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Top Travel Days of 2024, A Stop at The Rock of Gibraltar

As soon as we got our passports stamped, walked into Gibraltar, and met our gregarious guide, John Lopez, I knew we were in for a treat. Within moments, John was commenting on our daughter, Melanie’s latest purchase in Marbella, a sweater adorned with very large strawberries. “Ah, you’ll be easy to spot in a crowd,” John joked in his slight British accent.

The next four hours was a whirlwind of a tour on this unique spit of land at the southern edge of Spain, told by us by the best possible guide, someone born and raised in Gibraltar. Who better to explain the complex history of this British protectorate of some 38,000 people surrounding this jagged monolith that rises 1,300 feet high. As we drove alongside the Rock of Gibraltar, stopping to visit a long cave, a labyrinth of tunnels used by military from the 1800s through World War II, and, of course, see the adorable monkeys that Winston Churchill loved having here, John would weave rhapsodic tales of his youth combined with the rich history of this place (while placing those same monkeys atop our kid’s heads). We would learn that this was the spot where Britain’s hero Lord Nelson sailed his fleet directly into the Spanish cotillion winning the famous Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Gibraltar is also where the Spanish dictator Franco cut off this piece of land from 1969 until 1985, placing a lock on the border so no one could cross, upset that the British would never give the land over to Spain. That was during John Lopez’s youth, where he would spend his boyhood with friends going through every tunnel in the storied Rock.

Our family of four was on the sixth day of a 9-day trip that brought us to Barcelona, Marbella, Gibraltar, and Malaga in the beginning of April. Gibraltar seemed like the least interesting locale when we put together the itinerary. But our son, Jake, insisted on going and it ended up being memorable.

Bucket List Travel, Slice of Europe

Amalfi Coast First-time visitors to ActiveTravels often ask us what’s our expertise? That’s not an easy question to answer, because we delight in sending you to the most remote corners of the globe, whether it’s the chance to see the orangutans of Sumatra or hiking the W Trek in Chilean Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park. Yes, we know New England like the back of our hand. But we also know Europe exceptionally well and wow, do we love our local suppliers, especially TFL in Italy, Madrid and Beyond in Spain, Celebrated in Scotland, Ireland, and the UK, and Original Senses in Greece. It’s easy for us to design itineraries in major cities like London, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Rome. Yet, if you want to get a real taste of Europe away from the masses, please give us the chance to show you Puglia, Provence, and Paros, where the Europeans go on vacation. Whether you want to bike to Monet’s house in Giverny, go out on a tasty tapas tour in Madrid, hike the Dolomites, or sail to Greek’s undiscovered islands, we’ll create those lasting memories! Also consider slowing down on two wheels with Backroads, DuVine, VBT and Ciclismo Classico, biking and hiking outfitters, who know how to get you off-the-beaten-track to more isolated and scenic locales.