The town and rock have a necessarily simple layout. Main Street (La Calle Real) runs for most of the town's length, a couple of blocks back from the port. In and around Main Street are most of the shops, together with many of the British-style pubs and hotels. For information, the main tourist office (Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 10am-2pm; tel 74805) is in Duke of Kent House on Cathedral Square, and there are also sub-offices in the Piazza on Main Street, at the airport, and in the customs and immigration building at the border. The John Mackintosh Hall at the south end of Main Street is a useful resource - it's the cultural centre, with exhibitions and a library. The local paper is the Gibraltar Chronicle , a stultifyingly parochial daily with little of interest to visitors. Much of Gibraltar - with the exception of the cut-price booze shops - closes down on Saturday afternoon, but the tourist sights remain open, and this can be a quiet time to visit.

The currency used here is the Gibraltar pound (the same value as the British pound, but different notes and coins); if you pay in euro while in Gibraltar, you generally fork out about five percent more. It's best to change your money once you arrive in Gibraltar, since the exchange rate is slightly higher than in Spain and there's no commission charged. Gibraltar pounds can be hard to change in Spain.