Gibraltar WW2 Tunnels

[John Bull]

Went round these tunnels last week, info on them is pretty scarce on the web so this post might help.

 

This is about the World War 2 tunnels, not the Great Seige Tunnel/Galleries which are included on the taxi tours of the upper Rock.

 

The tunnels are at the northern end of the Rock, broadly under the Moorish Castle. They do link up with the Great Seige Tunnel, but there's no public access between the two.

Only a fraction of the WW2 tunnels are open to the public, there's about 40 miles in total including full-width roads.

 

The lack of initiative/effort/professionalism in publicising the tour is matched by the lack of initiative/effort/professionalism in providing a visitor experience. A part of the tunnels are open to walk on a guided tour, but apart from a bunch of photos near the entrance nothing has been done to bring them to life or re-create the atmosphere. Its not much different to walking a disused subway tunnel. The guide was not a professional, seriously lacking in knowledge, and it's my guess he's a member of the family. The tour cost £8, about 10 euros, and lasts about an hour.

Tours are conducted on an ad-hoc basis, I'm guessing about every half-hour. or when there's a half-a-dozen or so visitors.

 

Getting there:

 

If you take an upper Rock taxi tour, ask the driver to drop you at the entrance - it's at the end of the taxi tour, after the Great Seige tunnel, so you miss nothing. Other entrance fees are included in the taxi tour price, but the £8 entrance fee for the WW2 tunnels is not.

 

After the tour, walk down the road to the Moorish Castle & either:

walk down the steps by the castle to the bottom of town, near Casemates Square

or:

walk past the Moorish castle to the bus stop about 300 yards beyond. Buses every 20-30 mins (only hourly on a sunday) will take you to town (all Gibraltar buses, except to the frontier, are free)

 

To get to the WW2 tunnels independently, take the free No 2 bus from opposite the big coach park midway between the cruise port & the town, or from the bus station at Casemates Square. Ask the driver to put you off near the Moorish castle, & walk up the road to the entrance just past the Moorish castle. You will have to pay a 50pence charge to pass the Moorish castle, because at that point you enter the upper Rock nature reserve.

 

Or go by taxi. The driver may drop you short of the entrance - there's a £10 vehicle fee to enter the nature reserve, I don't know if it applies to taxis

 

Off-topic.

I know how Americans look forward to English fish & chips.

The fish & chips offered in Casemates Square are awful, & will put you off for life. Frozen pre-battered fillets, which end up as a solid congealed burnt mess encasing wet luke-warm under-cooked fish, with frozen chips.

And the guy had the cheek to add an unidentifiable £1 to the bill. When asked, he said it was for the sachets of sauce/ketchups. "We didn't use them". "Oh, I'll take it off the bill, then". Too damned right you will. That little trick cost him any chance that he might get a tip.

Rant over ;)

 

JB :)

[ollienbertsmum]

Went round these tunnels last week, info on them is pretty scarce on the web so this post might help.

 

This is about the World War 2 tunnels, not the Great Seige Tunnel/Galleries which are included on the taxi tours of the upper Rock.

 

The tunnels are at the northern end of the Rock, broadly under the Moorish Castle. They do link up with the Great Seige Tunnel, but there's no public access between the two.

Only a fraction of the WW2 tunnels are open to the public, there's about 40 miles in total including full-width roads.

 

The lack of initiative/effort/professionalism in publicising the tour is matched by the lack of initiative/effort/professionalism in providing a visitor experience. A part of the tunnels are open to walk on a guided tour, but apart from a bunch of photos near the entrance nothing has been done to bring them to life or re-create the atmosphere. Its not much different to walking a disused subway tunnel. The guide was not a professional, seriously lacking in knowledge, and it's my guess he's a member of the family. The tour cost £8, about 10 euros, and lasts about an hour.

Tours are conducted on an ad-hoc basis, I'm guessing about every half-hour. or when there's a half-a-dozen or so visitors.

 

Getting there:

 

If you take an upper Rock taxi tour, ask the driver to drop you at the entrance - it's at the end of the taxi tour, after the Great Seige tunnel, so you miss nothing. Other entrance fees are included in the taxi tour price, but the £8 entrance fee for the WW2 tunnels is not.

 

After the tour, walk down the road to the Moorish Castle & either:

walk down the steps by the castle to the bottom of town, near Casemates Square

or:

walk past the Moorish castle to the bus stop about 300 yards beyond. Buses every 20-30 mins (only hourly on a sunday) will take you to town (all Gibraltar buses, except to the frontier, are free)

 

To get to the WW2 tunnels independently, take the free No 2 bus from opposite the big coach park midway between the cruise port & the town, or from the bus station at Casemates Square. Ask the driver to put you off near the Moorish castle, & walk up the road to the entrance just past the Moorish castle. You will have to pay a 50pence charge to pass the Moorish castle, because at that point you enter the upper Rock nature reserve.

 

Or go by taxi. The driver may drop you short of the entrance - there's a £10 vehicle fee to enter the nature reserve, I don't know if it applies to taxis

 

Off-topic.

I know how Americans look forward to English fish & chips.

The fish & chips offered in Casemates Square are awful, & will put you off for life. Frozen pre-battered fillets, which end up as a solid congealed burnt mess encasing wet luke-warm under-cooked fish, with frozen chips.

And the guy had the cheek to add an unidentifiable £1 to the bill. When asked, he said it was for the sachets of sauce/ketchups. "We didn't use them". "Oh, I'll take it off the bill, then". Too damned right you will. That little trick cost him any chance that he might get a tip.

Rant over ;)

 

JB :)

 

 

Johhhhhhnnn

 

As an Englishman why were you trying fish and chips??

 

I look forward to going to the local chippy when I visit my parents in Nottingham. I rarely buy fish and chips in Gibraltar. They are not authentic.

 

Anyway, the tunnels. I saw the owner of the tunnels on TV saying how professional they were. This actually conflicted with my experience of seeing the poster near to St Michaels Cave, seeing they were seen 'daily' and then finding out that perhaps daily does not mean Sunday. The bus stop was not clear at all, saying that I really do keep meaning to see them for myself. I am not too sure though from your description. Did you learn nothing.

 

In defence of the owner, the whole problem is that they are not included in the 'taxi tour'. Taxi drivers do not want to pop in an extra site. That would mean they would mean extra time and the tunnels are not included in the Nature Reserve so they have to charge more. Thus the tunnels have to attract their own customers and so it must be hard for them to pay the rent (not sure how much rent you pay for tunnels!!)

 

BTW the buses are going to be free only on production of a local ID card as from Tuesday as far as I know. To a tourist the cost is not going to make or break their trip. Local people were complaining about the use of tax payers' money to give free bus trips to tourists. There were stories of guides filling up buses with their customers. Whether or not this was urban myth or not I don't know. I personally have the feeling that if you make a tourist happy he will give you money in the form of spending in shops and bars, but hey ho I am just little old me.

 

So I hope that next time you come, you will go for something a bit more exotic than fish and chips. Go and see Idan in Verdi Verdi and try his coffee and cake or his home made bagels (he really is not a relative, I just go to have a carb fix on a Friday).