Photo: John Cummings (CC BY-SA 3.0)
St Michael's Cave
A lit limestone cathedral inside the Rock, with a 600-seat auditorium in it.
A natural grotto of stalactites and stalagmites, lit theatrically and large enough to hold a 600-seat auditorium that still hosts concerts. It is the most visited site in the reserve and the one most people picture when they think of the inside of the Rock.
During the Second World War it was prepared as an emergency military hospital. It was never needed for that, and the tunnelling done in preparation opened up the lower chambers.
Our tip
The lighting cycles through colours on a timer. Wait a couple of minutes if you want the photograph without the magenta.
Where this rating comes from
This is the rating for the ticket, not for this site on its own.
St Michael's Cave is not sold or reviewed separately anywhere we can licence, so it carries no score of its own — and we would rather show you nothing than invent one. What we can tell you is how people rate the ticket that admits you to it, which is the thing you actually buy.
The facts
- Type
- Natural limestone cave
- Auditorium
- 600 seats, still in use
- Wartime role
- Prepared as an emergency hospital, never used
What we read
One ticket · 17 sites
Also in the Nature Reserve
Your ticket covers all of these, not just this one. There is nothing further to buy once you are through the gate.
- The Barbary MacaquesAs long as you like
- St Michael's CaveYou are here
- The Skywalk30 minutes
- Windsor Suspension Bridge20 minutes
- Great Siege Tunnels1 hour
- WWII Tunnels1 hour
- The Moorish Castle45 minutes to an hour
- City Under Siege Exhibition30 minutes
- O'Hara's Battery45 minutes
- Princess Caroline's Battery30 minutes
- Spur Battery20 minutes
- Queen's Balcony15 minutes
- Charles V Wall30 minutes
- Top of the Rock1 hour
- The Mediterranean Steps1.5 – 2 hours
- Birds of Prey MigrationSeasonal
- The East Side1 hour
Around £45 per adult · under 5 free. What the ticket covers