No. The Gibraltar cable car closed on 18 November 2025 for a complete rebuild and isn’t expected to run again until 2027. No reopening date has been confirmed, and it’s the biggest overhaul since the system was built in 1966, with the work being done by MH Bland, the company behind the original.
Almost every guide still tells you to ride it. You can’t.
How Much Is the Cable Car to the Top of Gibraltar?
More than it sounds. The cable car was how most visitors reached the top of the Rock, and its absence has turned getting up there into the hardest thing to plan and honestly the easiest place to be overcharged.
When I went in August the pricing at the bottom was all over the place. The taxi rank quoted us £60 for the trip up with Nature Reserve entry included, and when we said we already had our entry that came down to £40. The kiosk fifty yards away was selling a shuttle seat with entry included for £40 all in, the same thing the taxi wanted £60 for, which tells you everything about which queue to join.
Book transport up in advance, together with your entry, before you arrive. Nobody selling at the roadside has a reason to give you the good number.
The Three Ways Up While It Is Closed
Bus then walk. Route 2 to its last stop leaves you about 240 metres from the Nature Reserve entrance, and the fare is £1.80, so it’s cheapest by a long way. Just don’t let those 240 metres fool you into thinking the walking is over, because it’s barely started.
Nature Reserve shuttle. £10 for the seat, or £40 with your entry ticket bundled in, from the kiosk beside Grand Casemates Gates. The best value way up by some distance.
Taxi. £60 for the guided tour with entry included, dropping to £40 if your entry is already booked. Ask exactly what you’re paying for before you get in, because you can’t buy the drive on its own. Even on a tour you’ll walk more than you expect, because they honestly can’t get you everywhere.
The steep staircase beside the old cable car line is still open, and it’s the closest thing to a replacement while the lift is down. It’s only that in one direction, though, so do not go up it. I really wish I’d looked properly at the gradient before we set off, because coming down it was punishing enough. As a way down it’s still excellent, and I’d take it again knowing exactly what the next two days felt like.
There’s a lovely consolation prize on those steps, too. A little pool sits off to one side about halfway down, and when we passed it there were baby macaques swimming in it. We saw more babies on that staircase than anywhere else on the Rock.
When It Reopens
The rebuilt system is meant to carry around 1,150 people an hour rather than 260, with better accessibility and refurbished stations at both ends. Expect 2027, and treat any earlier date you see as a guess.
Until then, getting around Gibraltar has the full breakdown of routes and fares, and the best things to do in Gibraltar covers what’s at the top once you get there. If cost is the deciding factor, see is Gibraltar expensive.
Everything else that’s changed here recently, and the things that stubbornly haven’t, is on facts about Gibraltar.
