Gibraltar - Port to cable car (and back)

Hi all,

My wife and I aren't incredible mobile, and we're visit Gib next month. I was wondering if anyone can advise re getting to (and from) the Bottom Cable Car Terminal from (and to) the port? I've read elsewhere that the taxi drivers are more interested in getting a car-full and doing their £22pp tours than doing an actual taxi a to b run. Any info on buses would be most appreciated.

Cheers

Martin

Hi all,

 

My wife and I aren't incredible mobile, and we're visit Gib next month. I was wondering if anyone can advise re getting to (and from) the Bottom Cable Car Terminal from (and to) the port? I've read elsewhere that the taxi drivers are more interested in getting a car-full and doing their £22pp tours than doing an actual taxi a to b run. Any info on buses would be most appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

Blimey, what happened in that first sentence?

Two typos in one sentence. That's gotta be down to predictive text, so it serves you right !! :D

You shouldn't find it too difficult to find a willing cab if you hook up with like-mindeds, on the ship or the pier, though the driver will doubtless spend the whole drive trying to persuade you to take his Rock tour.

And he'd be well worth listening to, ESP if you have mobility issues. Cable car takes you to the top (taxi road is perhaps 100 ft short of the top) but it's a short hike to the apes den, a longer hike to st Michael's cave and for you an impossible hike to the Great Siege tunnels. And taxi to/from cable car plus cable car fare will be more than £22. There's a view south across to Morocco from the Jewish memorial, both west (Atlantic) and east (Med) from apes den cos it,s on the ridge, and north (Spain) from Gt Siege Tunnel. And across Algeciras Bay from St Michael's Cave if you don't want to go in the cave (15 to 20 minute stop, cave has steps). You,ll miss those sep viewpoints if you take the cable car.

The drive up the Rock is from near the cable car station, so indecision shouldn't cost you more.

Also be aware that the cable car service is suspended (pun intended) in moderate to high wind.

And the cablecar is prone to long queues, tho that shouldn't be a problem in October.

So, you can get a taxi to cable car station, but if you go alone switching to a Rock tour at the cablecar station will cost double (you pay £22 per seat in the vehicle).

I'd recommend the Rock taxi/minibus tour, but your money your choice

Enjoy, whichever way you do it

JB :)

Two typos in one sentence. That's gotta be down to predictive text, so it serves you right !! :D

 

You shouldn't find it too difficult to find a willing cab if you hook up with like-mindeds, on the ship or the pier, though the driver will doubtless spend the whole drive trying to persuade you to take his Rock tour.

And he'd be well worth listening to, ESP if you have mobility issues. Cable car takes you to the top (taxi road is perhaps 100 ft short of the top) but it's a short hike to the apes den, a longer hike to st Michael's cave and for you an impossible hike to the Great Siege tunnels. And taxi to/from cable car plus cable car fare will be more than £22. There's a view south across to Morocco from the Jewish memorial, both west (Atlantic) and east (Med) from apes den cos it,s on the ridge, and north (Spain) from Gt Siege Tunnel. And across Algeciras Bay from St Michael's Cave if you don't want to go in the cave (15 to 20 minute stop, cave has steps). You,ll miss those sep viewpoints if you take the cable car.

The drive up the Rock is from near the cable car station, so indecision shouldn't cost you more.

Also be aware that the cable car service is suspended (pun intended) in moderate to high wind.

And the cablecar is prone to long queues, tho that shouldn't be a problem in October.

 

So, you can get a taxi to cable car station, but if you go alone switching to a Rock tour at the cablecar station will cost double (you pay £22 per seat in the vehicle).

I'd recommend the Rock taxi/minibus tour, but your money your choice

 

Enjoy, whichever way you do it

 

JB :)

Thanks for the info JB. Much appreciated.

I emailed the Gibraltar bus company who furnished me with the relevant bus route info which seems convenient both in terms of location and times, and a day pass only costs a couple of quid.

The Boss would really like a trip on the cable car so I think we'll try the bus route (pun also intended), and if we decide on a taxi from the cable car station we're not down too much (we'll lose rather more in the ship's casino I suspect :mad:).

P.S. Next month is November...nearly Christmas! :eek:

Martin.

This will be our first visit to Gibraltar so I'm trying to put together a DIY itinerary for the day. I've tried checking the Gib bus routes but can't figure out which route would be the easiest for us to use from the port to take us to the cable car station. It looks like the #3 has a stop on Europort Rd. that is the closest to the port and goes in the direction of the cable car station. Correct? This looks easier and faster than walking all the way to the station. Can we buy an all-day bus pass on the bus? We will be there May 2. Any advice on how busy Gib is at that time of the year?

Two typos in one sentence. That's gotta be down to predictive text, so it serves you right !! :D

 

You shouldn't find it too difficult to find a willing cab if you hook up with like-mindeds, on the ship or the pier, though the driver will doubtless spend the whole drive trying to persuade you to take his Rock tour.

And he'd be well worth listening to, ESP if you have mobility issues. Cable car takes you to the top (taxi road is perhaps 100 ft short of the top) but it's a short hike to the apes den, a longer hike to st Michael's cave and for you an impossible hike to the Great Siege tunnels. And taxi to/from cable car plus cable car fare will be more than £22. There's a view south across to Morocco from the Jewish memorial, both west (Atlantic) and east (Med) from apes den cos it,s on the ridge, and north (Spain) from Gt Siege Tunnel. And across Algeciras Bay from St Michael's Cave if you don't want to go in the cave (15 to 20 minute stop, cave has steps). You,ll miss those sep viewpoints if you take the cable car.

The drive up the Rock is from near the cable car station, so indecision shouldn't cost you more.

Also be aware that the cable car service is suspended (pun intended) in moderate to high wind.

And the cablecar is prone to long queues, tho that shouldn't be a problem in October.

 

So, you can get a taxi to cable car station, but if you go alone switching to a Rock tour at the cablecar station will cost double (you pay £22 per seat in the vehicle).

I'd recommend the Rock taxi/minibus tour, but your money your choice

 

Enjoy, whichever way you do it

 

JB :)

Are the taxi tours available for hire at the cruise port or does the tour need to be prearranged?

Are the taxi tours available for hire at the cruise port or does the tour need to be prearranged?

Yes, most definitely available at the cruise pier. :)

And if your party isn't a taxi-full (or there are only vans), the taxi marshal will put groups together & you'll be off & away in a flash.

But there's not an inexhaustible supply of either vehicles or sharers, so best to be off the ship reasonably early to avoid disappointment or delay.

Fixed price, was £22 or €25, might be a small increase for the coming season. I don't know if USD or plastic are acceptable.

Pre-booked appears to be more expensive but might be more comprehensive, I'm pretty certain you can't book seats - you'd have to book the vehicle.

JB :)

JB has given you excellent advice.

If you get off early you will see tons of vans, and other vehicles for hire. As they day goes along you won't see so many.

Keith

Do you think I can get a tour of my choice of options or are these drivers pretty dead set on their routes?

We'll be there on the Jewel OTS on May 10th.

Susan

Susan, you can either do set tours or you can discuss options and pricing.

They are flexible.

Keith

Do you think I can get a tour of my choice of options or are these drivers pretty dead set on their routes?

 

We'll be there on the Jewel OTS on May 10th.

 

Susan

Because of the upper Rock's narrow roads, road restrictions, and one-way section, the route up there is kinda set in stone (awful pun intended :o).

You can ask the driver to add a circumnavigation at sea-level at the end of the upper Rock tour, taking in Europa Point (the southernmost point), the tunnel & shoreline on the Mediterranean side, the airport & perhaps a peek at the Spanish border. I guess that'd take 20 to 30 minutes plus stops. Don't know the cost, but it'll be the same whether there's two of you or ten of you. If you're sharing with others at the pier, they might want to do the same & share the cost.

I guess you could do the sea-level circumnavigation as a stand-alone, but the real attraction is the upper Rock. And you'd not find sharers at the pier.

The worthwhile bits of the town - Main Street & a few side-streets - are easy to walk, don't need a tour or transport.

After their upper Rock tour (with or without additions), rather than being taken back to the ship, most folk bale out at Casemates Square, the bottom (northern) end of Main Street. They then wander the shops, pubs & minor sights of Main Street. The walk back to the ship takes 20 to 25 minutes.

Or did you have somewhere in particular in mind?

JB :)

Thanks for all the wonderful advice you are giving. We have a 3.5 hour tour in Gibraltar but it does not go to the WWII tunnels. After the tour we would like to return to the rock to see the tunnels and walk around the reserve. Is this logical or not? I presume we need to take the cable car to do this. Thanks for any suggestions. Will be there end of Oct.

Bumping this to the top for current information. We'll be there May 2. Any change in taxi tour fares, etc.? Also, are there admission charges for the tunnels, etc. in addition to the taxi fare? We would still prefer to go up the rock on the cable car but are weighing our options. Would the bus route take us to the bottom cable car station and/or siege tunnels?

Thanks for all the wonderful advice you are giving. We have a 3.5 hour tour in Gibraltar but it does not go to the WWII tunnels. After the tour we would like to return to the rock to see the tunnels and walk around the reserve. Is this logical or not? I presume we need to take the cable car to do this. Thanks for any suggestions. Will be there end of Oct.

The cablecar is at the wrong end of the Rock for the WW2 tunnels, which are on the northern face (overlooking the airport & Spanish border), between the Great Siege tunnels and the Moorish castle.

The fee for the WW2 tunnels is somewhere around £10, it's a guided tour. Might be worth checking that it operates in October.

If the last place visited on your tour is the Great Siege tunnels (which it is on the standard Upper Rock tour, but probably not on a 3.5hr tour) you can ask the driver to drop you at the entrance to the WW2 tunnels on his way back down to the town.

Or take a bus from the bus station behind Casemates Square at the northern end of Main Street, to the Moorish castle (I think it's the number 2 route, but don't trust me on that). The bus stop is on the junction with Calpe Road, it's about a 200 yard uphill walk from the bus stop to the Moorish castle, then another 100 yards uphill to the WW2 tunnels. You'll have to pay the Nature Reserve admission fee when you get to the castle, but it's only about 50 pence.

This streetview is at the Moorish castle/Nature Reserve entrance, the white building on the corner at the top of the photo is the WW2 tunnels entrance, swing the camera downhill & walk it down to the corner & you'll see the blue bus at the bus stop.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Willis's+Rd,+Gibraltar+GX11+1AA,+Gibraltar/@36.1438902,-5.3494505,3a,75y,14.82h,89.72t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s7zZay4Q1rmLFGF1wN_31cQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D7zZay4Q1rmLFGF1wN_31cQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D353.11905%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m2!3m1!1s0xd0cbf7e3a649b8b:0x692fb16757dc35bb

Or you can take a taxi. There's a £10 Nature Reserve entrance fee for vehicles - I don't know if that applies to taxis, so ask the driver. If the vehicle fee applies, ask him to drop you as close as he can get you to the Moorish castle & walk the last bit.

Bumping this to the top for current information. We'll be there May 2. Any change in taxi tour fares, etc.? Also, We would still prefer to go up the rock on the cable car but are weighing our are there admission charges for the tunnels, etc. in addition to the taxi fare? options. Would the bus route take us to the bottom cable car station and/or siege tunnels?

I saw on another thread that the taxi tour is still £22 but in Euros it's now 33 euros.

Tours include the Nature Reserve fee and the fees for St Michael's cave & the Great Siege tunnels.

There's no fee at the apes den - they get by quite well with what they steal :D

Standard tours don't visit the WW2 tunnels (though as above if you want to visit you can ask your driver to drop you there), so there are no extras to pay on the standard tour.

I'm pretty certain the cablecar fee includes the Nature Reserve fee.

The bottom cablecar station will certainly be very close to bus routes, but there are no buses on the Upper Rock. Nearest to the Great Siege tunnels would be the bus stop I mentioned above, and it's a pretty stiff uphill walk of about a kilometre from there, past the WW2 tunnel entrance, to the Great Siege tunnels.

JB :)

I'll be in Gibraltar Sept. 14, 2016 on the Emerald Princess. Unfortunately, we have a very small, inactive Roll Call w/little action on pvt. tours.

I want to do a 2-3 hr. taxi tour, but I also want to do the cable car up the Rock. I understand the cable car line gets quite long after mid-morning. But the taxi/tours may be full by the same time.

So, should I get a taxi to the cable car first & hope to arrange a tour after or reverse? I'm a solo senior w/walking issues so I need to plan on "transport".

Also -- will I have a problem getting a tour seat as I'm solo? The taxi/vans are all 6 or 8 passenger, right? How do the drivers handle an odd number of passengers?

Thanks!

Are taxis- for a walk up Rock tour, now, at the dock area? (getting off the ship when it clears)

Last time, we did the long walk into town, to the square in order to join a group cab tour.

Are taxis- for a walk up Rock tour, now, at the dock area? (getting off the ship when it clears)

 

Last time, we did the long walk into town, to the square in order to join a group cab tour.

Yes, they'll be lined up outside the cruise terminal, as long as you're not a straggler

No worries

JB :)

Visited Gibraltar in June. As JB says the simplest tour if you wish to view the major attractions is just to walk off the ship. As we hit the taxi line I was asked if we wanted to take the tour, yes, and how many of ,two. We went to the van which already had six and off we went. Vans basically follow eac other along a one way route and all stop at the same places for roughly the same amount of time. Cost was 33€, £ would have been cheaper but we had none of those. As we wanted to see the WW II tunnels we asked to be dropped off there, but Lo and behold it was a holiday and they were closed so we skipped it, if they are open just let your driver know you want out early.

This was as easy a diy tour as you can do . No pain , no hassle. Unless the idea of riding a cable car is high on your list I would just do the van tour.

Is the £22 taxi tour a return tour? From port to port? If you want to stay in town, where do they drop you off?

How long is this tour? Do we get time to walk to the top for the stunning views?

Is the £22 taxi tour a return tour? From port to port? If you want to stay in town, where do they drop you off?

 

How long is this tour? Do we get time to walk to the top for the stunning views?

This is a standard 90 min tour give or take a few minutes. Our driver dropped us at the end of Main Street. We had all agreed that was where we wanted so we could simply walk along main to casemates sq. Would have gotten out at WW II tunnels but they were closed I suspect he would have returned to the port but none of us were interested in doing that so it never came up.

Is the £22 taxi tour a return tour? From port to port? If you want to stay in town, where do they drop you off?

 

How long is this tour? Do we get time to walk to the top for the stunning views?

Folk generally prefer to be dropped in town at Casemates Square, which is at the northern end of Main Street. Conveniently there are a lot of watering holes and eateries in the square, with inside but mainly outside seating - though IMHO the fayre tends to be better in Main Street pubs.

From Casemates Square the driver will continue back to the ship for anyone who wants.

If you want to bale out at Casemates Square, the walk back to the ship is level and simple and takes 20 to 25 minutes.

The tour takes something under 2 hours, they've been doing this for years and that timescale is ideal for most folk.

You get southerly views (across to North Africa) at the Jewish monument, westerly views (Bay of Algeciras & Atlantic) at St Michael's Cave, and northerly views (isthmus, airport and Spanish mainland) at the Great Siege tunnels.

The top of the Rock is a ridge, with high points at the Great Siege tunnels and the top cablecar station. Taxis & vans don't go to the top cable car station, but the Apes Den is on the saddle of the ridge - from a short flight of steps there you have panoramic views both to the west and, over the sheer side, to the Mediterranean. At each stop you can split your time between the attraction & the view.

JB :)

:confused: If we opt for a taxi tour, are there plenty photo stops on the way up and then with monkies or do they leave you for short while?

:confused: If we opt for a taxi tour, are there plenty photo stops on the way up and then with monkies or do they leave you for short while?

The normal routine is

- just a 5 minute photo-stop at the Jewish monument (views to North Africa)

- about 20 - 30 mins at St Michael's Cave, and that's long enough. Admission is included, though it's a pleasant spot & great views (west, over the harbour & the Bay of Algeciras) if you don't want to go into the cave. If you go into the cave you'll still have a few minutes for the view / photos.

- a bare minimum of 10 minutes but usually 15+ at the Apes Den. It's a single-lane road close to the top of the ridge with no parking, so a stopped vehicle blocks the road - but no worries 'cos they all want to stop so your driver won't be obliged to drive straight past. Sometimes there can be a line of 8 to 10 taxis & vans - but you just hop out & walk up the line to the Den, and in due course your vehicle will join you. Again, great westerly views of the Bay of Algeciras - and up a dozen or so steps to the ridge-line on top of the Den for great easterly views over the Mediterranean though that's often shrouded in cloud / mist which rolls up the vertical eastern face. The monkeys climb al over the vehicles, so anyone confined to the vehicle can still experience them.

- About 20 / 25 minutes at the Great Siege Tunnel and galleries. Best northerly views are actually from a gallery in the tunnel - you're at the top of the sheer north face, looking down on the airport and Spanish border.

The entire road system on the Upper Rock is on the less-steep western face, so views while travelling are all westerly. A matter of luck whether you have a seat suitable for photos (the left side of the vehicle), but they'd be no different to those at the stops. The only seat ideal for video would be alongside the driver, though those born with rubber necks could try from the back row of seats.

The vehicle stays with you, & the driver stays with the vehicle, for the duration. So you can safely leave stuff, or stay in the vehicle at any of the stops.

The drivers are very experienced with this tour, they've got it down to a fine art & they know how long folk need at each stop.

JB :)

Wow what a fantastic reply John thank you! In your experience then how does this compare to going by cable car or which would you recommend? I'd rather pay a little more for the reassurance that we shall be dropped off at the ship again as my biggest fear is getting lost and missing it! 😂 Can't remember how long our ship is docked here for, think it's only 12.00-18.00 so I'm planning being back onboard 1700hrs 😂 Thanks again for your reply!

John Bull gives great replies.

The cable car and taxi tour are slightly different but you end up seeing the rock on both tours. If you are nervous about missing the ship take a taxi tour. You would be best leaving the ship as early as you can.

If you are dropped off in Main Street as long as you are heading back to the ship by 4.45 (walking) you will be back in plenty of time for sailaway.

Have a great day in Gibraltar.