Trip Planning
The TakeYourBackpack guidebooks are your all-in-one travel companion, featuring the best cities, national parks, hikes, beaches, and unique sites, along with essential tips on when to go, how to get around, exchanging money, and even local phrases to get you started — everything you need for a smooth, unforgettable backpacking adventure.
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Planning a backpacking route through Gibraltar can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized Gibraltar itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.
Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.
Travel Essentials
No vaccinations are required to enter Gibraltar. Make sure your routine shots (MMR, tetanus-diphtheria, polio and seasonal flu) are up to date, and consider COVID-19 and hepatitis A boosters if your wider trip covers more of Spain or North Africa. Medical standards in Gibraltar are high, and the risk of tropical disease is negligible.
vaccination requirementsWhen I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.
These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in Gibraltar, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.
There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with
Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.
HolaFly eSimCulture & Customs
Gibraltar mixes British habits with Mediterranean timing: people queue patiently, are polite with service staff, and enjoy long lunches, while many shops close early on Saturday and stay shut on Sunday. Do cover up when you leave the beach, since walking down Main Street in swimwear or shirtless is frowned upon. Don’t feed or touch the macaques, which is illegal and can bring fines of up to £4,000. Steer clear of joking that locals are “basically Spanish” or “basically English”, because sovereignty is a sensitive topic and Gibraltarians are proud of their own identity. Women and LGBTQ+ travelers face no special dress or behavior expectations beyond ordinary courtesy.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for Gibraltar.
- Calentita: a baked chickpea-flour slab, crisp on top and custardy inside, seasoned with black pepper. It is widely called Gibraltar’s national dish, and its roots trace back to Genoese settlers and the lean years of the Great Siege.
- Panissa: chickpea flour cooked into a thick paste, set, then sliced and fried into golden strips. It is a simple Genoese-rooted snack that still turns up at family gatherings and local events.
- Rosto: penne or macaroni baked in a slow-cooked tomato sauce with beef, carrots and mushrooms, then topped with cheese. It is a Sunday-lunch staple that shows the strong Italian influence on Gibraltarian home cooking.
- Torta de acelga: a savory chard pie with egg and cheese in a pastry crust. It is a traditional family dish with Genoese roots and is often served at Easter.
- Rolitos: thin slices of beef rolled around a filling of breadcrumbs, egg, garlic and herbs, then stewed in a wine and tomato sauce. They are classic home cooking, and you will find them on menus at traditional local restaurants.
- Bollo de hornasso: a sweet, aniseed-scented bread baked for Easter. It is one of the clearest edible links to the territory’s Spanish and Mediterranean heritage.
Yes, tap water in Gibraltar is safe to drink: it is desalinated, treated and tested to UK and EU standards. Many locals still buy bottled water because they find the taste flat or slightly mineral, but tourists can safely refill a bottle from the tap. Filtering is a matter of taste, not safety.
English is Gibraltar’s official language, so you can use it everywhere: shops, buses, hostels, the hospital and government offices. Younger locals and older ones alike switch easily between English and Spanish, often mid-sentence in the local mix called Llanito. There are no rural areas to speak of, so you won’t hit a language gap anywhere in the territory. Spanish helps most once you cross into La Línea, where a translation app and a few basics like “la cuenta, por favor” make bus stations and tapas bars much easier.
Money & Payments
The local currency of Gibraltar is Gibraltar Pound (£).
ATMs are easy to find in Gibraltar, especially along Main Street and around Casemates Square, and they dispense Gibraltar pounds, which trade at par with the British pound. Local banks rarely charge withdrawal fees, but your home bank may add US$2 to 5 per withdrawal, so take out larger sums less often. Cards and contactless payments work almost everywhere, including most cafés and buses, though a few small kiosks prefer cash. Leave US dollars at home, and only use euros as a backup: many shops accept them, but at poor exchange rates, and they usually give change in pounds. Gibraltar pound notes are hard to use in the UK, so spend them or swap them at a bank or licensed bureau on Main Street before you head back into Spain.
Tipping in Gibraltar follows British norms: around 10% is appreciated at sit-down restaurants when service isn’t already on the bill. Check the receipt first, since some places add a 10 to 12.5% service charge. In pubs and cafés, rounding up or leaving small change is enough, and taxi drivers don’t expect more than a rounded fare.
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Over the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.