Gibraltar Full-Day Shore Excursion
Gibraltar Full-Day Shore Excursion
The Full-Day Shore Excursion consists of 12 stops which takes approximately 7hrs to complete. The tour consists of your own professional tour guide for the duration of your stay in Gibraltar. This gives you your own personal time and privacy at the tourist sites and freedom to explores the streets and shops. Your tour guide will wait at the vehicle for you to return.
12 Stops to See The Very Best of Gibraltar
- Pillars of Hercules
- St Michael's Cave
- O'Hara's Battery (Highest Point)
- Top of the Rock with Skywalk & Monkeys
- Great Siege Tunnels
- City Under Siege Exhibition
- WWII Tunnels
- Moorish Castle
- Tax Free Shopping + Lunch
- 100 Ton Gun
- Europa Point
- 360º Drive around Gibraltar (Catalan Bay)
- Drive under the runway (Kingsway Tunnel)
The Pillars of Hercules
The first attractions of this tour are The Pillars of Hercules. There at the Pillars you will enjoy the views of North Africa Morocco.
You will see where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea, this being the only entrance to the Mediterranean. You will be above Europe Point, the end point of Europe.
St Michael's Cave
The next site is St Michael’s Cave. Which sees thousands of visitors a year wandering through its huge caverns with just a few steps and easy access. This amazing, natural phenomenon created by rainwater slowly seeping through the limestone rock, turning into a weak carbonic acid which gradually dissolved the rock millions of years ago.
In 2021 St Michael's Cave introduced a new lighting upgrade for the very best experience of the caves natural beauty, called The Awakening. Enjoy St Michael's cave like never before!
An immersive light and sound installation expressing layer upon layer of history fused with the rock. The ancient cavern lays dormant. The Awakening illuminates sculptures older than time and reawakens their hidden story...
O'Hara's Battery (Highest Point)
From St Michael’s Cave we will ascend to O'Hara's Battery located at the highest point of the Rock of Gibraltar at 1383ft. O'Hara's Battery is an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar near the southern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, in close proximity to Lord Airey's Battery. It was constructed in 1890 at the former site of a watchtower that had earned the name O'Hara's Folly.
The battery and tower were both named after the Governor of Gibraltar Charles O'Hara. The first gun mounted on the battery was a 6 inch breech loading gun, which was replaced with a 9.2 inch Mark X BL gun in 1901. The battery was in use during World War II and was last fired during training exercises in 1976. O'Hara's Battery has been refurbished and is open to the public. The battery and its associated works are listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.
Top of the Rock with Skywalk Glass Viewing Platform & Monkeys
After visiting O’Hara’s Battery we will go to the top of the Rock, and there we will do 2 things: The glass viewing platform called The Skywalk, and visit the monkeys.
The Skywalk is a former military lookout transformed into a state of the art glass platform and walkway giving spectacular views across the Mediterranean. An unbroken 360º panoramic viewpoint . Enter the 360º environment and get a feel for the freedom and exhilaration you will experience at The Skywalk.
From the Skywalk, several minutes walk and we will spend some time with our famous Monkeys at Upper Apes Den (The same height level as the cable) The Barbary Macaque Apes are the only ones to be found within the continent of Europe. They reside at the upper rock nature reserve of Gibraltar. At present there are over 200 apes in 6 packs that roam through the upper rock. Legend has it that in 1942 the population of apes fell to just 7 and the Prime Minister of Great Britain (Sir Winston Churchill) ordered that the population of the apes be immediately replenished because as long as there are Barbary Macaques Apes on the Rock of Gibraltar it will remain under British rule.
The Great Siege Tunnels
From the top of the rock we will drive to the north side of the Rock to visit the Great Siege Tunnels, something not to be missed.
This site explains a lot of the history of Gibraltar under siege. The tunnels were carved out of the rock by hand during the Great Siege which took place between 1779-1783. This was done in order to defend Gibraltar against the Spanish and French forces who were trying to recapture Gibraltar from the British.
City Under Siege Exhibition
After the Great Siege Tunnels its the City Under Siege Exhibition, what is undoubtedly the most important aspect of this building, is the graffiti that can be seen on the walls, the earliest of which dates back to 1726.
It is thought that soldiers mounting guard in the area used to spend their time drawing so as not to fall asleep during the long hours of duty, an offence punishable by death in those days.
World War II Tunnels
From the City Under Siege Exhibition to the World War II Tunnels. In 1940 Britain was at war with Germany and Italy and the future looked bleak for Gibraltar as the enemy surrounded it. Winston Churchill and the British military leaders believed that an attack on Gibraltar was imminent.
The answer was to construct a massive network of tunnels, to build a fortress within a fortress, a city within a city, and to follow in the footsteps of Churchill, Sikorski and De Gaulle, and to walk through this amazing tribute to the soldiers and civilians, who toiled in the very heart of the Rock, during the darkest days of the second world war.
Moorish Castle
After the World War II Tunnels we visit the Moorish Castle A medieval fortification in Gibraltar which is made up of a number of buildings, the Moorish Castle stands proudly on the Eastern elevation of the Rock, a proud symbol of the long and colourful history of the Rock of Gibraltar originally built in the 1160CE then it was ransacked by the Spanish between 1309 – 1333.
This 'Tower of Homage' was rebuilt in the 14th century by Abu-l-Hasan and today you can visit the inside of the recently restored castle, wonder at those 14th century walls and marvel at the feats of Gibraltar's first city builders, the Moors. If you look closely you can still see the cannon dents in the castle walls.
Tax Free Shopping + Lunch
Once we have finalised the Moorish Castle we will exit the Upper Rock Nature Reserve driving through the old town of Gibraltar in direction to Casemates Square, the beginning of Main Street.
Here we will give you in-between 1 to 1.30 hours depending on the time that has been consumed at the sites in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. So you may have lunch & wonder through the narrow streets of our enchanting old town, you may also do some shopping in the Main Street area.
100 Ton Gun
After this break of lunch and shopping we will head towards the 100 Ton Gun.
The late 1800′s saw four of these giants built by the naval authorities of Britain, with a view toward securing their holdings, two were built for Gibraltar, while another two were built for Malta.
Europa Point
Once we have finished visiting the 100 Ton Gun we will drive to Europa Point.
This site is located at the southernmost point at the end of the Rock of Gibraltar on this location you will see breathtaking views across the Strait of Gibraltar into North Africa Morocco along with the bay of Gibraltar and the Spanish towns along its shores.
360º Drive Around Gibraltar's Coastline (Catalan Bay)
We will drive 360 degrees around Gibraltar coast lines east /west stopping at viewpoints along the way, seeing areas as Catalan Bay, some Jurassic sand dunes and the old water catchments.
Airport Runway
In this tour we will drive under the airport runway (Kingsway Tunnel) towards the Spanish border just metres away from Spain you will even see Spanish Customs at work.
Finalising the tour and returning you to your destination or wherever you wish in Gibraltar.
Tour Prices
Our tours are private and not public and includes the cost of admission tickets. Price depends on a number of factors, such as the number of persons carrying out the tour, age of kids and the time of year.
If you are coming to Gibraltar via a cruise liner and would like to assemble a group of 8 passengers so you can benefit from sharing costs, we would recommend that you sign up to a website called Cruise Critic. Here members travelling on the same cruise liner arrange to group up with other passengers to do shore excursions together to reduce prices. We are aware of this because many of our customers have grouped up for our excursion through Cruise Critic.