Nearly five years ago on what I nowadays call my first true world heritage trip I ventured to Andalucia. Out of curiosity I decided to also go to Gibraltar and look across the straights to Africa. Having been at Europa Point at the very tip of the island I must have been within 500m of the site, but didn’t know. As such this was a tragic near miss for me.

Thanks to our World Heritage Community Meetup 2017 and Ian’s and Els’ efforts I was able to correct this. Ian had arranged the tour with the Gibraltar Museum. They gave us a nice presentation providing the context you need to make sense of a prehistoric sites such as this.

Half of our group were allowed to the entrance of the caves to get a closer look. The caves are still active excavation sites with yearly campaigns being carried out each summer. The caves are also in an active military installation. And if this wasn’t challenge enough, the caves are located in a hard to access part of the peninsula at the bottom of huge cliffs directly at sea level. As noted by Els the sea level was way lower when the Neanderthals lived here. So the caves overlooked a 5km long coastal plain.

To get to the caves we needed to pass a control post at the entry of the military installation. They also made us sign some mighty tense waiver form and gave us a nice looking helmet. I was considering keeping it as souvenir ... From the military post you descend via a metal staircase down to sea level. The Vanguard Cave is just at the end of the stair case. For Gorham's Cave you need to hike across the rocks at the coast.

Both caves are still heavily covered by sand. During the yearly excavation campaigns each year only a few centimeters are removed to get as much information as possible. Recent finds include a rock drawing, a hand print and a milk tooth. There were also Phoenician artefacts finds, but the OUV is tied exclusively to the Neanderthal finds. For the Neanderthals Gibraltar is the last documented site before extinction.

Humans had not yet appeared in the area when the Neanderthals disappeared, so for once we are not to blame. Our guide, a resident researcher, argued that the weather turning hotter and wetter may have been the Neanderthals demise and our success. And in a way the Neanderthals are still with us as around 2% of the DNA of a European is Neanderthal DNA. So you could say they were less out-competed and more in-married.

Many thanks to Ian and Els for setting this up.

Getting There And Away

Gibraltar has one of the most iconic airports of the world. After crossing the border you walk right across the landing strip situated below the Rock. It’s quite fun to see a plane land with the traffic lights switching to red and the bar going down. Unfortunately, flight options are very limited and prices high.

The other airport of the area is in Malaga. Be advised that public transport connections to Gibralter (La Linea) are limited and you are better served staying in Algeciras, the principal Spanish town across the bay from Gibraltar. From Algeciras frequent buses run to La Linea, the Spanish border town and from there you can walk across the border and catch a local bus.

Algeciras also provides ferry connections to Ceuta and Tangiers. From Ceuta you can reach Tetouan by cab and it’s well feasible as a day trip from Algeciras.

The closest train station is San Roca/La Linea. The name is a bit misleading as the station is neither in San Roca nor La Linea. You should be able to get a bus to La Linea. The train line itself is rather helpful as it connects you to Antequera and Granada. Another stop (not a WHS) along the line is Ronda, a picturesque Andalusian town. I skipped on this as Philipp was so kind to offer me a ride to Antequera. In addition, the trains run only a few times a day and I wouldn’t have been able to make the schedule work anyhow.

Getting In and Around

As mentioned by Els, the best connection is to take Bus 2 from Market Square station to the end of the peninsula at Europa Point. It doesn’t run directly from the border, so you can either take Bus 5 (any bus saying city center) from the border to Market Square or just walk. The peninsula is surprisingly long and not really friendly for pedestrians as the little road space there is is used for the cars. Hard to imagine that it used to be even worse than it’s now, but supposedly they cut down on traffic. I would not encourage you to cross by car as you will spend some time at the border, parking spaces are limited and Gibraltans intent on towing your car if you violate the rules.

Right now, you will have a hard time getting a good view of the site. The viewing platform is not yet ready. When this is the case (soon, but check with the tourist office) you get good views of the caves. Possibly, bring a binocular. If you are a group, you can also try to contact the museum and get a custom tour. We were not the only group this year, so this should be possible. Descending to the caves and the views we got were special.

For the time being the best option is probably to join the Sunday cruise. Finally, the site includes more than the caves themselves and it is my understanding that hiking along the Mediterranean Steps should take you into the core zones with plenty of spectacular views of the cliffs that house the caves.

While You Are There

The fortifications of Gibraltar are impressive and well worth a visit, even if they are a former tentative site. Climbing the rock, either on foot or by cable car, is the other tourist option and you will see plenty of monkeys along the way.