Generally, when you’re speaking in British pounds, the term “budget” isn’t applicable. But I think we managed to do Gibraltar affordably. Since I had such a hard time finding any info about it before we went, I wanted to put our itinerary and costs down in case anyone planning on going to Gibraltar stumbles across this.
Note: this itinerary involves a lot of hill walking. Wear comfortable shoes, bring plenty of water, and expect to be exhausted at the end.
- Do it as a day trip from Malaga. Take the 7am Portillo bus from the Malaga bus station to La Linea. We purchased our tickets the day before. Also buy the 19:00 return ticket. Each way =13.74€ (no discount for buying round trip).
- Buy water and snacks at a grocery store the day before you go. Supermarkets aren’t open at 6:30am, so you won’t be able to buy them the morning of your trip.
- Arrive La Linea 10am. Go left out of bus station and head to immigration. Walk across immigration.
- You can take the red #5 bus to city center (1.50£ one way or 2£ return). Note, these tickets do not enable you to ride other bus lines in the city. Alternatively, you can walk to Casemates square, which would probably take 20 minutes. I wish we had just walked it instead of taking the bus. If you do this, you must walk across the airport runway.
The runway is just after immigration, and you walk across it to reach the town. - Be aware, there are free blue city buses, but these are only for residents.
- Go to information center (one is located in Casemate’s square, the other is in John Mackintosh Square) for a free map. Ask any questions you may have.
- Head to Irish Town for a hearty English breakfast. Most restaurants offer menu items for similar prices, so it really doesn’t matter where you eat. We are at the Clipper, which was great. We paid 5.95£/pp, which included 2 eggs, 2 rashes bacon, 2 sausages, 2 pieces toast, baked beans, grilled tomato and coffee. This is well worth the cost, as it will fuel you for the day, and will probably be your main food on the rock.
- Walk up Engineer Rd to Jews Gate. At the top you are required to purchase a ticket to venture up further. We bought the 10£ tickets, which allowed us access to Nature reserve, St Michael’s Cave, Great Siege Tunnels, Ape’s Den, and Moorish Castle.
These tickets do not allow access to O’Hara’s Battery and WWII tunnels, which is fine, as I believe you can get a great idea of tunnels in the Great Siege Tunnels. Alternatively, if you are on a really tight budget, you can pay 0.50£ to just walk around the nature reserve, see monkeys, and hike the rock. (I found it worth the price to see the Great Siege Tunnels, but not St Michael’s Cave or the Moorish Castle). - Walk up the road to St. Michael’s Cave. Apparently there are hiking trails which take you to the same spot, but the park rangers advised us to stay on the road. Take pictures of monkeys outside the cave. Go inside to see the somewhat kitschy cave.
- Hike up the road past the cave then take the pathway to Douglas Lookout. If you’re adventurous, climb the rocks (carefully!) at the end of the path to get a view from the top. Note, there is a shear drop on the other side of the rocks. Be cautious.
- Walk back down the way you came, past St Michael’s cave to the Ape Den. We actually saw more monkeys outside St Michael’s Cave than at the Ape Den. Alternatively, consider walking along the ridge of the rock to the cable car summit instead.
- Head uphill for Great Siege Tunnels.
- There is a Siege museum near the tunnels, included in the 10£ ticket price, but we didn’t have the time or energy to see it.
- Peak into the Moorish castle on your way back into town if you have time.
- Take the stairs into town and grab a beer (try the Gibraltar beer if you can find it). We had one for 3.5£ at the Gibraltar Arms.
- Take the 18:15 or 18:30 bus #5 (another 1.50£) from city center back to Frontera (immigration). Walk back to bus station.
- Arrive Malaga at 22:00.
