GIBRALTAR TOWN DO-IT-YOURSELF SHORE EXCURSION WALKING TOUR

Visiting Gibraltar on a cruise? A do-it-yourself walking tour of the town is easy, as we discovered after we arrived in the Port of Gibraltar on the Oceania Insignia.

From the Gibraltar Cruise Terminal, we walked 15 minutes up Waterport Road to a welcome map billboard where we planned our sightseeing. For 1£ or 1€ (both pounds sterling and euros are accepted currencies here) we could buy a Gibraltar map and city guide from a coin box.

Gibraltar is only 6.7 square kilometers (2.6 square miles) in size, so we could see several attractions during the full-day that our ship was docked in the cruise port. Buses and taxis were available for passengers who didn't want to do a walking tour.

The British Overseas Territory is barely twice the size of New York City's Central Park. Most of the population of 32,460 residents live on the west side, below the Rock.

Gibraltar's population density is the fifth highest in the world. Much of the populated area is on land reclaimed from the sea.

Casemates Square

Walking through Grand Casemates Gates (built on the site of the original Water Gate) brought us to Casemates Square, Gibraltar's social center at the north end of Main Street. It's a lively place, filled with outdoor tables for dining and drinking.

Flower baskets hang from wrought iron street lamps. Elegant stucco buildings, many with window shutters, tower over the cobblestone square.

Just inside Grand Casemates Gates, we found Gibraltar Crystal where glassblowers work. The nearby Lord Nelson bar features roasts on Sundays, live music on Thursday and Friday nights and British fish-&-chips every day.

Main Street

From the square, we followed Main Street—the mostly pedestrianized long central avenue—south through the town.

Gibraltar's ambiance is distinctly British. We spotted fire engine-red telephone booths and Royal Mail boxes, which have slots for posting local and abroad letters.

Gibraltar Heritage Trust protects much of the town center. At the Southport Wall and Gates, a sign explained that a wall has existed there since the Moorish occupation.

The Moors were in Gibraltar for more than 600 years. Gibraltar's ancient ramparts were started by the Moors, extended by the Spanish and finished by the British.

How Gibraltar got its name

In 711 AD, Tarik-ibn-Zeyad and his Moorish armies landed here. His name for the Rock, Gebel-al-Tarik — which means Tarik's mountain — was eventually corrupted to Gibraltar.

Whether their heritage is British, Spanish or Moroccan, Gibraltarians speak English, Spanish and Llanito. This local dialect mixes UK English, Andalusian Spanish, Hebrew, Genoese and other Mediterranean languages.

We had fun exploring the narrow lanes, steep hillside roads and passageways that intersect Main Street. When we needed directions, we asked one of the friendly bobbies who wear helmets as part of their uniforms.

Driving to Gibraltar

Most visitors who don't cruise to Gibraltar, come by car or coach tours from Marbella, Malaga and other Spanish Costa del Sol cities. A 1.5-kilometer (one-mile) isthmus joins Gibraltar to the border city of La Linea, Spain.

Gibraltar has less than 50 kilometers (31 miles) of roads. Locals drive on the right, even though Gibraltar is British.

Parking is scarce so most drivers leave their cars in the large lot by La Linea's marina. Walking time from the parking lot to Gibraltar's town center is about 15 minutes.

Flights have the right of way

The most interesting street in Gibraltar is Winston Churchill Avenue. Traffic lights stop vehicles and pedestrians following the road south from Spain after border passport formalities. Why?

Crossing barriers are the only obstacles to collisions between cars and flights landing on the Gibraltar International Airport (code: GIB) runway, which intersects Winston Churchill Avenue. After each plane lands or takes off, the safety arms lift and traffic resumes.

Flying time from London, Manchester and other UK cities to Gibraltar is about 2.5 hours.

Dolphin-watching tours

The airport runway extends into Gibraltar Bay near the yacht-filled Ocean Village Marina. Dolphin-watching cruises depart from here.

Until we visited Gibraltar, we didn't know that it is an excellent place for viewing dolphins year-round. Dolphin Adventure tickets picture the most common species that frolic in the Bay of Gibraltar — bottlenose, common and striped.

James Bond film location

Yachts also fill the Queensway Quay Marina in Gibraltar Harbour. The port may look familiar to James Bond aficionados.

In You Only Live Twice, Sean Connery was supposedly buried at sea in Hong Kong Harbour, but the ruse-burial was actually filmed from the HMS Tenby in Gibraltar Harbour. Connery, the first actor who portrayed 007, liked Gibraltar so much that he married his first and second wives there.

In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono were married at the Registry Office, located on 3 Secretary's Lane, just a short walk down Governor's Lane from Main Street. Couples still get married there today.

Tax-free shopping

Along Main Street, stores tempted us with VAT (value-added tax)-free fragrances, liquor, watches and British specialties. Although martinis were 007's favorite drink, one of Gibraltar's most popular souvenirs is Nelson's Blood rum.

Why such a ghastly name? In 1805, after Admiral Nelson died in the Battle of Trafalgar, crew members brought his body ashore and packed it into a keg of rum for shipment to England for burial.

Loyal to Britain

Two of his men who died from wounds after the battle were buried in Trafalgar Cemetery just past Referendum Gate on the south end of Main Street. The gate received its name after a 1967 referendum in which 99% of Gibraltarians voted to remain under British sovereignty.

A five-minute walk from the gate along Europa Road brought us to the station where we boarded the Cable Car ride to the top of the Rock to enjoy its attractions.

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TRAVEL INFORMATION

Gibraltar Tourist Board

Oceania Cruises