Gibraltar Taxi Tours

Hi everyone. I know Gibraltar taxi tours have been discussed before, but I'm still a little confused. From what I understand, the typical hour and a half tour covers 20 min. or so visits to the Cave, Siege Tunnels and somewhere to mingle with the pesky apes. I believe the price is 25 (or a little more) euros and 22 pounds. The Gib taxi association gives some info on these tours but I still have the following questions:

Is everyone in the cab required to pay the 8 pound admission to the Nature Reserve, or just the cab driver, or nobody if you're part of a taxi tour?

Can the taxi go all the way up top, if that is the most scenic part, or does it simply go to the "highest up" point of the attractions I mentioned (I'm thinking this would be the Siege Tunnels, but not sure.)

Are these tours readily available at the port terminal?

For the WWII tunnel tour, which I know is not included and must be done either by staying at the end, hiring another taxi, or taking a bus up to the Moorish Castle, if you did it, did you think it was worth it? Was there a lot of walking, standing etc., I assume? Did it last about an hour?

I DID find good info on one Gib site, but I just wanted some opinions here...

Your £22/€25 or thereabouts quoted at the cruise terminal (yes, available there) includes all charges. Admissions to the Nature Reserve, St Michael's Cave & the Great Siege tunnel/galleries. No charge at the apes den.

Admission to the Nature Reserve is 50p p/p & £8 per car - your 50p is covered, I don't know whether taxi drivers have to pay the car fee or whether they have an annual licence, but that needn't concern you - you won't be asked to chip in. :)

Taxis go to the top of the spine, not quite to the highest point of the spine but other than a brew at the café it's not important.

They go up near the southern end, you can see south across the Straits to Morocco from a viewpoint at the Jewish memorial part-way up (photo-stop).

You can see the Atlantic side to the west all of the way up, including at the St Michaels cave stop (photo-opp).

You can see both the Atlantic & Med sides at the apes den, which is on the spine - you need to climb a dozen steps by the apes den to see the Med side to the east, it's virtually a sheer drop. The Med side is often covered in mist which rolls up the Rock but rarely interferes with the other views.

Then it's on to the Great Siege tunnels at the top of the Rock at its northern end - best view here is north over the airport & isthmus across to Spain from viewpoints in the galleries, again with a sheer drop below you.

You then pass the WW11 tunnels on the way down & can ask the driver to drop you here, & make your way down independently after your WW2 tour - a short walk past the Moorish Castle to the bus stop at the next junction.

If you go to just the WW2 tunnel, take the bus up from the bus stands behind Casemates Square, ask the driver to drop you near the Moorish Castle. Then walk up past the Moorish castle - you'll need to pay 50p per person at the Moorish Castle as this is an entrance to the Nature Reserve.

If instead you take a taxi to the WW2 tunnel I don't know if the driver has to pay the £8, a cost which he'd pass on to you. So ask him. If it's payable, just get him to drop you at the Moorish Castle (it's a two-way road) & just pay your 50p each at the castle. Although it's a steep hill its only about a 200yard walk & the WW2 tunnel entrance is very clearly marked.

The taxi tour is very popular & well-recommended.

Mixed views about the WW2 tunnels, We visited some years ago shortly after they were opened to the public & we weren't impressed - very little had been done to make them interesting or visitor-friendly & our guide was a pleasant young lad but not a good guide - we think he may have been the owner's son filling in during his college break.

But others on CC have said it's improved immensely & they had great tours with knowledgeable guides, former servicemen who'd served in the tunnels.

There's quite a lot of walking on this tour - I guess a mile or more, and rare opportunities to sit on something. There's dozens of miles of tunnels, only a small representative section is open to the public. Time on the tour is somewhere around 60 to 90 minutes, all guided since it means not a lot without a good guide, and it's easy to get lost .

I think most folk would rate the taxi tour the more important, the more interesting and varied, and more enjoyable. The WW2 tour only as an add-on, or for folk who've been to Gib before.

JB :)

Thank you very much for that very informative reply. It helps immensely!

Great explanation. Could I just ask what is the best currency to pay the cab driver in.

Sorry if this seems a silly question but is the approximate £22 per person or per taxi

Sorry if this seems a silly question but is the approximate £22 per person or per taxi

Per person, as it includes the aggregate admission fees to St Michael's Cave, Great Siege Tunnels etc.

Great explanation. Could I just ask what is the best currency to pay the cab driver in.

I really don't know the answer to that question, as normally in the past people on here have advised to use Gib (or British) pounds when possible to avoid the higher euro price. However, I just checked the conversion rate and 22 pounds came out to be about 27 1/2 euros. Therefore, at current rates, 25 euros may be a relative bargain! However, it is possible that the 22 pound sterling/25 euro cost everyone has been using has changed since the time that those cruisers/visitors/locals were in Gibraltar. It was, after all, just an approximate cost.

I DID take a look at the official Gibraltar taxi site and it says something like, "“Prices depend on seasonal demand & length; standard tour is 1 hr 15m – 1 h 30m.” Therefore, I guess the drivers will charge whatever they want in the end, but no matter what it is, I would guess that they'll be charging more if you pay in euros than if you pay in pounds! I have a small amount of pounds left over from a previous trip. I will probably try to use those up if I can for myself, and my husband will just pay in euros and be done with it. I have read that there is one ATM in Gib that dispenses pounds if there is really a big "markup" or whatever you want to call it for euros, but we'll probably just not worry about things too much and pay however we can! Before I leave, however, I DO plan to check conversion rates just so I know what's what!

aem2682, not a silly question. I had the same one earlier!

.......... normally in the past people on here have advised to use Gib (or British) pounds when possible to avoid the higher euro price. !

I think the advice is aimed more at some of the less-reputable shops & cafes, and the taxi drivers use a more honest but approximate conversion.

Sterling has been rising this year and tourist rates for cash exchange (poorer than credit card conversion rates) are currently £1 = €1.21, so £22 equates to €26.62.

Which means that unless the taxi drivers have changed prices to suit, yes, their €25 is actually cheaper than £22.

(We had a similar situation in Aruba a few years back, when the GBP plummeted. The submarine experience was actually cheaper buying on the ship (GBP) than buying at the door (USD), presumably because before the slump the ship had negotiated a season-long GBP price)

A reminder that GBP are accepted in Gibraltar (at a constant one-for-one against Gib pounds) but Gib pounds aren't accepted in the UK, so avoid them in your change.

JB :)

I have a few questions since reading this. Should, or can you, book the taxi in advance, or are there enough to just get one when you get off the ship? Also, what is the official website for the taxi tours? And, does anyone know anything about Carl and the Gibraltar inside out rock tours? Or are the taxi tours a better option?

Thanks!

I have a few questions since reading this. Should, or can you, book the taxi in advance, or are there enough to just get one when you get off the ship? Also, what is the official website for the taxi tours? And, does anyone know anything about Carl and the Gibraltar inside out rock tours? Or are the taxi tours a better option?

Thanks!

A seat-in-van tour from the port takes 90mins - 2hrs. & costs £22 or €25 p/p (may have increased marginally this year), including admissions - Nature Reserve, St Michael's Cave, Great Siege Tunnel. There's no fee at the Apes Den. It doesn't include the WW2 tunnels or Moorish Castle (though you pass by them) & I'm none-too-sure about Europa Point. Most passengers alight at Casemates Square at the end of the tour, to explore the town.

A long as you're off the ship tolerably early you should have no problem getting seats.

This is the website for the taxi association

http://www.gibtaxi.com/ENG/rocktourENG.html

Pay no heed to their listing the WW2 tunnels or the Moorish castle - the Upper Rock tour passes both but you would need to add at least an hour to visit the WW2 tunnels, and 20minutes+ to visit the nearby Moorish Castle. But some or all of you can bale out here, as you can on a seat-in-van tour, & make your own way back to town by foot or by bus.

You need to get out a calculator to figure the price difference because this is charged by the van & not p/p, and doesn't include any admissions. And charged by the complete hour - can't be done in an hour but excluding the WW2 tunnel & Moorish Castle it shouldn't take more than two.

So it depends on your numbers & your aspirations.

Beware any other website that uses the word "official", a much mis-used word.

Don't know Carl & the Inside-Out tour cos we rarely book private excursions, but does seem to get excellent reviews on TripAdvisor. I reckon it's worth looking into.

JB :)

I was going to answer this, and then found that anything I could have told you is precisely what John Bull says - as it's likely I got it from him!

Irina, I answered your question about sharing info on the other post. Only thing I might add to the info above is that I explored both options above (but not Carl's, as I found it longer and pricier than I wanted) and have decided to just get off the ship relatively early and try to join a tour at the pier. We (Insignia) are there with a Thomson ship (1500 pax) and a Pullmantour ship that comes in at 1, so that scared me a tiny bit. However, I suspect those cab drivers are pretty good at figuring out how many cabs/vans are needed at the pier versus elsewhere. If you want to check if there are other ships in Gib with you, see http://www.gibraltarport.com/cruise/schedules It looks like most days, there's only one cruise ship in town, which is good - although I hear that mid-morning, the town fills up with visitors from nearby Spain!

One person on our (very small) Roll Call looked into Carl's, but I don't know what she found. However, they sound good to me if you want a comprehensive tour of Gib. Europa Point, by the way, has a lighthouse, mosque, and perhaps a view across to Morocco. The town of Gib has shops and restaurants (mostly) and a few tourist attractions. See http://www.tomsportguides.com for a great review of Gib from a cruiser's perspective.

The customized taxi tours (link above) cost more, but of course, they might be a little more relaxed (and a bit more comprehensive - for example, include a quick trip to somewhere other than rock in a 2 hour tour) and perhaps more comfy, than the tours you pick up at the pier, Casemates Square, etc. My notes say that if I could get 6 people it would be about 25 pounds per person plus admission fees. As John says, the price is per tour, not person.

If you are thinking of adding a tour of the WWII tunnels to your schedule, it looks like this

[YOUTUBE]QpBAu6E7vEA[/YOUTUBE]

Thus tour is not particularly well marketed, perhaps as it can only take limited numbers, and is undeniably much less atmospheric than the Great Siege Tunnels, but as it is so much more recent I found it just as interesting. However everything hangs on your guide, as unlike the GST, which are well signposted and have a couple of audio stations, there is almost nothing in the WWII tunnels. Luckily ours (Hans) was excellent - very humorous and a master of the topic.

It cost £8 pp last year and takes about an hour. You walk about 800-900 yards and there are no places to sit down along the way.

Roothy and John, thank you so much! Roothy, those are great resources! How did you find them?

Penny

Irina, I do a LOT of googling - really obsessive about it. Sources I use other than simply googling are the Virtual Tourist forums, Trip Advisor, Cruise Critic, marineworld.com (to see where cruise ships dock and which ones are in port on any given day), http://www.cruiseclues.com, cruisett.com to get port schedules, and probably more that I've forgotten. I also go on Google Earth a lot to see actual Google photos of places I'm interested in, plus photos other people have taken at those places, plus to get walking or driving directions between 2 points. You can also go to Google Street Views on regular Google maps to see the street view of a particular location or address. The 2 Google sites are similar - probably basically the same (not sure) but I use them both. If I want good, solid driving directions for European countries, I tend to relay on http://www.viamichelin.com as they are very, very detailed! I also sometimes go to Pinterest and look for pictures people have taken at various places. (I'm a photographer, so pictures are important to me!) I forget how I first read about Tom's guides, which are fantastic, but now that I know about them, I'm trying to get the word out! He is incredible - keeps issuing new ones!

Just found something wonderful: I don't have an ipad or even an iphone, and my smartphone doesn't work at all in Europe. Since I do a lot of independent traveling, however, I depend upon detailed maps a lot to get me around. I recently downloaded the "osm and" maps that are referenced in the "Travel Tips" section of Tom's Port Guides website. There is a free app that you can use to download up to 10 maps which you can use offline. (No internet connection is needed. I checked, and it isn't!) I have downloaded the Portugal, Spain and Gibraltar maps and they look to be wonderful. The Spain ones even include the Canary Islands, which is very helpful as we're renting a car on Lanzarote.

Cornishpastyman and John Bull, thanks for the additional information. I think we're going to just take one of the regular taxi tours when in Gib. However, if my husband is really up for the WWII tunnels after that, I think I can manage to get him back down to town on the bus. I could always just wander and take pictures while he's gone for an hour, or visit the nearby Tower of Homage.

Your £22/€25 or thereabouts quoted at the cruise terminal (yes, available there) includes all charges. Admissions to the Nature Reserve, St Michael's Cave & the Great Siege tunnel/galleries. No charge at the apes den.

 

Admission to the Nature Reserve is 50p p/p & £8 per car - your 50p is covered, I don't know whether taxi drivers have to pay the car fee or whether they have an annual licence, but that needn't concern you - you won't be asked to chip in. :)

 

Taxis go to the top of the spine, not quite to the highest point of the spine but other than a brew at the café it's not important.

They go up near the southern end, you can see south across the Straits to Morocco from a viewpoint at the Jewish memorial part-way up (photo-stop).

You can see the Atlantic side to the west all of the way up, including at the St Michaels cave stop (photo-opp).

You can see both the Atlantic & Med sides at the apes den, which is on the spine - you need to climb a dozen steps by the apes den to see the Med side to the east, it's virtually a sheer drop. The Med side is often covered in mist which rolls up the Rock but rarely interferes with the other views.

Then it's on to the Great Siege tunnels at the top of the Rock at its northern end - best view here is north over the airport & isthmus across to Spain from viewpoints in the galleries, again with a sheer drop below you.

 

You then pass the WW11 tunnels on the way down & can ask the driver to drop you here, & make your way down independently after your WW2 tour - a short walk past the Moorish Castle to the bus stop at the next junction.

 

If you go to just the WW2 tunnel, take the bus up from the bus stands behind Casemates Square, ask the driver to drop you near the Moorish Castle. Then walk up past the Moorish castle - you'll need to pay 50p per person at the Moorish Castle as this is an entrance to the Nature Reserve.

If instead you take a taxi to the WW2 tunnel I don't know if the driver has to pay the £8, a cost which he'd pass on to you. So ask him. If it's payable, just get him to drop you at the Moorish Castle (it's a two-way road) & just pay your 50p each at the castle. Although it's a steep hill its only about a 200yard walk & the WW2 tunnel entrance is very clearly marked.

 

The taxi tour is very popular & well-recommended.

Mixed views about the WW2 tunnels, We visited some years ago shortly after they were opened to the public & we weren't impressed - very little had been done to make them interesting or visitor-friendly & our guide was a pleasant young lad but not a good guide - we think he may have been the owner's son filling in during his college break.

But others on CC have said it's improved immensely & they had great tours with knowledgeable guides, former servicemen who'd served in the tunnels.

There's quite a lot of walking on this tour - I guess a mile or more, and rare opportunities to sit on something. There's dozens of miles of tunnels, only a small representative section is open to the public. Time on the tour is somewhere around 60 to 90 minutes, all guided since it means not a lot without a good guide, and it's easy to get lost .

 

I think most folk would rate the taxi tour the more important, the more interesting and varied, and more enjoyable. The WW2 tour only as an add-on, or for folk who've been to Gib before.

 

JB :)

Thank you. This sounds like the most efficient way to see Gibraltar in the short time we have there...and still allow to have lunch and peruse the Town.

Did not book ahead. Let the crowds go off. Then find another couple to share a taxi. We did. We paid about 20€ per couple for a private tour including admissions. We got up to places that the big buses cannot reach.

Another possible advantage of waiting until the crowds get off is that the weather might improve a little if it's not great when you get there first thing in the morning. While it certainly didn't hamper our sightseeing or photography, a little less gray and a little more blue would have made things a bit nicer for photography. Around noon or so it was quite nice out, although of course by then it had gotten hotter, too, and more crowded. While I don't know how often there's a bit of fog and cloudiness in the morning and blue in the afternoon, from reading a bunch of posts, it does NOT seem to be an uncommon scenario.