Photo: Visit Gibraltar (Used with permission of the Gibraltar Tourist Board)
The Mediterranean Steps
The Rock's finest walk: a military path of steps and ledges up the wild south and east faces to the batteries at the top. It is inside the reserve, so it costs the gate ticket.
The route, stop by stop
What each stop is, why it matters, and how long to the next one.
Photo: Nathan Harig (CC BY-SA 3.0)
01
Jews' Gate and the Pillars of Hercules
The southern door to the reserve.
Jews' Gate is the reserve's southern entrance, named for the Jewish cemetery beside it. The Pillars of Hercules monument on the terrace marks the ancient world's edge, with the Strait behind it. Buy the ticket here, fill your water bottle, and take the path signed for the Mediterranean Steps.
From the last stop
The start.
Photo: Scott Wylie (CC BY 4.0)
02
The path along the south face
Built by the garrison, restored in 2007.
The steps were cut by the British military to reach the defence posts at the south end, and lay half ruined until the Bonita Trust, the Government and the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society restored them in 2007. The path traverses the wild south and east faces with the sea straight below, on ledges, steps and a few sections of railing. Nothing technical, but no place to slip.
From the last stop
From Jews' Gate, about twenty minutes to the first exposed section.
Photo: not credited = Gibraltar Caving Unit (CC BY-SA 3.0)
03
Goat's Hair Twin Caves
Halfway, and a good place to stop.
A pair of shallow caves in the cliff roughly halfway up, with the Strait framed in the mouth. The path steepens after them into the flights of steps that give the route its name.
From the last stop
About forty minutes in.
Photo: AquilaGib (CC BY-SA 3.0)
04
O'Hara's Battery and the top
A 9.2-inch gun at the top of the Rock.
The steps come out at Lord Airey's Battery at about 400 metres, with O'Hara's Battery and its 9.2-inch gun a few minutes beyond, the highest point of the Rock at 426 metres. The Skywalk is close by. Everything up here is covered by the ticket you bought at the bottom, and the way down by road is longer but kinder than the steps.
From the last stop
The last flights, about half an hour of steps.
Before you go
Water, and not at noon.
There is no water on the path and no shade on the upper flights. Carry a litre each, start early or late in summer, and turn back if the cloud is down; the path is exposed and the rock is polished.
Getting down: the road from the top to Jews' Gate is longer but easier on the knees, or the reserve's taxi pickup line brings a car up for a fee. The Nature Reserve ticket →
What we read
- Mediterranean Steps: route, the 2007 restoration, hazards, the ticket · Wikipedia
- Rock of Gibraltar: 426 metres · Wikipedia
- Nature Reserve ticket, £30 at the gate · Gibraltar Index, from the reserve's own pricing
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