Gibraltar 2027 - no Cable Car - Alternative Bus, Caves, Skywalk & Monkeys

The Rock of Gibraltar sits at the mouth of the Mediterranean. It is the guardian of the passage in. To some, it means a trip to Morrison's. To others, a day on the ship. But you can't climb the Rock. Inside and out. At the top of the steps there's a viewing platform with great views. Down there you can see Catalan Bay, this is the Spanish side. You can also see the Spirit of Discovery in the harbour and the airstrip. What do you need to know about Gibraltar? Firstly, the cable car is closed. Closed for the whole of 2027. The caves are nowhere near the Skywalk which is nowhere near the viewing platform and when it reopens, you'll only need to get a cable car ticket one way if you're going to do some walking or a taxi. Part of your planning is going to be some maths because there is an electric bus that now operates from Marketplace up to the Queen's Balcony, £40 a person, but it includes entrance To the Skywalk, the caves, the nature reserve. and other attractions on the Rock. maybe the cable car when it reopens will have to do the same because that's not what happened. the tickets for the cable car and the nature reserve are sold by two separate companies. the nature reserve is owned by the government. if you want to you can actually walk down through the nature reserve although it's a four kilometer walk so you don't need a ticket to come up. these are the Mediterranean steps they're quite steep and they've got loose stones on them so You have to be careful, lovely views again from up here. Often a cruiser when visiting a new city, the first thing to do is grab a map. Here you need to grab a map because you can get lost on the rock. Good footwear is essential and it's vast which is why some people take the taxi tour. One story says these straits were built as pillars to Hercules and the other says that they're bottomless and there's a tunnel going all the way under the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco. This is the Skywalk, the bay is down there but what is actually underneath me is nothing. It makes you feel really funny. The caves and the magnificent light show there And this Skywalk are two of the biggest features of The Rock, The View and The Monkeys. Are you having a little sunbathe? It's nice there's a breeze, you won't get sunburnt. He's absolutely wet. If you walk, you will get your steps in. Okay, let's take a closer look at everything. Another way to see the rock is to get a lift, a cab or a taxi to this drop-off point. And the cable car is closed. This is the entrance to St Michael's Cave. It's called the Awakening Entrance. See the caves first and then walk through the nature reserve. Thank you, Beth. Wow, this is quite stunning. It's like a film set or Disneyland. If you do have mobility problems and you've come by taxi, this is one place where it appears to have a lift and a platform for chairs. There's a light show here telling all about the origins of the caves and the geological structures, so we're going to have a look. You could just walk up and down the high street of Gibraltar and see the very old English shops, but that would be doing the Rock of Gibraltar a bit of an injustice. There is a lot to see here, and this isn't the only cave. But we will show you the high street in just a moment. St Michael's Cave is the most visited of more than 150 caves inside the Rock of Gibraltar. Receiving more than 1 million visitors a year, it's made from limestone within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve at a height of over 300 metres above sea level. Created by rainwater slowly seeping through the limestone rock, turning it into a weak carbonic acid which gradually dissolved the rock. Through this process, tiny cracks in the rock's geological fault grew into long passages and large caverns over thousands of years. The numerous stalactites and stalagmites are formed by an accumulation of traces of dissolved rock deposited by water dripping from the ground above. It's said that these caves were prepared in World War II for a hospital, but they were never used. The second big feature again accessed by many by taxi is the skywalk. You can walk there, it's a long walk but you can do it. This is the skywalk, the bay is down there but what is actually underneath me is nothing. It makes you feel really funny. Walking there actually is pretty easy but of course you're stranded if you've walked there so you've got to walk back again and as you're not going to walk back in the same direction you're probably going to walk off in the other direction. So this means you do need to plan your walking journey because if you're going from for example the drop-off point and the caves up to the skywalk and then to the new cable car when it reopens you've walked. The other skywalks we've done are Madeira, you may have seen that on Dora's Visits, or the Grand Canyon which not too many ships go to. No. You'll be pleased to know the skywalk has a lift. If you have mobility issues the best way to do this is definitely by taxi. The Barbary apes were originally from the Atlas Mountains and the Rif Mountains of Morocco. As of 2020 roughly 300 animals in five troops occupy the upper rock. Since Covid they've become a bit of a nuisance in the town as they make the occasional foray there for food. But the ones we've seen look as though they will be much too lazy to take the trip. Late 2027 or 2028, when the new cable car opens, it will be bigger, better, and there will be disabled access. It will look nothing like this. For 2027, most of it anyway, no cable car. When it reopens, you will get these views back and it will be bigger and better. You can see right across to Morocco and the Rif Mountains. Still to come, the monkeys in the nature reserve, the fort and the battlements and Gibraltar town itself. But over there is Tangier. Take a quick look. We'll be back in a minute. You can tell we're in Morocco immediately because it's got that Moroccan feel about it. We're going to walk down to the market which is just down there, the kasbah and the medina. This is the Socco, this is the main square. Because we gained two hours in our journey here, we're raring to go, but it looks like the shops are just waking up. We're in the park now, it's quite big, and there are loads and loads of cats and kittens. They love them. People here are so friendly and they talk to you in a sort of mock Cockney accent. They say, "Come and have a butcher's in the shop." It's hilarious. They're very gentle people. We did have a planned route but we soon got lost but it doesn't matter because you can just wander through the ship nothing is far and everybody is so helpful if you ask them where you are. This appears to be an old English gunpoint and it's got a great view of the ship. So this is where to come to get your bags and your purses. This man makes them here. He's got a factory downstairs that you've just seen and they're incredible because he charges the same for the locals as for the tourists. There's no difference. Everyone is so friendly. There's no hassle. It's so much different to other places in Morocco I've been where they hassle you all the time. It's a pleasure to walk here. Absolutely calm and cheerful and friendly. Back to the to the Gibraltar Nature Reserve and let's take a closer look at those... Cheeky monkeys. They're a tailless species. The locals refer to them as monos. He's coming, coming. Wow, well done. Deliberately feeding the apes is now an offence in Gibraltar and punishable by law. Anyone caught feeding a monkey is liable to be fined by up to £4,000, so think before you feed. Right, I'm not going to get too close in case they come and attack me because apparently they bite. Please subscribe to Doris Visits. It's free, it'll play on your large screen TV and we have every popular cruise port. Wow, that's a great pose. Thank you, thank you for that pose. Gibraltar is renowned for attracting all kinds of monkeys. Oh, look! Grenada is the paradise island where you find monkeys and anything can happen. Excuse me, is your name Doris? No wonder the monkeys are all asleep. They need their rest. It's exhausting. We're in O'Hara's Battery. We're just under 14,000 feet high and this is a 9.2 inch caliber battery gun. You can get up here and inside and you can have a feel of what it must have been like. The noise must have been horrendous. We think he's loading shells. Can't be sure. He won't tell me. Hope you're not claustrophobic because we're going down the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel is the engine room and I've found another friend. Hi! In this room there's a record plan of O'Hara's battery. We're walking down the steps by Charles V wall. They're very steep and I think if it was raining or slippery it would be dangerous. Steps up to the rock and the siege tunnels are down Belle Lane. Good luck, it's a long way. This is the town but as you've guessed we've not really finished in the rock. Here are the tunnels. These are the great siege tunnels. They are quite a walk uphill but hopefully it'll be worth it. You may have noticed that the enthusiasm has dropped from Jean's voice. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, Gibraltar was never directly threatened for the rest of the century. Right, keep writing the life out of me. Tunnelling continued after fighting ceased in 1783 and St George's Hall, a battery for seven guns, was excavated under the notch. Military tunnelling had a long tradition in Gibraltar but nothing matches the scale of that undertaking during World War II. 34 miles of tunnels were completed. The bulk of the work was done by four companies of the Royal Engineers. This is the view of the ship from the Great Siege Tunnels platform. Now can I go home, she's saying. No. Just below the tunnels there is a Great Siege exhibition, if you're interested in that. And further down the hill from the Great Siege tunnels are the World War II tunnels and miles and miles more tunnels. Let's go in. Jean, you'll love it. Just down from the World War II tunnels is the Moorish Castle. We didn't get to go into the World War II tunnels. We're on our way back to the ship. There's no one there who sits on the other foot. Oh yeah! That's gorgeous. Here's the elephants on sale for 50 pounds. This is the square in Casemates. It's like going back in time, lots of little cafes and restaurants. This is probably what you'll do if you come to Gibraltar, duty-free shopping in the main street. I wonder which ship's coming in tomorrow to get the discount. Thank you. This is John Mackintosh Square and it's named after John Mackintosh, who was a great benefactor of Gibraltar and his bust is up there behind me. You can also get the tourist information here from the tourist information office. Wherever your next port is, we have a guide. The temptation when you come out of the port and climb up to the upper level will be to turn left and into the town. But if you want to see the Castle of the Conception and the amphitheatre, if you look for the artificial whale's arch and go straight ahead and then up. Cartagena, port of culture. First populated in 227 BC. It was important to the Romans, and from the 16th century, it was a very important Spanish naval port. Now, if you've chosen to walk at ground level from the ship along the promenade, you're going to come into Cartagena through this main street. There's your ship. And as you do, this museum... ...of the Roman amphitheatre is on the right-hand side as you walk up. The world's first submarine, which went to sea in 1888, is a big feature of the Naval Museum. Cartagena is continually being excavated. The amphitheatre was only discovered by accident in 1980. And if your grandchildren love pirates, they'll love Jim and Dottie's Treasure Island. So there's now two of them, a boy and a girl. And if you've discovered our thrilling cruise novels the best way to read all 10 is in the Mega Box Set because it's about the cost of one book. On Amazon the CSCI Mega Box Set.