Walking to the top of the rock in Gibraltar

We shall be in Gibraltar in the beginning of August. Is the walk up to the top of the rock doable at that time of year or is it too hot? How long does it approximately take please? thanks :)

We shall be in Gibraltar in the beginning of August. Is the walk up to the top of the rock doable at that time of year or is it too hot? How long does it approximately take please? thanks :)

We hope to climb the Mediterranean Steps in October. Celebrity offers an excursion there but it leaves at 9:30 am & we hope to start the climb earlier for cooler temps. It will likely be quite hot in August no matter how soon you start out!

Here is a link from the Gibraltar tourist bureau- I suggest you contact them for info on the average weather in August.

http://www.visitgibraltar.gi/upper-mediterranean-steps

We did it in August a couple of years ago, and we plan to do it again this coming August. It's definitely hot, so get there as early as possible, but we enjoyed it a lot. Bring plenty of your own water.

It took us about one hour, but my teenagers could have done it in about 40 minutes if they had gone alone.

We did it in August a couple of years ago, and we plan to do it again this coming August. It's definitely hot, so get there as early as possible, but we enjoyed it a lot. Bring plenty of your own water.

 

It took us about one hour, but my teenagers could have done it in about 40 minutes if they had gone alone.

Thanks, Did you have any planned route of how to go about it or just followed directions?

If you want to get the most of your day, prepurchase cable car tickets online and ride to the top. Then walk down all the way into the main street. On the way, there are the steps, the barbary apes, st michaels caves, and the tunnels. If you buy the cable tickets online, also buy the tickets to St. Michaels caves as the line is ridiculous to purchase at the window. We just did this in May and logged about 15,000 steps as we walked from ship to cable car, took cable car up, took the long winding trail down, then walked back to ship. You can preprint a map before you go, plus they have markers everywhere. This is a really easy place to navigate and visit. Had a great day. If you are in good shape, you will be fine. I wouldn't walk up just because of time limits. No need for any guides...etc...Up at the top there was a line of taxis not moving and minibuses not moving with people in them. We just walked right by them and continued on our way. There are placards everywhere and we had read about the Rock, the Siege tunnels, the Apes...etc... before we went. This was one of my favorite cruise ports.

If you want to get the most of your day, prepurchase cable car tickets online and ride to the top. Then walk down all the way into the main street. On the way, there are the steps, the barbary apes, st michaels caves, and the tunnels. If you buy the cable tickets online, also buy the tickets to St. Michaels caves as the line is ridiculous to purchase at the window. We just did this in May and logged about 15,000 steps as we walked from ship to cable car, took cable car up, took the long winding trail down, then walked back to ship. You can preprint a map before you go, plus they have markers everywhere. This is a really easy place to navigate and visit. Had a great day. If you are in good shape, you will be fine. I wouldn't walk up just because of time limits. No need for any guides...etc...Up at the top there was a line of taxis not moving and minibuses not moving with people in them. We just walked right by them and continued on our way. There are placards everywhere and we had read about the Rock, the Siege tunnels, the Apes...etc... before we went. This was one of my favorite cruise ports.

I think the OP was keen to walk to the top - kudos to them, but they won't see me on the Mediterranean Steps. ;)

But certainly they ought to save 45 minutes or more by taking a taxi from the ship to the start of the Steps.

I've been up the Rock many times, and never seen "a line of taxis not moving and minibuses not moving with people in them".

The only place I've seen a line is at the Apes Den, where there's no room to pass a vehicle which is stopped and there can be a line of up to about 10 minibuses/taxis. But that's no problem - the passengers get out & walk past the line to enjoy the apes and the views. The line moves, and their vehicle eventually reaches the apes den and picks them up. They get 15 minutes and more at the apes den, which is plenty. And anyone too frail to get out of the vehicle will get much the same, since the apes do wander down the line & climb all over the vehicles. But the drivers take care not to stay overly-long, ensuring that the line doesn't get so long that it results in delays to others.

Nor have I seen long ticket lines at St Michael's Cave - entry is included in the price of a van / taxi tour, so that's lot of folk who don't join a ticket line.

I'd also be wary of pre-purchasing tickets for the cable-car - tickets aren't timed and the line to go up in the cable-car can get ridiculously long after about 9.30am when coachloads of day-trippers start arriving from the Spanish resorts.

I've underlined "can" because I've also seen very short lines, even at busy times of day. Luck of the draw.

And I've never seen long lines to come down - I have no idea why that is :confused:. It's not entirely due to some folk walking down, because I've seen similar in places like Table Mountain and Corcovado where few if any walk down.

One other thing to be wary of is that the cable-car is quite often suspended (corny pun intended :rolleyes:) due to moderately high winds.

There are pros & cons between cable-car & taxi-tour.

But I'm too lazy and unfit to see any pros in walking up :o

All just MHO, as always

JB :)

I've only been there one time but researched how to make the most of my day and the way I did it worked with 2 ships in harbor in May. Of course I may have been lucky. The line with taxis and minibuses was only at the top. It was so congested we could barely squeeze by them. Prepurchasing cable car tickets and other sites for the same price rather then stand in any line was clutch as we waited about 10 minutes as opposed to the tours and others. We probably were very lucky that day with no lines but I'd do it the same way again. I did observe some brave souls walking up the rock sweating and cursing and I commended myself again on prepaid cable car tickets.

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We hiked to the top via the Mediterranean Steps in mid June. We got there around an hour before the ship's excursion when it was around 70 degrees. By the end of the hike, it was probably 80. It took us 45 min, but the sign says it typically takes 1.5 hours. We walked down the road from the top by way of the St. Michael Caves. It seemed much longer to walk down via the road, but it at least spit you out back at the port area. The downside to the Med Steps is that taxis don't want to take you there. We had read that online but still had hope til we were refused by multiple taxis. Finally, a port shuttle driver took pity on us and called his taxi driver friend, who came to take us. We thanked him profusely and tipped him well. I recommend trying to arrange this ride in advance if you plan to hike the Med Steps.

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We'll be in Gibraltar from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on September 27th, so really only 4 1/2 hours:(. We've been to Gibraltar previously and walked to the lower cable station, took the cable car to the upper station, looked around the station area and then walked down via the Charles V wall stairs. Time was limited on that stop as well so this was all we had time to do. We'd like a chance to see a bit more at the top of the rock. Would we have time to walk to the cable car, ride up, and then walk down via the Seige Tunnels and Moorish Castle back to the ship? Or do you think it would be best for us to take one of the taxi tours? Wish we could have a full day in Gibraltar....so much to see.

We'll be in Gibraltar from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on September 27th, so really only 4 1/2 hours:(. We've been to Gibraltar previously and walked to the lower cable station, took the cable car to the upper station, looked around the station area and then walked down via the Charles V wall stairs. Time was limited on that stop as well so this was all we had time to do. We'd like a chance to see a bit more at the top of the rock. Would we have time to walk to the cable car, ride up, and then walk down via the Seige Tunnels and Moorish Castle back to the ship? Or do you think it would be best for us to take one of the taxi tours? Wish we could have a full day in Gibraltar....so much to see.

Taking a taxi to the bottom cablecar station saves about 25 to 30 minutes.

From the top cablecar station, St Michael's Cave is in the wrong direction (south), costing you 15 mins each-way plus time in the cave - a total of up to an hour.

With a taxi to the lower station and skipping St Michael's cave your plan is very workable - if the line for the cablecar is short.

And here's the dilemma - a half-day afternoon has the disadvantage that at the cablecar you'll be mixing it with the hordes of day-trippers who arrive in Gib from Spain's Costa del Sol mid-late morning, so the prospects are that there'll be a long line for the cablecar.:(

I think I'd play it safe and take the taxi tour.

If time is on your side you could bale out of the tour at the Great Siege Tunnels (40 min walk to the ship) or at the Moorish Castle (30 mins), but be sure of your directions cos there are several opportunities to take a wrong turn.

JB :)

Thank you so much for your reply, John. Looks like we'll go for the taxi tour and if there is enough time, we'll bail out early and walk down. I wish we had more time in port. The last time we visited we got back to the ship with 30 minutes to spare and then waited an hour past departure time waiting for two missing passengers. We could have had an extra hour too!!

Lynn