Fortress Attractions: the Rock's next big attraction

For most of a decade the north end of the Rock has been the part visitors did not see: the Moorish Castle shut for works, the Northern Defences below it overgrown and fenced, the tunnels cut during the Great Siege closed to everyone. That is changing, and it is changing under one company. Fortress Attractions, a new Gibraltar firm with a government agreement to restore and run the castle and the defences, reopened the Tower of Homage on Monday 14 September 2026 as the first piece of a project it calls Land of Empires. This guide is the plain version: what you can do now, what the operator says comes next and when, and what it will cost, which is the one thing nobody has published.

Open now

Tower of Homage, from 14 Sep 2026

Ticket

The Nature Reserve ticket covers it

Next

Gibraltar Dungeons, date not given

The park

Early 2027, operator's date

Prices

None published

A company founded by Peter and Patrick Cabezutto, with David Neish as Chief Attractions Officer, formed to conserve and run Gibraltar's military heritage as paid attractions. Its agreement with HM Government of Gibraltar covers the Moorish Castle and the Northern Defences: the government keeps ownership, the company invests around four million pounds and manages the sites, and large parts of the defences stay publicly accessible. Since 2025 it has employed archaeologists and conservators on the north face, published a community newsletter every month, and taken school groups and residents through the works with the Heritage Trust. In July 2026 it presented the project at the European fortifications congress in Belgium, the first time Gibraltar had been represented there.

1. 14 September 2026

   The Tower of Homage

   Reopened after refurbishment as an immersive experience, with new visitor facilities, the fabric of the thousand-year-old tower left as it was. Included in the Nature Reserve ticket; Gibraltar residents free with ID. Hours 09:00 to 19:45 in summer, 09:00 to 17:45 from October to March.

2. Soon, no date

   The Gibraltar Dungeons

   The old prison spaces inside the castle walls, never before open, as an effects-led walk about the Spanish garrison and its justice. Under construction on 11 September 2026. The operator warns it may not suit young children.

3. Early 2027

   The Northern Defences Park

   The park route through the Prince's and Queen's Lines, the tunnel experience of the British tier, and the Jungle Park with its zip-line and ropes course. Landport Cottage becomes the ticket office. A short film of the Great Siege, shot in Prague, is being made for the tunnels.

4. Coming soon

   Special events

   A Halloween night in the Dungeons and a Valentine's evening in the castle are listed on the operator's site without dates.

Land of Empires is sold in tiers that build on each other, one per period of the Rock's history. The operator's own durations and descriptions:

Nothing has been published. Every tier, the bundle, the Jungle Park and the events all carry the same "coming soon" on the operator's site, with a note to check back for pricing. The only thing you can pay for today is the Nature Reserve ticket, around £45 an adult on GetYourGuide when we last checked, and that already covers the reopened Tower of Homage along with the other reserve sites. Whether the future tiers will be sold separately, bundled with the reserve ticket or both, the operator has not said. We will put the numbers here the day they exist.

1. 01 Go up to the castle on the reserve ticket

   The Tower of Homage is inside the Nature Reserve, so the ticket you were buying anyway now includes the reopened tower. It is the lowest of the reserve sites, a fifteen-minute climb from Casemates by the Castle Steps, so it works as the first or last stop. 09:00 to 19:45 April to September; 09:00 to 17:45 October to March.

2. 02 Walk the outside of the Northern Defences for free

   From Landport Gate the glacis and the inundation ground below the north face are open ground, and the tunnel mouths and the Prince's Lines are visible above you. Our Old Town route ends there. You cannot go in yet; you can see what the fuss is about.

3. 03 For the tunnels, use the Great Siege Tunnels meanwhile

   They are inside the reserve, on the same ticket, and they are the eighteenth-century works the new tunnel experience will dramatise. Gun galleries hacked through solid rock with hand tools and gunpowder, 1779–83.

4. 04 Check back before you plan around the rest

   The operator publishes a newsletter on the first of each month and a blog when something opens. This guide is re-checked every two months and says at the top when it was last read.