Gibraltar on your own.

[tring]

We are due to call into Gibraltar in two days, Tuesday 2nd November.  We have been told we can take a taxi up to the Great Siege Tunnels and work our way down on foot, but are starting to worry a bit about how long it will take us to do that.  We will be due back to the ship by about 3pm.

 

We are in our early seventies, but in good health, so can I ask if that sounds a good idea for us, or not?  Otherwise we may be able to get the cable car both ways as it is not high season and not all ships are sailing due to COVID.

 

[PORT ROYAL]

54 minutes ago, tring said:

We are due to call into Gibraltar in two days, Tuesday 2nd November.  We have been told we can take a taxi up to the Great Siege Tunnels and work our way down on foot, but are starting to worry a bit about how long it will take us to do that.  We will be due back to the ship by about 3pm.

 

We are in our early seventies, but in good health, so can I ask if that sounds a good idea for us, or not?  Otherwise we may be able to get the cable car both ways as it is not high season and not all ships are sailing due to COVID.

 

Suggestion

Off ship, view the Duty Free outlets quayside prior to taxi rank (if wishing, one can purchase there and then, as they will give you a ‘ticket’ to collect later).

At Taxi rank (mini bus) purchase a return taxi fare.  (Decline any change in Gibralter Pounds)
Drop off point just outside old town.  

Enter under the arches and walk through the town to cable car, about 20 minutes.

 Take  the cable car return trip.  

Leisurely walk back to taxi point taking in the various shops, bars etc..

On the return walk, many “chemist” style stores will have additional discounts offered usually about 20% off the in shop displayed prices.

Through Arches - Taxi point back to ship just to your right  

Purchase any additional heavy Duty Free items from outlets quayside.

Perfumes, Cosmetics, Alcohol and tobacco products are the only bargains on Gibralter.

Time frame 

There, to cable car, about 30/35 minutes including queue for taxi

Taxi back including queue about 10/15 minutes

 

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by PORT ROYAL
Time frame

[Host Jazzbeau]

The most detailed guides to Gibraltar that I have found are in Rick Steves Spain [probably too late for your cruise] and Tom's Port Guides, which can be downloaded here:  Gibraltar-02-15-2012.pdf

[John Bull]

You should have time to taxi to the Great Siege Tunnels and walk back down. Its a 25 minute walk down from the tunnels to Casemates Square in the town (on foot its not the convoluted route by road that I've linked) and a further 20-minute walk (or taxi) from there back to the ship.

But you enter the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. The entry fee for yourselves is nominal, but there's a big fee for cars - and I don't know whether that applies to taxis.

 

The cablecar is totally unsuitable for the the Great Siege tunnels. It's a 35 minute walk or a taxi ride from the ship to the lower station, and a  40-minute walk from the upper station across to the Great Siege Tunnels. 

You'd be travelling three sides of a square !  

And altho you're very unlikely to experience a queue for the cable-car it's often suspended (deliberate pun 🙄) in high winds.

 

Simplest is to join a taxi / minibus tour of the Upper Rock at the cruise terminal. Leave the ship at the same time as the herd, and outside the terminal marshals will put you into 6 - 8 seater minibuses. 

They go to a photo-stop at a southern lookout point (views of Morocco), up to St Michael's Cave (about a 20-25 minute stop - go into the cave or just admire the magnificent elevated western view), thro the Apes Den (about a 15 minute stop, and eastern & western views depending on mist which rolls up the vertical easstern side) and finally The Great Siege Tunnels (about a 20-25 minute stop, and panoramic views from the sheer northern face), before returning down to the town - bale out at Casemates Sqyuare to explore the town or be taken back to the ship depending on your time & mood. 

The drivers are well-used to this tour, they've been doing it for years and the stops are plenty long enough for the vast majority.

The total time for the tour is 1.5 to 2 hours.

Fare I heard last (but it was a couple of years ago) were £22 or €25 (your choice) per person, including Nature Reserve fee and entry fees for St Michael's Cave and Great Siege Tunnels. No fee at the apes den.

https://goo.gl/maps/cLYXAmdQKQLvrFKY6

 

The tour from the cruise terminal is what I'd suggest anyway, but with your late arrangements and limited time ashore it's a no-brainer 🙂

 

Have a good one

 

JB 🙂

Edited November 1, 2021 by John Bull

[pompeii]

We're also going to be in Gibraltar in November but not until 2022.  We were thinking of the cable car up and walking around to see what we want to see then making our way back down on our own.   But now I'm thinking finding a taxi/minibus tour at the cruise terminal might be a better option.  Are they always there?  Even in the "off season" of November?   

[PORT ROYAL]

1 hour ago, pompeii said:

We're also going to be in Gibraltar in November but not until 2022.  We were thinking of the cable car up and walking around to see what we want to see then making our way back down on our own.   But now I'm thinking finding a taxi/minibus tour at the cruise terminal might be a better option.  Are they always there?  Even in the "off season" of November?   

If there is a ship in port, there’s always taxis looking for business, regardless of seasons.

 

[tring]

Thank you everyone for the replies, I was not able to reply on my phone when away as the system was not posting from it.  Home now and using our desktop.  

 

We were poised to go to the top of the rock on the cable car as suggested by Port Royal. but it was a very cloudy and wet day with the higher rock not visible, so decided to leave it for another visit.  Thanks for the tip about arranging duty free purchases before leaving the terminal, Port Royal, so we could just pick up when returning.  We did this and avoided a very long queue later in the day 🙂

 

On our visit we walked to Casemates Square, where the bus terminus is and caught a bus to Europa Point (think it was a number 2 bus) The driver asked if we wanted a day ticket which covered all buses except for the 5 and 10 (which are run by a different company), so said yes.  The day ticket cost us £1.50 each as seniors, which was amazing value.  We had a good look around the point, which was interesting.  We had some views at times but the mist kept closing in at times and we had no really good views at all that day.  After a drink and a cake, we returned on the bus as far as the cable car station and walked through the Botanic Gardens, then walked along Main Street back to Casemates Square, having a drink and going into various churches on the way back.  We were surprised how interesting and old styled the buildings were - we had expected something much less interesting.  By the time we reached Casemates Square, we were quite tired so got the shuttle back (shared minibus) which cost £2 per person one way.  It was still a good port day, which was not wasted, but hopefully we will have better weather when we are due to return next September, so we can enjoy the upper rock then.

 

John Bull - The taxi tours were enjoyed by some people, who still saw some of the attractions like the caves and monkeys and they found them good.  I understand those shared tours were available from Casemates Square for £23pp, whilst the cost from the terminus was £32 and there were very few takers from there, so could have waited a while before leaving.  Also, the minimal cost for entry to the upper rock has now apparently been replaced by a much greater entry fee, though it does now include all the attractions up there, so there is no extra cost to enter those, if you wish to go into all of them.  I do not know the exact amount payable, but that was explained by our port speaker, so does appear to reflect the current situation.  Also as you said those tours only allow for a fairly short up and down (about 1.5 hours or so), hence I think we would go for a longer time up there on the cable car or by getting a taxi up if we had as long as the eight hours in port that we had this time.  Apparently at least one of the ship's trips did leave before dawn and went on the cable car.  They were lucky enough to see the sunrise and have clear views from up there before the rain and clouds rolled in, about 9am. 

 

We had asked around people on the ship after I posted this question and replies did suggest it would be quite possible to walk down from the top if we got a taxi up there, though it would have been very steep and not good underfoot if wet, so perhaps not something we would have wanted to do at our age.  It seems the buses go to some places on the upper rock, but not to the top (by the Great Siege Tunnels), which can only be accessed by taxi.  We were not so sure we were that keen to go to those, but would be good to access the top of the rock.  They were mentioned by our port speaker who we had spoken to prior to me starting this thread, since they are at the highest point, so a good place to start if we wanted to make our way down on our own.  

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by tring

[tring]

On 11/3/2021 at 7:05 PM, pompeii said:

We're also going to be in Gibraltar in November but not until 2022.  We were thinking of the cable car up and walking around to see what we want to see then making our way back down on our own.   But now I'm thinking finding a taxi/minibus tour at the cruise terminal might be a better option.  Are they always there?  Even in the "off season" of November?   

 

Please see my previous reply.  Our port speaker mentioned that he docked in Gibraltar on Christmas day about five years back and even the shops were open until the middle of the day then.  So would appear that if there is a ship in the locals are happy to use the occasion to make some cash, so I would expect plenty of taxis around at any time of year.  We  were certainly accosted a number of times by taxi operators trying to sell their trips, even later in the day, and that was a murky day in November. 

 

I think the worry would be high season or if there was a big ship, or more than one ship in port, so there would be a lot of tourists looking for something to do.  I understand the cable car can have long queues to get on, though it is possible to buy the tickets on line before arrival in Gibraltar.  We were toying with the idea of pre-buying tickets on line, though did not, but as the weather was bad on our call it would have been about £30 wasted if we had not gone up there.  I think the tickets can be used for another date within a period of time (I think a year), so in theory we could have used them next September, but still a risk as a lot could happen before that to change our plans to go, or for the ship's call to be changed.  A calculated risk, but probably worth pre-buying in high season.  As we passed the cable car starting point, we did notice there were signs for two queuing positions - one being for pre-purchased ticket holders.

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by tring

[pompeii]

So can you take a taxi tour up and get out at the top somewhere, then make your way down on your own?  I'm thinking of using the tour to have transportation between the sites on the southern end and then bailing at what sounds like the last stop, the tunnels, and walking down at our leisure.  The idea being to cut down on some of the walking but have time on our own to wander around up there if the weather is good and maybe stop at the Moorish castle on the way down.  Then still have enough time and energy to look around town a bit before heading back to the ship.   I just wondered if the drivers insisted that they drop you back off at the starting point if you take a tour, or if the north end and walk down is not very interesting.

[tring]

54 minutes ago, pompeii said:

So can you take a taxi tour up and get out at the top somewhere, then make your way down on your own?  I'm thinking of using the tour to have transportation between the sites on the southern end and then bailing at what sounds like the last stop, the tunnels, and walking down at our leisure.  The idea being to cut down on some of the walking but have time on our own to wander around up there if the weather is good and maybe stop at the Moorish castle on the way down.  Then still have enough time and energy to look around town a bit before heading back to the ship.   I just wondered if the drivers insisted that they drop you back off at the starting point if you take a tour, or if the north end and walk down is not very interesting.

 

You will need others to comment on the walk down, but to clarify the Great Siege Tunnels (as mentioned by me and also John Bull), are at the highest point, so will probably be the longest walk down, though are nearer to the port and it seems the foot route is not as winding as the road.  On a map, you will also see the WW2 tunnels, which are a lot lower down and again nearer to the port.  If you come down further south, it should be easy enough to find a bus back to Casemates Square (may need to ask someone were the bus stop is as they do not go along Main Street which is partly pedestrianised) and then shuttle to the port.

 

When speaking with our port speaker, he suggested just getting an individual taxi, which he thought may charge about £40 per hour if we kept it with us, though said he was not sure on that, though would still have been cheaper than a ship's tour. After thinking it through, he later suggested the idea of being dropped off at the highest point

 

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by tring

[mchell810]

On 11/6/2021 at 3:40 PM, tring said:

back to Casemates Square (may need to ask someone were the bus stop is as they do not go along Main Street which is partly pedestrianised) and then shuttle to the port.

 

Could you give a little more information on the shuttle to the port?  Was it  provided by the port/town or  provided by your cruise line?  Did you pick it up near the arched entrance to Casemates Square or somewhere else.   Also do you know if it ran in the reverse direction -- meaning from ship into town? (I have always understood one had to take a taxi or walk into town.)

Thanks for any information.

[John Bull]

On 11/6/2021 at 8:04 PM, tring said:

Thank you everyone for the replies, I was not able to reply on my phone when away as the system was not posting from it.  Home now and using our desktop.  

 

We were poised to go to the top of the rock on the cable car as suggested by Port Royal. but it was a very cloudy and wet day with the higher rock not visible, so decided to leave it for another visit.  Thanks for the tip about arranging duty free purchases before leaving the terminal, Port Royal, so we could just pick up when returning.  We did this and avoided a very long queue later in the day 🙂

 

On our visit we walked to Casemates Square, where the bus terminus is and caught a bus to Europa Point (think it was a number 2 bus) The driver asked if we wanted a day ticket which covered all buses except for the 5 and 10 (which are run by a different company), so said yes.  The day ticket cost us £1.50 each as seniors, which was amazing value.  We had a good look around the point, which was interesting.  We had some views at times but the mist kept closing in at times and we had no really good views at all that day.  After a drink and a cake, we returned on the bus as far as the cable car station and walked through the Botanic Gardens, then walked along Main Street back to Casemates Square, having a drink and going into various churches on the way back.  We were surprised how interesting and old styled the buildings were - we had expected something much less interesting.  By the time we reached Casemates Square, we were quite tired so got the shuttle back (shared minibus) which cost £2 per person one way.  It was still a good port day, which was not wasted, but hopefully we will have better weather when we are due to return next September, so we can enjoy the upper rock then.

 

John Bull - The taxi tours were enjoyed by some people, who still saw some of the attractions like the caves and monkeys and they found them good.  I understand those shared tours were available from Casemates Square for £23pp, whilst the cost from the terminus was £32 and there were very few takers from there, so could have waited a while before leaving.  Also, the minimal cost for entry to the upper rock has now apparently been replaced by a much greater entry fee, though it does now include all the attractions up there, so there is no extra cost to enter those, if you wish to go into all of them.  I do not know the exact amount payable, but that was explained by our port speaker, so does appear to reflect the current situation.  Also as you said those tours only allow for a fairly short up and down (about 1.5 hours or so), hence I think we would go for a longer time up there on the cable car or by getting a taxi up if we had as long as the eight hours in port that we had this time.  Apparently at least one of the ship's trips did leave before dawn and went on the cable car.  They were lucky enough to see the sunrise and have clear views from up there before the rain and clouds rolled in, about 9am. 

 

We had asked around people on the ship after I posted this question and replies did suggest it would be quite possible to walk down from the top if we got a taxi up there, though it would have been very steep and not good underfoot if wet, so perhaps not something we would have wanted to do at our age.  It seems the buses go to some places on the upper rock, but not to the top (by the Great Siege Tunnels), which can only be accessed by taxi.  We were not so sure we were that keen to go to those, but would be good to access the top of the rock.  They were mentioned by our port speaker who we had spoken to prior to me starting this thread, since they are at the highest point, so a good place to start if we wanted to make our way down on our own. 

 

 

 

Thanks for the update.

Shame about the weather - if you can't see the top from the bottom............ 🙁 

And it's always worse on the Mediterranean side.

Errr, no. Even with the promise of clear early-morning skies I don't think I'd be tempted up to the top for sunrise 😏

 

I suspect there's some confusion on the taxi prices.

Perhaps confusion between £ and €, or between a bog-standard tour and an extended one. Or perhaps some greedy gouging.

We paid £23 from the Spanish border for the standard Upper Rock tour some 4 - 5 years ago, so £23 now sounds too low.

And certainly by comparison £32 from the cruise terminal sounds high - it's normally the same price from anywhere at sea-level, though negotiable depending on circumstances..

 

Yes, as per my post, it's walkable down from the Gt Siege Tunnels.

At the northern end, the furthest up that service buses go is to just below the Moorish Castle. Taxis can go up all the way to the Gt Siege tunnels

At the southern end, taxis can go up as far as St Michael's cave and return from there - so ideal for a one-way ride. After St Michael's cave they're stuck with part of a one-way system. 

 

A taxi tour is right for those of us are less active (or, for some of us, more lazy 🙄) than we were.  Cablecar or oneway taxi ride is right for those who like to hike and do things in their own time. 

 

Did you see the little Trafalgar  cemetery by the town gate near the Botanical Gdns? Sailors who died at Trafalgar were buried at sea, those in the cemetery in Gib died later from their wounds.

 

JB 🙂

 

[PORT ROYAL]

7 minutes ago, mchell810 said:

 

Could you give a little more information on the shuttle to the port?  Was it  provided by the port/town or  provided by your cruise line?  Did you pick it up near the arched entrance to Casemates Square or somewhere else.   Also do you know if it ran in the reverse direction -- meaning from ship into town? (I have always understood one had to take a taxi or walk into town.)

Thanks for any information.

The shuttle taxi (mini bus) port/town- town/port was €3.00 return or €2.00 for a single journey.

Correct, town/port shuttle us just outside the arches.

 

[tring]

1 hour ago, mchell810 said:

 

Could you give a little more information on the shuttle to the port?  Was it  provided by the port/town or  provided by your cruise line?  Did you pick it up near the arched entrance to Casemates Square or somewhere else.   Also do you know if it ran in the reverse direction -- meaning from ship into town? (I have always understood one had to take a taxi or walk into town.)

Thanks for any information.

 

As mentioned in the previous reply it is a minibus which is charged per person.  They are easily visible as you come out of the terminal and same drop point for return.  We only used one way and everyone was charged £2 one way.  We were told by others they were charged £2 when they went from the terminal in as well, with no mention of a return price offered though no personal experience.  We were told that Euros are accepted, though as  the currency is £, I suspect they will now be charging more than the equivalent in Euros, but not sure.

 

The shuttles were busy with quite a queue at the terminal end, which is why we decided to walk in, rather than wait.

 

[tring]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

 

 

Thanks for the update.

Shame about the weather - if you can't see the top from the bottom............ 🙁 

And it's always worse on the Mediterranean side.

Errr, no. Even with the promise of clear early-morning skies I don't think I'd be tempted up to the top for sunrise 😏

 

I suspect there's some confusion on the taxi prices.

Perhaps confusion between £ and €, or between a bog-standard tour and an extended one. Or perhaps some greedy gouging.

We paid £23 from the Spanish border for the standard Upper Rock tour some 4 - 5 years ago, so £23 now sounds too low.

And certainly by comparison £32 from the cruise terminal sounds high - it's normally the same price from anywhere at sea-level, though negotiable depending on circumstances..

 

Yes, as per my post, it's walkable down from the Gt Siege Tunnels.

At the northern end, the furthest up that service buses go is to just below the Moorish Castle. Taxis can go up all the way to the Gt Siege tunnels

At the southern end, taxis can go up as far as St Michael's cave and return from there - so ideal for a one-way ride. After St Michael's cave they're stuck with part of a one-way system. 

 

A taxi tour is right for those of us are less active (or, for some of us, more lazy 🙄) than we were.  Cablecar or oneway taxi ride is right for those who like to hike and do things in their own time. 

 

Did you see the little Trafalgar  cemetery by the town gate near the Botanical Gdns? Sailors who died at Trafalgar were buried at sea, those in the cemetery in Gib died later from their wounds.

 

JB 🙂

 

 

Yes, we saw the cemetery which is between the botanical garden and Main Street, but did not linger long as wanted a drink stop.

 

I do suspect all prices could well be dependent on availability of passengers, and as you say negotiable, especially on the day we were there as it was off season, bad weather and at a time when there has been no business over the pandemic.  As I said there were a lot of tour operators hanging around trying to get passengers.  All prices were in £'s when we were there as that is their currency and most passengers were Brits, with a small number of US pax.

 

The people we spoke to had paid their entrance to the upper rock in addition to the tour price, which was per person for a seat in a mini bus with (I think) eight seats.  Whilst I know it is no longer nominal, I have forgotten the amount we were told it actually cost for the entrance fee.

 

Apart from a possible discount being negotiated, I also expect the prices to be as high as the operators think they can charge, which again could well explain the difference in price from the terminal and Casemates Square.  Does cost an extra £4 for the shuttle, if go from the Square as well of course, but I am sure I remember cheaper prices in the Caribbean if you go away from the port first as well.  It is a good approximation anyway and certainly cheaper than a ship's tour - we may decide to use one on our next visit as an easier option as not that young now.

 

I would not want to be out for sunrise either, but in November, it was not that early of course.  It was a ship's tour and probably left the ship about 7.30am, as we did not dock until 7am.

[mchell810]

2 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

The shuttle taxi (mini bus) port/town- town/port was €3.00 return or €2.00 for a single journey.

Correct, town/port shuttle us just outside the arches.

 

 

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

As mentioned in the previous reply it is a minibus which is charged per person.  They are easily visible as you come out of the terminal and same drop point for return.  We only used one way and everyone was charged £2 one way.  We were told by others they were charged £2 when they went from the terminal in as well, with no mention of a return price offered though no personal experience.  We were told that Euros are accepted, though as  the currency is £, I suspect they will now be charging more than the equivalent in Euros, but not sure.

 

The shuttles were busy with quite a queue at the terminal end, which is why we decided to walk in, rather than wait.

 

 

Thanks to you both for the clarification.  When I first read "shuttle" I envisioned a free transfer offered by the port or cruise line; however, I now understand it's, as Port Royal stated,  a quick taxi/minibus run.  I am glad to know the option exists.  When last I was in Gibraltar all the information I collected suggested one had to walk back from Casemates (after a long day out and about that was not attractive.)  I am glad for this information for my return visit in 2022.