Short time in Gibraltar

[gmac123]

Hi everyone,

We will be visiting Gibraltar on Ventura on 21/8. It looks as if we only have an afternoon/couple of hours there.

Do you think that would be enough time to go up the cable car, and have a good look around and get back in time?

I think I read somewhere that if the queues were long, you could get a cab to take you to the top.

If you do is it easy to get a cab back down?

Thanks for your help, only our 2nd cruise and trying to avoid any stress of time and getting back :)

[John Bull]

Queues for the cablecar are short before mid-morning, when coach-loads of the Costa del Sol hordes of day-trippers arrive, but can be pretty excessive later in the day so your pm arrival would be problematic.

(Though the latest spat with Spain (relating to territorial waters/fishing rights, see latest news) might result in punitive border fees & consequent nose-diving of tripper numbers across the land border).

Additionally the cablecar station is a 30 minute walk or a taxi ride from the ship, it's often suspended (pun intended :rolleyes:) in moderate winds, to see the various sights on the Upper Rock involves a fair bit of walking, and the intermediate station is closed during the summer.

 

Taxi tours of the Upper Rock operate from the cruise terminal, current cost is £22 or €25 per person in a full taxi or minivan. Drivers/marshals organise the sharing if there's only 2 or 3 in your party. Only a guess, but I suspect that if you wanted a taxi to yourselves you'd pay for the empty seats.

Tour includes a southerly photostop, St Michaels cave, the Apes Den on the ridge (with east & west viewpoint) & the Great Siege Tunnel/Galleries (with northerly viewpoint). Admission fees are included in the fare. At the end of the tour most folk normally bale out at Casemates Square for a beer or snack, then wander the shops & minor sights of Main Street, and walk back to the ship (around 20 minutes). Or you can be taken back to the ship at the end of the tour. The choice of course may depend on your back-on-board time.

The taxi tours have an excellent reputation, drivers are friendly & knowledgeable, & allow about the right amount of time at each stop. Start to finish is somewhere around 2 hours.

 

Re your question - this is a tour.

No, you can't just get a taxi to the top, cos you can't just get another taxi back down. But you wouldn't want to do that because the sights are spread, access beyond St Michael's cave is restricted to authorised vehicles such as your tour vehicle, and the Upper Rock is a (voluntary, I think) one-way system.

 

Provided that you don't disembark long after everyone else there should be plenty of taxis/minibuses & plenty of sharers, no need to pre-book.

 

Might be worth stealing some fruit from the breakfast buffet (immigration staff on Gib won't worry) to feed the apes though drivers usually carry plenty. But please don't feed them junk food. And take good care of hats, handbags, sunglasses, cameras & such, cos they're a bunch of thieves. *

 

JB :)

 

* the apes, not the drivers :D

[gmac123]

Cheers John, the taxi tour sounds just the job, can you just pick them up at the port by the ship?

I take it the drivers are not too hairy, so I will be able to tell the difference lol

[John Bull]

Cheers John, the taxi tour sounds just the job, can you just pick them up at the port by the ship?

I take it the drivers are not too hairy, so I will be able to tell the difference lol

 

Yes, but best to be amongst the first off the ship to be sure of a vehicle & sharers.

 

Can't guarantee the hairiness of the drivers.

Or the driving :D

 

JB :)

[gmac123]

Yes, but best to be amongst the first off the ship to be sure of a vehicle & sharers.

 

Can't guarantee the hairiness of the drivers.

Or the driving :D

 

JB :)

 

LOL cheers for your help.

[gmac123]

Hi everyone,

 

Does anyone have any recomandations for a taxi tour of the rock, I have just been quoted £125 per person from http://www.gibraltarinformation.com, which did seem expensive for 1.5-2 hours.

I was going to try and book something online prior to going to save time.

Thanks for any help.

[John Bull]

Hi everyone,

 

Does anyone have any recomandations for a taxi tour of the rock, I have just been quoted £125 per person from www.gibraltarinformation.com, which did seem expensive for 1.5-2 hours.

I was going to try and book something online prior to going to save time.

Thanks for any help.

 

£125 pp is gross :eek:, though it might include a 20 minute circumnavigation at sea-level which isn't part of a standard Upper Rock tour.

In fact, it's so gross that you may have misunderstood. Are you sure £125 is per person & not per vehicle ?????

 

Their website quotes "from £32 per person". For a full car or van that's the £22 per person that I quoted for a shared hiring from the quayside plus a heavy premium for the assurance of a vehicle being at the quayside and reserved for you.

 

The taxi drivers earn no commissions etc, their only income is the fare & perhaps tips. So as long as they're paid for every seat it makes no difference how many of those seats are actually occupied.

Therefore the rate for a 4-seater taxi hired at the quayside would be 4 x £22 = £88, whether you're a singleton or a twosome or a foursome. Add a sensible premium for the peace-of-mind of a pre-booked taxi & you're looking at around £100.

Not £250!!!!!

 

 

Here's a useful thread on TripAdvisor, the OP was rather jaundiced but that's balanced out by the replies. Figures quoted by respondents are a couple of years out-of-date (broadly €18 pp or €80 the vehicle) but they tie in with my recent experience.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g187510-i1247-k4006762-Gibraltar_taxi_tour_scam-Gibraltar.html

 

The Taxi Association

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

whose members include those available from the quayside offers pre-booked tours for a much more sensible premium, in fact it may be a little cheaper if you're a party of eight. Their charge for a two-hour tour is £150 for a vehicle carrying up to 8 people.

Their website is a little misleading. It mentions the World War 2 Tunnels & the Moorish Castle - but these & some other places mentioned are almost-certainly just drive-by's, same as a standard tour. Standard stops are Jew's Gate (photos), and St Michael's cave & apes' den & Great Siege tunnel (each a stop of about 20 mins). Europa Point (most southerly point, at sea level) isn't on a standard Upper Rock tour, but a diversion & photo-stop could probably be included in the two-hour period.

And it states that admission fees aren't included. Apes den there's no charge, St Michael's Cave & Great Siege tunnel fees are pennies. But there's a £10 vehicle entry fee to the Upper Rock - I don't know if that's chargeable to taxis & you'd do well to clarify before booking.

 

All of those fees, including any vehicle charge, are included in the price of a taxi tour hired from the quayside, there's nothing more to pay unless you want to extend the tour at sea-level.

 

I'm still inclined to be off the ship in good time & share a taxi or van (minibus) from the quayside. It won't cost you much time.

Simples. :cool:

 

JB :)

[wendyatpml]

We took a tour with Gib Tours in Gibralta. We found them when we got off the ship. Our tour guide was Lisa. This was a wonderful, fun port.

You can contact them at: info@gibtours.com You can also request Lisa.

 

The cost was around 23 Pounds but I don't remember exactly. They will meet you when you get off the ship and will show you all that you want to see. I just loved the Apes. They actually got into the van with us.

[gmac123]

Hi Wendy,

 

Thank for the info, I have contacted them, unfortunately they only have van and as there are only two of us the cost £150, I guess I will have to try and find something on the port.

Thank you for coming back to me.

[sitraveler]

There will be taxis at the pier to give you an outstanding tour & drive about.

You'll see St Michael's cave, the tunnel and the apes. Our first time there we thought to walk to the cable car but were intercepted by a taxi driver. They will accept pounds or euros and its a great way to see Gibraltar (and the airport). If for some reason there are no taxis, just walk towards the town square, they'll be there hoping to catch the walkers.

[EmsMom]

When we were in Gibraltar in April, the cable car was closed due to high winds. We walked off the ship and there were many taxi drivers wanting to take us on the tour at the top. We found some other passengers that wanted to share a taxi that got off when we did so we all shared a van. The driver was very nice and very informative....and his driving was fine. I can't remember the price right now but I think it was about $25-30 per person. We found other people who had gotten cheaper prices....so it might be possible to negotiate. We were happy with our tour that lasted for a few hours.