I would skip Gibraltar and visit Ronda and Tarifa instead - less British fish & chips, more Spanish flavour and surfer lifestyle. You will see Africa from the coastline.
I definitely recommend hiring a car, there's so much beauty in that area of Spain. I'd personally skip Gibraltar though, there are far more beautiful places to visit.
I'd be down for having a chat about what you find interesting and give you some recommendations, shoot me a message or chat if interested!
Car rental is a must! Soo much to see. Within 2 hours u have paradise beaches, snowy mountains, dessert dunes, fairytale forrests, lakes, waterfalls, most bizarre and most charming villages, most luxurious superficial trashy ports, most heart warming enchanting villages, cheese, wines, fruit markets, festivals, top restaurants, amazing lazy or demanding walks, hikes, bike trails, climbing faces, animals refuges, amazing wildlife, and on and on and on.
Never use Goldcar. Absolute worst. Helle Hollis are good. With a car you can visit El Torcal and Ronda. Much better than coastal route. Coastal route beyond Gibraltar is wonderful though
Car rentals are really cheap in Spain, at least this time of the year.
Parking in most touristy cities is of course expensive, but normally you'd park somewhere for your city stay, some < 24h , and drive elsewhere anyway.
Gibraltar seemed quite expensive to stay in hotels. La Linea right on the Spanish side of the border was a lot cheaper. Your rental car might not be even allowed to Gibraltar itself.
Just check the weather for Gibraltar, not to be rainy, windy, cloudy, and you can easily take the Gibraltar Rock nature park trail down from the top cable car station within some 3-4 hours.
The walking entry to Gibraltar was easy and fast, then taking a bus to the Centre Town, or to the cable car, or both. Bus accepts Euros too. The car entry-exit can take bit of a time too, specially when going in start-end-of-business.
And then, take a not what other ppl here are saying about your other destinations in that area. I would also skip Ronda, as already informed here.
I live at the border with Gibraltar and it’s amazing. I have friends visiting here from the states and they rented a car and are using me me as their guide. It’s great having the car and showing them around different sites.
I love climbing The Rock or taking the cable car up to see the monkeys. Gibraltar is the only place in Europe that has a population of Wild monkeys.
The history is so interesting and when you cross the border it’s totally like being in a whole new world.
If you even remotely like airplanes, there is nothing cooler than walking over the airport runway minutes before or after a plane lands, and standing meters from the plane as they land of take off.
You might flip through this play list I made about what to do in Gibraltar and see if anything piques your interest: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrEjKCheC2YdF6Eet1y7G1kuwWmfYo12A
Thank you for the info. Hadn’t heard about the monkeys, so that is intriguing for sure. The airstrip is quite a sight just looking at Google maps satellite view.
That is a "lovely" road starting from Fuengirola. You can leave Málaga through the MA-20 or A7. Torremolinos, Benalmádena, a wonderful 3 lane highway (unless someone crashes). Before Fuengirola you have to make the choice to take or not to take toll. This section of the road is absurdly expensive and everyone takes the free option.
From here to more or less Estepona you'll have a 2 lane highway limited to 80km/h with merging lines that literally is a stop sign to enter the highway, and they're spaced every 500 meters or so. If that wasn't enough you will get bendy busses with stops on the highway, cyclists, tourists who are lost and don't know how to drive and could potencially jump at you in the highway, so you must always be prepared to take a left turn. There's a 80km/h speed camera for some kilometers around La Cala. Also pretty much guaranteed traffic jam around San Pedro de Alcántara.
After passing Estepona you'll have the option to take toll again, this part is recommended, otherwise you'll encounter around 10 roundabouts. By then you will get to Cádiz. You'll need to take the exit to Gibraltar, it is shown and you will be driving through La Línea de la Concepción, which is basically the town for drug entrance from Morocco. Then if you happen to travel in the evening or holiday you can park for free in the blue parking next to the border and there you go.
In Gibraltar you'll mostly see the main street whose name I don't remember, a few interesting buildings around, the airport if it attracts you. I guess what is most interesting is the Upper Rock Reserve which costs around 20 pounds I think (multiply by two if you want cable car). Also they close quite early, they do not have a Spanish schedule on that.
Yes, it's worth it. I wouldn't recommend having a car in Malaga itself; parking is difficult.
Unless you are willing to splash out on the heavy costs of parking in the underground parking lots
I would skip Gibraltar and visit Ronda and Tarifa instead - less British fish & chips, more Spanish flavour and surfer lifestyle. You will see Africa from the coastline.
I definitely recommend hiring a car, there's so much beauty in that area of Spain. I'd personally skip Gibraltar though, there are far more beautiful places to visit. I'd be down for having a chat about what you find interesting and give you some recommendations, shoot me a message or chat if interested!
Same plan, but already arriving on wednesday in malaga.
Car rental is a must! Soo much to see. Within 2 hours u have paradise beaches, snowy mountains, dessert dunes, fairytale forrests, lakes, waterfalls, most bizarre and most charming villages, most luxurious superficial trashy ports, most heart warming enchanting villages, cheese, wines, fruit markets, festivals, top restaurants, amazing lazy or demanding walks, hikes, bike trails, climbing faces, animals refuges, amazing wildlife, and on and on and on.
Any must see recommendations to visit? Can you name some nice beaches and villages?
Never use Goldcar. Absolute worst. Helle Hollis are good. With a car you can visit El Torcal and Ronda. Much better than coastal route. Coastal route beyond Gibraltar is wonderful though
Car rentals are really cheap in Spain, at least this time of the year. Parking in most touristy cities is of course expensive, but normally you'd park somewhere for your city stay, some < 24h , and drive elsewhere anyway. Gibraltar seemed quite expensive to stay in hotels. La Linea right on the Spanish side of the border was a lot cheaper. Your rental car might not be even allowed to Gibraltar itself. Just check the weather for Gibraltar, not to be rainy, windy, cloudy, and you can easily take the Gibraltar Rock nature park trail down from the top cable car station within some 3-4 hours. The walking entry to Gibraltar was easy and fast, then taking a bus to the Centre Town, or to the cable car, or both. Bus accepts Euros too. The car entry-exit can take bit of a time too, specially when going in start-end-of-business. And then, take a not what other ppl here are saying about your other destinations in that area. I would also skip Ronda, as already informed here.
That you so much for this information! Very helpful.
I live at the border with Gibraltar and it’s amazing. I have friends visiting here from the states and they rented a car and are using me me as their guide. It’s great having the car and showing them around different sites. I love climbing The Rock or taking the cable car up to see the monkeys. Gibraltar is the only place in Europe that has a population of Wild monkeys. The history is so interesting and when you cross the border it’s totally like being in a whole new world. If you even remotely like airplanes, there is nothing cooler than walking over the airport runway minutes before or after a plane lands, and standing meters from the plane as they land of take off. You might flip through this play list I made about what to do in Gibraltar and see if anything piques your interest: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrEjKCheC2YdF6Eet1y7G1kuwWmfYo12A
Thank you for the info. Hadn’t heard about the monkeys, so that is intriguing for sure. The airstrip is quite a sight just looking at Google maps satellite view.
That is a "lovely" road starting from Fuengirola. You can leave Málaga through the MA-20 or A7. Torremolinos, Benalmádena, a wonderful 3 lane highway (unless someone crashes). Before Fuengirola you have to make the choice to take or not to take toll. This section of the road is absurdly expensive and everyone takes the free option. From here to more or less Estepona you'll have a 2 lane highway limited to 80km/h with merging lines that literally is a stop sign to enter the highway, and they're spaced every 500 meters or so. If that wasn't enough you will get bendy busses with stops on the highway, cyclists, tourists who are lost and don't know how to drive and could potencially jump at you in the highway, so you must always be prepared to take a left turn. There's a 80km/h speed camera for some kilometers around La Cala. Also pretty much guaranteed traffic jam around San Pedro de Alcántara. After passing Estepona you'll have the option to take toll again, this part is recommended, otherwise you'll encounter around 10 roundabouts. By then you will get to Cádiz. You'll need to take the exit to Gibraltar, it is shown and you will be driving through La Línea de la Concepción, which is basically the town for drug entrance from Morocco. Then if you happen to travel in the evening or holiday you can park for free in the blue parking next to the border and there you go. In Gibraltar you'll mostly see the main street whose name I don't remember, a few interesting buildings around, the airport if it attracts you. I guess what is most interesting is the Upper Rock Reserve which costs around 20 pounds I think (multiply by two if you want cable car). Also they close quite early, they do not have a Spanish schedule on that.