Sunday in Malta is quieter than most visitors expect.
Banks and offices are shut, a lot of shops are shut, and the buses run a thinner timetable. Restaurants and the tourist areas carry on as normal.
What closes on Sunday
Banks, government offices and post offices are closed.
Many village shops close, or open only in the morning until about noon.
Supermarkets in the larger towns usually open for part of the day. The small grocer on the corner may not.
Petrol stations are mostly self-service pumps that take a card, so fuel is not a problem.
What stays open
Restaurants, cafes and the pastizzeriji carry on. Sunday lunch is the busiest meal of the week here, so book.
Museums and heritage sites open on their normal hours.
Pharmacies work on a rota, so a few are open in each district rather than all of them.
Which pharmacies are open changes every Sunday. The pharmacy tool lists the ones open today with their addresses.
The Marsaxlokk fish market and the Ta’ Qali farmers’ market both run on Sunday morning and finish by early afternoon.
Buses run a Sunday timetable
Services are less frequent and finish earlier than on a weekday.
If you are planning a day out that ends late, check the last bus before you go rather than after.
The Gozo ferry keeps running all day, but the queues on a Sunday evening coming back are long.
Public holidays work the same way
All fourteen public holidays follow the Sunday pattern, including the bus timetable.
Good Friday and Christmas Day go further, with many restaurants closed as well.
If a holiday falls on a weekend, workers get an extra day of leave rather than a Monday off. Everything opens normally on the Monday.
Church and the village
Mass brings a lot of the village out early. The square is busiest between 08:00 and 10:00.
Sites and churches close to visitors during services. Check before turning up at a parish church mid-morning.
Plan the shopping for Saturday
If you are self-catering, buy what you need on Saturday.
It is the simplest way to avoid a Sunday morning walk to three closed shops.
Saturday afternoon is the busiest supermarket slot of the week, so go early if you can.
