A weekend camping in Gibraltar
Gibraltar, a piece of land spanning just 3 square miles in the south of Spain but still owned by the British, the 2 most common things that come to mind are monkeys & duty free. If you’re thinking about visiting Gibraltar in your van then carry on reading, I’ll list a good parking place along with other relevant information for a few nights in Gibraltar.
Bordering with Spain it would be rude not to visit if you’re passing, there’s lots to see and some great walking trails around “the rock” click below to see the Expedia youtube video, this will give you some tips & an over view of Gibraltar.
As you can see from the video the views are breathtaking, unfortunately we didn’t hike on the best day of the year! Gibraltar see’s 300 days of sunshine and we hiked on a grey damp day, but it was still incredible, it was the first time I’ve ever seen monkeys in the wild! So what did I do? SELFIE of course!
We began our hike from Jews Gate. They advised us not to take the dog but then one of the men said it would be fine, we should just carry a stick & that’s what we did, monkeys don’t like dogs and they will try to attack the dog if you leave it alone, if you have the option to go without your dog then I’d highly recommend it! But if you can’t leave the dog then go, but be careful and carry a stick.
Here are some photos from the hike
It took us around 50-60 minutes to hike the Mediterranean steps, the man at the gate said we could do it in 20! I think you’d have to be running! It’s a beautiful walk up, surrounded by flowers with the odd bunker scattered along the way, the views would be amazing on a clear day although in the sun this would be an exhausting walk.
Cost for a walkers ticket: £5.00 each or €7.00 we took the walkers ticket as it gave us access to the main guns, skywalker and the apes den, as we started our hike late the other exhibitions would have been closing. You can do the tunnels for £8.00 or they’re included if you buy a full tourists ticket.
After all this hiking we ended up in the town center ready to head back to the van via bus, unfortunately the busses don’t give change and they don’t accept card either! I believe It costs £1.80 for a one way ticket or £2.50 for a days travel, they do accept euros but it has to be the correct amount.
Camping in Gibraltar
You may be advised upon entry that you’re no allowed to sleep in your van in Gibraltar, when entering I said I would be leaving later that day, the customs officer told me if I was found sleeping in my vehicle they would escort me back to Spain! You’re allowed to camp on private property with the land owners permission but when you visit you’ll realise that’s almost impossible!
We ended up parking at Europa point click HERE for the google map location. This is a totally free public car park, it’s listed on the Park4Night app.
The police passed us here several times and we were never asked to move, we were there over the weekend so perhaps they were too busy dealing with drink related issues or they just let people stay until it gets too crowded? Either way we had a trouble free stay in Gibraltar, I hope if you visit it’s the same for you!
Shopping & Fuel
The most exciting thing for me in Gibraltar was definitely seeing a Morrisons! I left the U.K. 6 months ago and since it’s been hard to get some of the vegan junk food I love, including their donuts! There are various “duty free”.
Diesel was around £0.93/L when I visited, this is still even cheaper than Spain!
Whilst in Gibraltar I decided to take advantage of the no VAT and had two new tyres fitted to the rear axle, I had these done at the Quick Fit service station very close to the border, not to be confused with KwikFit in the UK! This is a small family run tyre business, Nigel offers a good service with competitive rates, check them out on facebook or google!
Leaving Gibraltar
This can be a lengthy process, my friends left Gibraltar around 5pm and it took them around 3 hours to get across the border, locals told me sometimes the Spanish just let it build up on purpose, there is a solution to this if you just want to visit the rock, you can park on the spanish side and walk across, this way you’ll have no issues! Or you can plan the time you leave, keep in mind if you want to leave with more than the standard allowance (200 cigarettes or 1 litre of Spirits) then it’s prohibited to leave between 2100-0700 I believe.
Have a great time in Gibraltar if you decide to stop and visit! Do your shopping and fill up your fuel tank at the same time!
Adam – @aboutavan
About A Van 
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