Cable Car or Private Taxi? An Honest Comparison
I have an obvious interest in the answer, so here are the numbers and the cases where the cable car genuinely wins.
Jaydan · 3 June 2026 · 5 min read
I run taxi tours, so treat this as a declared interest. That said, plenty of visitors should take the cable car, and I would rather say so than have someone book the wrong thing.
Take the cable car if…
You want the view and nothing else, you are travelling solo and price-sensitive, you enjoy walking in heat, or you want to spend three unhurried hours at the top on your own schedule. The ride itself is genuinely spectacular.
Take a taxi tour if…
You want the cave, the tunnels, the castle and Europa Point as well as the view — those are spread across four kilometres of ridge with serious gradients between them. Or you are two or more people, in which case the per-head cost lands in the same place. Or anyone in your party has limited mobility, small children, or a ship to catch.
The honest arithmetic
For a couple, the difference between two cable car tickets plus Nature Reserve entry and a private ninety-minute tour is smaller than most people expect. For a family of four, the tour is usually cheaper as well as easier.
Written by Jaydan, who drives this route most days of the week.
Mentioned in this piece
The cave, the Skywalk, the macaques, the WW2 Tunnels and the Pillars of Hercules — the whole Upper Rock in an hour and a half.
See the tour
