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Our site brings you the best of Britain, from the rolling hills to the best country houses, towns and villages to visit. Along with some of our other international travel guides.

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  • Writer: MemorySeekers
    MemorySeekers
  • Mar 17, 2021

At just 6.7km2 (2.6 sq miles) the British overseas territory of Gibraltar is located at the far southern tip of Spain. The Strait of Gibraltar separates Gib, as it is commonly called, from continental Africa which is just 14 miles away.

Gibraltar punches above its weight for the sheer number of attractions it has to offer!

The strait, which is the entrance to the Mediterranean sea makes Gibraltar of great strategic importance. Half of the worlds seaborne trade passes through it.

Its location is partially why Gibraltar is British. They knew the importance of its location and were prepared to fight for it and as such has been under British rule since 1717.

Today, Gib makes its money from tourism, online gambling and financial services, so why are all these tourists visiting a little bit of land at the bottom of Spain.

What makes Gibraltar worth visiting?



Gibraltar is dominated by “The Rock” a 426 metre high (1,398 feet) limestone peak. It is home to the Gibraltar Nature reserve and can be accessed either by foot or as we did, the cable car. https://gibraltarinfo.gi/cable-car/

At this height, you can see all of Gibraltar, Spain’s Costa del Sol and on a clear day, the Moroccan coastline.

The Rock is also home to Gibraltar’s most famous inhabitants, the Barbary Macaque Monkeys, Europe’s only wild monkey population.

Their presence probably dates from the early days of the British garrison when it is presumed that they were imported from north Africa, finding the rough limestone cliffs and scrub vegetation a great habitat. There is a legend that claims should the macaques ever disappear; the British will leave Gibraltar.



On our visit, we decided to take the cable car up and walk down as there are a number of attractions as you make your way off of the rock. As you descend make sure you look for over 500 different species of flowering plant, olive and pine trees and migratory birds.

Relatively new additions to the rock include the suspension bridge and the skywalk, but if you prefer your attractions a little less hair raising, visit St Michaels Cave to marvel at colourfully lit limestone rock formations, there’s even an auditorium down there!

Your entrance ticket also grants access to the Moorish Castle and the Great Siege Tunnels which we talk about below later.


As you may expect, due to the history of Gibraltar, its architecture is worthy of mention. Walking around town you will come across a range of styles, from the sleek and modern marina area to the fortified walled Casemates Square.

As you walk down the traditional ‘British’ high street filled with bars and restaurants, you will eventually come to John Mackintosh Hall (library, theatre and cultural events are held here) and St Jago’s Arch, the former entrance to a 16th-century church.




If the weather is good, hop on a bus to Europa Point and the tip of Gibraltar.

http://www.gibraltarbuscompany.gi They also have an app so you can track where the buses are which is handy!

From here you will be greeted by a lighthouse and some spectacular sea views over the strait, the African coast and of course, the rock. As you can we didn't have the weather and could not the spectacular views!


History

The History of Gibraltar dates back to the 13th century, being under Spanish, Barbary, Dutch and finally British rule. Its location meant that Gibraltar was always of great military importance and as such you will find a number of military attractions around the territory.

The Moorish Castle is the oldest of such attractions, dating back to medieval times, you can see various buildings with fortified walls and the Tower of Homage. Gibraltar’s prison was also located here until 2010!


The City under Siege exhibition houses buildings dating back to 1704 during the capture of Gibraltar by the Spanish. One of the most intriguing aspects of the attraction is the graffiti that you see engraved on the walls. Many soldiers passed their long hours of duty by carving graffiti in the walls of the buildings, falling asleep whilst on duty, was an offence punishable by death, hence keeping yourself awake by drawing on the walls wasn’t a bad idea!

The Tunnels of Gibraltar were constructed over 200 years and now comprise of 34 miles (55km) of tunnels dug through the rock. At their peak, they were able to house 16,000 solders along with supplies that were needed to survive a prolonged siege. The tunnels that you see today are The Great Siege Tunnels (the upper galleries excavated during the great siege) and the Second World War Tunnels.

Other attractions include The Governor’s Lookout Battery (great views over the airport) and the Military Heritage Centre where you can learn about the tunnels in further detail.

Speaking of the airport, did you know its one of the only airports in the world that you have to walk across (or drive) to get into Gibraltar. Gates come down and hold the traffic and pedestrians until an aircraft has taken off or landed! It's quite something to walk over the active runway so leave the taxi behind at the airport and walk into town it only takes 20 mins.



Where we stay

The Rock Hotel is quintessentially British and the most famous hotel on the Rock.

This is where the rich and famous stay during visits to Gibraltar and the hotel walls are littered with photo's of noteworthy guests, like former UK prime ministers, TV entertainment stars and Hollywood movie legends.

Whilst you might think that means you could not afford to stay, think again there are some great deals and we have stayed twice without breaking the bank.

We had a balcony room and in the mornings the monkey's come down from the nature reserve above to try and steal anything not locked down. So be aware of this, they will try and get in rooms if you leave the door unattended. They are not too much of a nuisance.

Our top tip would be to forgo the breakfast package and find a place in Casemates Square or the marina for a cheap full English breakfast at half the price, which also encourages you to get up and out early!


The sunsets over the hotel are fantastic on a warm summers night, it's a great place to get a cocktail before heading out for dinner.

You can see a full review of the Rock Hotel in our video travel guide link at the end of this blog. To book the hotel visit https://www.rockhotelgibraltar.com/




Summary

Gibraltar punches above its weight for the sheer number of attractions it has to offer, its unique geography and interesting history can easily fill 2-3 days. Brilliant restaurants and a sunny climate make visiting for a weekend break from the UK or if you’re already in southern Spain well worth it.






Practical Info

Flights arrive from the UK, operated by Easyjet, British Airways and Wizzair and a new helicopter service from Malaga has also recently started.

Bus services from Spanish cities such as Malaga arrive at the Spanish town of La Linea and you will have to cross the border on foot. Don’t forget your passport if you intend on crossing the border as it will be checked.

Once in Gibraltar Buses are frequent and reliable, a day pass costs £2.50. The bus routes will get you everywhere you need to go from the border with Spain to Europa point and everywhere in between. (note, there is no bus service to the top of the rock)

Car you don’t need a car in Gibraltar and having one will just be a pain, roads are small and parking is very limited. Taxi’s are available but prices are high considering the short distances they cover.

Walking is the easiest and most enjoyable way of getting around town, the majority of the sight are easily reached on foot.

Gibraltar uses the Gibraltar Pound, it has the same value as pound sterling and the British pound can be used in Gibraltar, however, the Gibraltar pound is not accepted in the UK, but you can change these in any bank at a rate of £1 = £1.

Due to low taxation, alcohol, tobacco and perfume are cheap, but remember Gibraltar is no longer in the EU, so check your country’s duty-free allowances.


Please refer to our video for accommodation and restaurant tips

Dominated by The Rock, Gibraltar has much to offer! See why?


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Located in northern Poland, right on the Baltic sea is the port city of Gdansk. Don’t be fooled, this industrial city is more than just shipyards and icy cold Baltic winds. An impressive old town, quality restaurants and bars, great hotels and close proximity to other attractions such as sunny Sopot and Malbork Castle make this city an absolutely outstanding weekend break.


Gdansk airport receives flights from all over Europe (check Wizzair, Ryanair, Lufthansa, LOT and SAS) and is just a 20 minute taxi ride from the centre of town. You can also reach the city by train or bus from other Polish cities or even from further afield. A cab from the airport into town is about 32 Zloty (Є7 or £6.30)



We advise staying around the main old town area as this is where you’ll find all the attractions and restaurants. Anywhere from the train station to the end of ‘Long Market’ is perfect.



Hotels are worth a special mention as there are lots to choose from, our particular favourites are:


Radisson Hotel & Suites - amazing value for money, new built hotel with great views over the canal. Rooms are spacious and with all mod cons. There’s a nice bar and restaurant on site too. Check out our Hotel review guide below.




PURO Hotel – Very stylish place with rooftop bar, but the rooms are a bit small.

Craft Beer Central (hotel) – Located next to the train station, this historic building has a great restaurant and brewery in its basement and is perfect if you intend on taking one of the excursions we mention later.



 

So you’ve arrived, dropped off your stuff and are ready to explore!

Here’s an example itinerary of what to do that encompasses all the main attractions and will keep you busy all day or over 2 days if you have the time:


Long Market – as mentioned earlier, this is the main pedestrianised street that runs the length of the old town. You’ll find all manner of shops, bars and restaurants, but read on for our favourites that aren’t found on the main tourist strip.

Golden Gate – Located at the train station end of Long Market, Golden Gate marks the entrance to Long Market.

Walking down the cobbled street of Long Market, you will soon come to St Mary’s Basilica. This is the world’s largest brick built church and was completed in 1502. Climb the 409 steps to the top of the tower for great views across the city, port and Baltic sea.

World War 2 museum & Polish Post Office – although these attractions are not located next to each other, there is a beautiful 20 minute walking trail that we have put together on our video guide that takes you to both.

The post office was the location of resistance against the Nazi invasion of the city and the WWII museum is a hard hitting, but brilliantly put together exhibit of the impact war had on the city and Europe at large.




Riverside – Walk back into the centre of town from the museum along the riverside. The gentle walk will take you past a big ferris wheel and you’ll see boats making their way out to sea.



Eventually you’ll see the Black Pearl Ship. You can pop on board for a ride out into the Baltic if you fancy it.



You will also pass a reminder of why Gdansk exists – trade. The Crane has been here in some form since the 13th century. Imagine big wooden ships being loaded and off loaded before setting out to sea again.

From here, walk inland under St Mary’s Gate to Mariacka Street. This is perhaps Gdansk’s most charming street, especially so in early evening, when the old street lamps are lit and the glow of the shops selling amber jewellery light the cobbled walkway. This street is a step back in time.


Hala Targowa – The central market consists of 3 floors, but the most interesting for us is the lower level. Here you’ll find sellers of smoked meats, cheese, bread and confectionery. If you are self catering, this is the place for authentic local produce. There is also a colourful fruit and veg market outside.


Most Chlebowy – this cute little bridge is full of love locks and looks over the old flour mill. Its location brings us nicely onto food as it is just a minutes’ walk from our favourite lunch spot in town….



Food!


Mandu Pierogi – perhaps Poland’s most famous dish, Mandu serves up plates of these homemade dumplings with an unrivalled choice of fillings. All are freshly made on site (you can see them being made) and the menu changes regularly.

Our favourite is the classic Pierogi Ruskie, meat and potato filling with crispy bacon and sour cream. This place is a hot spot in town, so come early or be prepared to wait for a table.


Gdanski Bowke – the prime spot right next to the canal, makes this place fairly touristy, but don’t expect rip off food and sky high prices, ok, the prices are a bit higher than other places, but the service and quality are worth it. Classic Polish dishes of meat and fish are served, and we have never been disappointed with the slow cooked pork knuckle or ice cold vodka.


Browar PG4 – This is the place we mentioned earlier in the hotel section. It’s in the basement of the Craft Beer Central Hotel. The space is huge over 2 floors and is surprisingly bright and airy. You’ll find a wide range of snacks and mains, but the main reason to visit is the beer that’s produced on site.

If you fancy an after-dinner drink or two, head to Mariacka Street, the one with all the amber shops that we mentioned before. There are quite a few places here that are all as atmospheric as the street they’re on.



Excursions

Gdansk is actually part of the ‘Tricity’ area. The towns of Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia make up this coastal area. It’s well worth making the trip out of Gdansk to explore these areas, the trains are reliable, easy to use and cheap.


Sopot – this coastal town has a long history as a health spa resort and is home to a number of quite high end hotels. We didn't stay overnight here, but we did enjoy the long sandy beach (although the water is cold year round!),

Europe's longest wooden pier and perhaps one of Poland’s best restaurants. Check our video for details, including how to get there on the train. It's really easy!

You don’t want to miss this place if you’re in town.



Malbork Castle – located about a 50 minute train ride from Gdansk train station, it is the world's largest brick built castle. And it is big! Pick up a free audio guide when you get your ticket, we don’t normally bother with these guides, but this one was actually really good and uses gps to know where you are in the castle and gives you information based on which room you’re in, quite clever!

Malbork is covered in our very first Gdansk Guide, yes we have two!

So check that out here.




Summary

Poland is always a great option for a weekend away, or as part of a longer tour of the region. We love Gdansk for the food and the charming town. There’s as much or as little to do as you want and nothing is going to break the bank. Flights from London are plentiful and well timed and if you book ahead, you’ll get a great price on these too.

The Polish hospitality is top notch and the comfortable and even luxurious hotels will feel like a treat. If you’ve not visited Poland before, Gdansk is a great choice over the larger and more touristy Krakow. We have visited several times and will be back again soon.

For more other Polish Cities also check out our YouTube Poland Playlist






Updated: Jan 7, 2021

The 1986 disaster has been well documented and the recent renewed interest following the HBO mini series has highlighted people’s appetite in understanding what happened and how the area is still affected. Surprisingly, if you speak to local people in Kiev most will tell you they have no interest in visiting the zone, and few have done so. This may also be because the tours do cost quite a bit of money.

Many companies offer tours for one or more days from Kiev, and tripadvisor or google will bring up a long list. Note that you cannot visit the exclusion zone on your own, you MUST be on a guided tour. There are military checkpoints and passport documentation that needs to be completed before your visit. This all forms part of the overall cost of the tour. We chose https://www.chernobyl-tour.com and paid $USD 99 including a lunch and a geiger counter. Charges vary on certain dates, check the website for full cost details and remember you need to book in advance due the passport information being checked.

The Tour

We have created a full video on our YouTube channel about Chernobyl so make sure you watch this in addition to this blog. Chernobyl Tour Video>



Leaving Kiev at 8 am from a meeting point near the main train station, it's about a 2-hour drive to the first checkpoint of the exclusion zone. Depending on the day and number of bookings for the tour, you could be in a small minivan or a full-size coach.


Grab a bottle of water or toilet roll before you enter the zone!

Wait time at the checkpoint is around 30 minutes and this is necessary for the officials to check tickets and view your passport. Yes, you will need to take that with you as its essential to get in to the zone.





You will then be tagged with a radiation monitor but if you choose it you can also get a geiger counter for an additional fee which most people seemed to do. As we found out this was fun but annoying because it would go off all the time. What did we expect, we are in the most radioactive place on earth!








At this point I wanted to mention the toilet situation.

There are very few places that you can stop, as you can imagine this is an abandoned zone, with some high-risk areas. Toilets are at the checkpoints and vary between horrible to disgusting, so be prepared. There are no facilities to wash hands in the zone apart from the food canteen so bring sanitiser and toilet roll with you. Where possible try not to need a number 2!



Zalissya

Inside the 30km exclusion zone the coach stops at the first abandoned town Zalissya

We were given 20 minutes to roam freely around the town which once boasted a school, palace of culture, supermarket and homes for some 3200 people.


Kopachi

Torn down and buried as an experiment Kopachi was the only town to have this fate. A kindergarten building is all that remains? Authorities thought that burying the town would reduce the radiation quicker. In fact, it pushed the isotopes deeper into the soil and contaminated the water table further making the situation worse. Why the Kindergarten was left, I don't know.




Duga Radar System

Hidden in plain sight the Duga Radar System was not actually part of the Chernobyl disaster, apart from being inside the exclusion zone. In fact, it did not even draw its power from the power station.






Created for use during the cold war it was a system designed to detect missiles from the West namely the USA. There was another duplicate system in Siberia

Displayed on a map as Chernobyl 2 and mentioned as a children’s activity camp the facility was located in a wooded area some 7Km from Pripyat but very visible due to its 150 m height.





Now a derelict blast from the past, it’s extremely interesting to visit the eerie area still high with radioactive readings. An army barracks is also positioned near by and forms part of this leg of our overall tour.


Reactor 4 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

Having seen the disaster unfold on the news, and the subsequent documentaries, nothing prepares you for being right in front of the reactor. It was hard to comprehend that we were there some 33 years after the event.




Now with its new containment sarcophagus fitted in 2017, radiation levels have reduced but the decommissioning of the reactor and the other 3 continue and will do so until 2064.

We spend around 10 minutes in this area and the guide explained much about the first hour of the disaster.


30 incredible people sacrificed their lives for the rest of us in Europe and more should be made of their heroic actions. I was stunned to only be finding out about their critical intervention on this tour.

The monument outside the reactor honour's them on the 20th Anniversary.



Workers Canteen

As I mentioned the reactors are still being decommissioned and a worker’s canteen provides food for them and the tours. We ate the same menu provided to the workers. Salad, bread, soup, chicken and potatoes.





Pripyat

Pripyat was the workers town prior to the disaster. Some 45,000 people lived here.



Our afternoon on the tour was dominated by a walk around the abandoned town. If you ever wanted to find out what it would be like to just up and leave a place for 30 years and see what happens then Pripyat is the closest you will get to this. As shocking as the tale of delay and miscommunication that lead to the evacuation some 36 hours AFTER the disaster, it was extremely interesting to see how nature and the local animals have regained and taken over control of this area.




Pripyat Hotel

Probably the most famous structure in Pripyat is the Ferris Wheel and bumper cars.





Brand new and due to open for the May Day celebrations after day after the disaster it was never really in operation. Shockingly on the morning after the disaster and before the people of Pripyat were aware of the radiation, the local authorises started the wheel to distract the children.

Radiation levels under the Ferris Wheel are some of the highest in Pripyat (still safe). Apparently due to a missed spec of radio active material not cleared by the liquidators.


Do I have any radiation particles?

3 times during our day tour, you need to pass through this radiation unit. It can detect if you have picked up any radiation particles on your clothes or shoes etc.

Very rarely this can happen and to avoid you taking it out of the exclusion zone you would need to be decontaminated.


Before leaving the exclusion zone we get to pass by the actual town of Chernobyl which is about 7 KM away from the actual reactor. The workers that are decommissioning the power plant stay here but cannot live there due to restrictions. Many people sleep in the town in the week and return to Kiev for the weekend or some other rotation avoiding spending to much time in the zone at a given time.



Chernobyl Town sign


As we leave the zone and head back to Kiev we pass the Chernobyl Liquidators Memorial, near the fire station. A final reminder to the firemen, workers, miners, and liqidators that risked or lost there lives to save the rest of Europe.


We have created a full video on our YouTube channel about Chernoybl so make sure you watch this in addition to this blog. Chernobyl Tour Video>>>>>


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