[Closed] Gibraltar!

Recommendations?

"Don't bother" will feature highly in the list I suspect 🙂

I wouldn't bother... it's a half day visits worth - day max. Head to the amazing beaches of Tarifa just down the road.

Well predicted Woody 😆

hehe 😀

That place is a toilet, if you have 3 days head over to Spain.

I lived there for 2 years. Gibraltar is a day trip destination and three nights is a waste! Don't do it.

Gibraltar's old town at night

Gibraltar's hidden DH singletrack

😀

That's a bit harsh Simon.
I'm not a fan of the place myself but it could be a good stopping point to visit other areas.
You just spent your time in an office or crap karaoke bar so hardly exploring what's available 😆

I live near Gib and know the area very well.
Email me if you need any info in or arround the area.

Hi Roper - how's tricks? Are you still thinking about heading home at all? Hope all's well 🙂

Did you ever find that monastery in the end?

lol,
Hola AmyGo.
I've been meaning to email to see how you are getting on in your new country. Been hectic hear but sorting things out. Been busy with the art work which is good, lots of running and riding too:).
I'll drop you an email, take care all the best
roper

Gibraltar's hidden DH singletrack

danes - Member

I wouldn't bother... it's a half day visits worth - day max. Head to the amazing beaches of Tarifa just down the road.

Wasn't Tarifa the suicide capital of Europe not so long ago? I'm sure I remember reading that in some Lonely Planet guide or similar. Mainly because it's so windy and sandy.

You either windsurf or run around covering your eyes! Or you did when I was there anyway...

Gib's gone all posh now, if you think its a hole now, you should have seen it when the Naval base was there and the the fleet was in town, between exercises in the Med, oh yes, the rock run, the mad monk, the 3 barrels, Charlie's bar, to name just 3 that had too much of my money. I go there now and think its lost some of its charm!

My uncle lives there-has for 30 years,my cousins we're born there. I visit now and again. I love it. Loads to take in,plenty of war history in the caves if your into that......but I get to see the other side of gib. I don't think anybody would regret a visit.

Gib is a hole.

But within not very far you have both Tarifa and Tangiers. Three days and three cultures (feels like three continents!) You'll hate Gib but the other two are great...

Isn't Gibraltar basically just a rock shared by monkeys (well, apes) and Union Jack-waving Daily Mail readers? (I say this based purely on my prejudice and ignorance).

I say this based purely on my prejudice and ignorance.

Don't worry that's what a lot of people have been doing. 🙂

Gibraltar can be a pain and tacky but as has been said can also be very rich in certain things.
It is boiling over in history. I once stood on one spot which was a Neanderthals burial site, with several bodies. Above that was a camp site/home of a young Arabic shepherd. Next to that a WWII bunker. I was shown this site for free by the head of archaeology in Gib. He took me round just because he likes to show people who have an interest and he is a nice chap. That sort of sums the place up too. Laid back, very friendly, fantastic with children, lovely weather, one of the best places in Europe for bird migration, they have a mixture of African and European wildlife and the Barbary Macaque (monkey) and fantastic diving with so many ship wrecks along the straights.
Gib is small but Atheist,Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhist and just about every other religion get on, mix with each other and certainly don't cause too many problems. They just tend to live and let live.
Minutes away from Gib you can have top quality seafood in one of the restaurants sat on the beach or just go for a 100, 150, 200km road ride on safe friendly quiet roads over mountains, through olive and orange groves and past all the cork trees.

There is also great rockclimbing near by, running, wind surfing, kite surfing, Golf (if yo like that) polo, kayaking and a did I mention you can be in Africa within the hour? I have also skied in the morning and been on the beach in the afternoon, during the season.

For a real mini-adventure, go across the bay to Agerciras and catch a ferry to Morocco for a couple of days.

just go for a 100, 150, 200km road ride on safe friendly quiet roads over mountains

You are joking right? This is the first time I've heard the roads in southern Spain described in this way

No joke. There is a slow increase in holiday motor bikers using the roads but pick you time well you can either have the roads to yourself or pick up a small club peloton along the way. The areas are signposts as "cyclist area" drivers take precaution, or to words of that affect and most do either wait or cheer.

Alan

Hi - the start is simple enough - have a nice easy ride to the top, enjoy the view, and then look for the steep steps by one of the feeding stations about 50m from the cable car.

From there, the singletrack kind of zig zags a little as you cross the many roads going down. At the bottom of those steps, the track only lasts for maybe 100m. You almost do a u turn to your left, and then another u turn shortly after to your right. This takes you on to the main singletrack.

The next trick is to then go along the road but before you go into a mini tunnel, look for the signpost for the rocky singletrack into town.

To be honest, there are better routes here

Just outside of Algecieras (photos featuring Roper and Mr and Mrs Agreeable)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157614923191036/

Straights of Gibraltar
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157606139591208/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157605266547539/

Montes de los Barrios (a superchilled location that probably only Roper and myself have explored in detail!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157618327393908/

If you are going to ride Gibraltar, there are a couple of loops over the boarder that would make an excellent ride, for example
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157615663132963/

or

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157604982260399/

or

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157608758345898/

I saw some of those trails when I was out walking up the rock 🙂

Thing is, they are nice and chilled trails with some amazing views of Africa of course. However, I used them more for fitness when I wasliving in Gib, but they would make a very interesting part of a larger, longer ride of the region. There is some nice singletrack in Pinar del Rey, and there are also some lovely B roads with zero traffic if you know where to head.

The castle beyond San Roque town (aka Rooperville) also makes an excellent stop-off point, with good views across the reservoir.

'Straights of Gibraltar?'

Some sort of heterosexual pressure group, presumably. 😉

I spent a short while there in the early 90s. It remains far and away the worst place I've ever been in Europe and N. Africa, including Lanarkshire.

It is historically interesting though. The fish market in La Linea (over the border in Spain) is something else.