The Upper Rock

If you've been to Gibraltar before, or you've read almost any guidebook written in the last fifty years, the answer to "how do I get to the top of the Rock?" was always the same: the cable car. Six minutes from Grand Parade to the summit, straight up the side of a 412-metre limestone giant.

That option isn't available at the moment. The cable car closed on 18 November 2025 for a complete rebuild and is expected to reopen in 2027 (Gibraltar Nature Reserve). Not a maintenance window, not a few weeks - a full reconstruction of both stations and the entire system.

The second thing to know, and the one that catches out anyone arriving by car: private vehicles are not permitted inside the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. Your hire car gets you to the entrance and no further. So "just drive up" isn't on the list either.

The good news is that the Nature Reserve itself is entirely open. St Michael's Cave, the Great Siege Tunnels, the Skywalk, the monkeys, the viewpoints over the Strait - all running as normal. It's only the way up that's changed.

Here are your three options, honestly compared.

Option one: walk up

It's free, and it's genuinely rewarding if you're up for it. The most direct route runs up through the Nature Reserve, and there are marked paths from several points around town.

Be realistic about what it involves, though. It's a sustained climb of several hundred metres in elevation, largely in the open, on road and path surfaces. In July and August, when Gibraltar regularly sits in the low thirties, it is hard work. You'll want proper shoes, more water than you think you need, and a couple of hours in hand.

Update: the Mediterranean Steps, the most dramatic walking route up the eastern face, have reopened. They were closed after a rockfall in late May 2026 and have since been cleared and made safe, with temporary protective fencing at the affected section and permanent repairs to the retaining wall still to come. Worth knowing before you plan around them: the Steps run from Jews' Gate up to O'Hara's Battery near the summit and pass none of the main attractions. They're a superb climb, not a way of seeing the Reserve - you'll still have most of a mountain to cross on foot to reach the caves, the tunnels and the Skywalk once you're up there.

Walking suits you if

You're reasonably fit, you're not visiting in peak summer heat, you have most of a day, and the walk itself is part of what you came for.

Option two: the tourist minibuses

You'll find these at the frontier and around the cruise terminal on ship days. They're shared vehicles running a fixed circuit of the main stops, and they're the cheapest motorised way up.

The trade-off is that you're on someone else's schedule with a group of strangers. You wait for the vehicle to fill before it departs, you get a set amount of time at each stop, and if the group is slow at one place you lose it somewhere else. Nature Reserve entry is usually bought at the gate, which is a second queue on top of the first. For a lot of visitors that's a perfectly reasonable deal - it's the standard way most people see the Rock.

Minibuses suit you if

You're travelling solo or as a pair, you're happy to share, and cost matters more than pace.

A Note on Timing

Cruise days are busy. When two or three ships are in, the frontier and the Nature Reserve attractions fill up quickly, and shared vehicles take longer to fill and move.

Mornings are cooler and quieter. If you're walking, start early. If you're driving up, an earlier start generally means fewer people at the Skywalk and the caves.

The Nature Reserve has an entry fee. £30 adults, £22 children 5-11, under-5s free - and from age 5 children pay the higher rate. Whichever way you go up, check whether admission is included in what you book or whether you're buying it at the gate.

Option three: a private taxi tour

This is the option most visitors don't consider until they're already here, and it's what a lot of locals would suggest if you asked them.

You get your own vehicle and your own driver. You're collected wherever you are - your hotel, the cruise port, the frontier - and taken up through the Nature Reserve, stopping at the monkeys, the viewpoints, the Great Siege Tunnels, St Michael's Cave and the Pillars of Hercules. Entry is arranged in advance, so you're not queuing at ticket desks. It takes around two hours, and it ends wherever you want it to end.

The advantage isn't just comfort. It's that you're not fitting your day around a timetable, and the driver knows where the monkeys actually gather, which viewpoints are worth stopping at, and what to do if the weather turns.

"The cable car was the fastest way up. It was never the best way to actually see the Rock."

A private tour suits you if

You're a family or a group, you're on a cruise stop with limited hours, it's hot, someone in the party doesn't want a long walk, or you simply want the day handled rather than worked out.

So which should you choose?

If you're young, fit, visiting outside high summer and have the whole day, walk. It's free and it's memorable.

If you're on a tight budget and travelling light, the minibuses do the job.

If you're here for a day, arriving by cruise ship, travelling as a group or with kids, or visiting between June and September when the heat is serious, a private tour will get you more of the Rock in less time and with far less friction.

None of these is the wrong answer. The wrong answer is arriving at Grand Parade expecting to buy a cable car ticket, which is exactly what a lot of visitors are still doing.

Upper Rock Taxi Tour

Your own driver, your own vehicle, around two hours.

The monkeys, the tunnels, the caves and the views - picked up and dropped anywhere in Gibraltar. Tell us your group size and dates and we'll come straight back with a price. Nothing to pay to ask.

See the Taxi Tour

Sources

Gibraltar Cable Car - official status and reopening - Gibraltar Nature Reserve

The Cable Car Ride - closure and alternatives - Gibraltar.com

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How to Get to the Top of the Rock Without the Cable Car