Alameda Botanic Gardens

Laid out in 1816 as a garrison garden and now a botanic collection of Mediterranean and subtropical planting, with conservation collections of Gibraltar's own plants and of cacti and succulents, an open-air theatre and a small wildlife park.

It sits immediately below the old cable car base station at Grand Parade, south of the Trafalgar Cemetery and the town walls, and is one of the few genuinely shaded places in Gibraltar on a hot afternoon. Admission is free and the gates are open every day from eight in the morning until sunset.

The garden is on a slope and some of the paths are steep. Step-free access is along Red Sands Road. There is a free audio guide through the izi.TRAVEL app, or by the QR codes placed around the garden, so you need nothing but a phone to be shown round.

The Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park inside the gardens is the one thing here with a ticket. It looks after exotic animals confiscated by the authorities, among them lemurs, tamarins, parrots, pythons and tortoises, and it runs on its own hours: ten until half past four Thursday to Tuesday, ten until four on Wednesdays, last entry half an hour before closing.