Gardens

At the foot of the Rock, a short walk from the lower cable car station, you’ll find the botanical gardens. They’re home to many exotic plants, palms and cacti. There are little ponds and fountains, and several statues too, including one of the Duke of Wellington. Entry is free.

St. Michael’s Cave

A natural limestone cave at the foot of the Rock of Gibraltar, full of stalactites and stalagmites. It has several levels and has served as a shelter and a shrine since ancient times. The chambers are lit up in colours, and I have to say it didn’t impress me all that much.

Moorish gate

The gate at the northern foot of the Rock was built by the Moors back in the 8th century and served as the main entrance to the fortified town.

The Great Siege Tunnels

Corridors carved into the Rock of Gibraltar during the Great Siege in the 18th century. They allowed British soldiers to move unseen and keep a good lookout. Today the tunnels are open to tourists.

Beaches in Gibraltar

Gibraltar is surrounded by the sea, so it also has several beaches. Depending on the location, you have a chance of seeing Africa or watching planes land. On some of them the monkeys will come to visit you too (watch your snacks).

• Sandy Bay – a small beach that was extended with sand brought over from the Sahara.
• Eastern Beach – Gibraltar’s biggest and most popular sandy beach, on the eastern side.
• Western Beach – a quieter beach, popular with locals; it’s the closest to the centre and you can walk there.
• Little Bay – the smallest beach, surrounded by rocks.
• Camp Bay – artificial, with concrete platforms and pools filled with seawater.
• Catalan Bay – a fishing cove full of boats and restaurants where you can have seafood.

What to eat in Gibraltar

When travelling around Spain, where breakfast tends to be on the small side, a proper English breakfast is the obvious move. In Gibraltar you’ll logically get both English classics like fish & chips or cornish pasty (filled pastry pockets, a bit like empanadas), and Spanish cuisine like paella or tapas. To drink, you can have British beer and ale as well as Spanish sangría.

Being so close to Africa also means a Moroccan influence on the food, so you can have tagine, spiced meat stewed with vegetables in a clay pot, or couscous.

A truly local Gibraltarian speciality is calentita, a kind of tortilla made of chickpea flour. The Gibraltarian family dish is rosto, a mix of pasta, mushrooms, meat, tomatoes and cheese. Similar to calentita, there’s also panissa as a small snack – chickpea flour again, but served small, in the shape of chips. Rolitos are baked or fried meat rolls with ham, bacon, egg, olives and sometimes cheese. On Easter Monday, Gibraltar bakes bollo de hornasso, a sweet bread that smells of anise and contains fruit and nuts.

What to visit around Gibraltar

Gibraltar sits in Spanish Andalusia, which has a lot to see – not too far away, for example, the cities of Cádiz, Jerez de la Frontera or Ronda.

Close to Gibraltar is Tarifa, the area’s famous surf town with beautiful beaches. It’s also where you’ll find Punta del Tarifa, the southernmost point of mainland Europe. From Tarifa you can also take a boat to Morocco, namely to the city of Tangier.

Practical information

Over 10 million tourists head to Gibraltar every year, the vast majority by land (by car or on foot), just under 300 thousand by air and a few hundred by boat.

How to get to Gibraltar

Probably the best way to get to Gibraltar is flying to Málaga and driving from there (less than 2 hours). The first time I came was on a road trip through Spain from nearby Castellar de la Frontera, the second time from Málaga. Gibraltar is tiny, so one day is plenty.

Buses also run here from Málaga, ending in La Línea de la Concepción, the Spanish town right on the Gibraltar border, a few minutes’ walk away. The direct service is run by Avanza, line L-610.

What you need to enter Gibraltar

Since 15 July 2026, new and simpler rules apply. Between Gibraltar and Spain, the conditions are now the same as within the Schengen area – meaning once you’ve crossed into the Schengen area, you can move around it freely. Border checks for entry by land (on foot, by car) are gone. All you need to carry is an ID card (and you most likely won’t be showing it to anyone anyway). If you are a British citizen, it’s as straightforward as ever – you travel with your passport as usual, and there’s no UK ETA to deal with.

Gibraltar currency and prices

Gibraltar has its own currency – the Gibraltar pound. If paying by card doesn’t work out, euros are normally accepted everywhere (worst case you’ll get your change back in pounds). But if you get the chance, a Gibraltar pound makes a nice and unique souvenir.

Prices here are more English than Spanish, but nothing terrible. If you really need local cash, there are plenty of ATMs in town.

There is no VAT in Gibraltar, so even though plenty of things aren’t cheap at all, some are quite a bit cheaper than in Spain. Cigarettes, for example.

Time zone

Gibraltar time is the same as in mainland Spain (CET), one hour ahead of the UK.

Roaming

Check with your operator. Many European operators have Gibraltar in their EU zone, so you call and use data on your normal plan, just like at home.

Plugs and sockets

Sockets in Gibraltar are the British type, so if you’re coming from continental Europe, you’ll need an adapter.

Where to stay when visiting Gibraltar

Accommodation is most expensive directly in Gibraltar, but if you want to spend more than a day, it’s of course the best choice. It gets cheaper in the neighbouring Spanish town of La Línea de la Concepción. Most often, though, people come from Málaga and the surrounding area just for the day.

Where is Gibraltar

Gibraltar is located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. Although you can already see Africa from here, it’s not the southernmost point of continental Europe – that’s Punta del Tarifa, a few kilometres further on. The only country Gibraltar borders is Spain, and the border is just 1.2 km long. Gibraltar itself is only 6.5 km² in size, 1.2 km wide and less than 6 km long. It has about 30 thousand inhabitants. Rising above Gibraltar is the big limestone Rock of Gibraltar (or simply The Rock), 426 metres at its highest point.

How did Britain end up in the south of Spain?

Gibraltar was won for England in 1704 by Admiral George Rooke, and it has officially belonged to Britain since 1713, under the Treaty of Utrecht. In a 2002 referendum, 99 % of Gibraltar’s residents voted to stay under Britain. With an equally strong voice they then stood against Brexit in 2017, which didn’t help – Britain, and Gibraltar with it, left the EU.

Gibraltar’s flag, used since 1982, is the only one of the British overseas territories’ flags that doesn’t include the Union Jack. It’s two-thirds white with red at the bottom. In the white part there’s a red castle with a key hanging from it, symbolising Gibraltar as the gateway to the Mediterranean. The Gibraltar naval ensign and the Governor’s flag do include the British flag, and the castle-and-key symbol is always there.

If you happen to be in Gibraltar on Gibraltar National Day, 10 September, you’ll see it hanging from countless windows. Otherwise you can spot it at The Convent, the Governor’s residence.