Malta is easier than most first-timers expect. English is an official language and the currency is the euro. Malta is in the Schengen area, and nowhere on the island is more than about an hour away. The problem is not difficulty. It is the assumptions visitors arrive with.
Whether a tour is worth it depends on what you came to see.
What to know on day one
Check the wind before you swim
Malta has a handful of sandy bays and a very long coastline of flat rock. Swimming off rock is normal here and often better than the sand, but you’ll want water shoes rather than a towel. If you pictured sand, plan for it.
Which coast works changes daily, because the wind decides it. A bay that’s like glass one morning can be dangerous the next. You almost never have to give up on swimming. You just drive twenty minutes to the other side.
See which bay is sheltered today
Whether you need a car depends on where you stay
Between Sliema, Valletta, the Three Cities and the airport, the buses reach nearly everywhere and cost very little. A car mostly gets in the way, because parking is scarce and Valletta charges you to drive in.
Hire one for the days you want the north coast, the quieter villages or Gozo, which are the places the buses reach slowly. Hiring for part of a trip rather than all of it is the usual answer.
Fares and how the network worksCompare car hire
Malta gets hotter than you expect
Thirty-two degrees here doesn’t feel like thirty-two degrees somewhere green. There’s almost no shade, and the limestone throws heat back up at you from the ground.
Between eleven and four in July and August, go indoors or get in the sea. That’s what everyone who lives here does. It’s why the streets fill up again at seven.
When to come, month by month
Eat late and ask the price of the fish
Dinner starts late. Turn up at seven and you’ll have the room to yourself; turn up at half eight and it’s busy. Lunch runs long and nobody hurries you.
Fresh fish is sold by weight, not by portion, so ask what it costs per kilo before you agree to it. This is the one bill that surprises people.
What Maltese food is
A sensible first trip
Stay in Sliema or Valletta. Give Valletta and the Three Cities a full day on foot. Give the temples half a day, with the National Museum of Archaeology either side of them. Take a day for Gozo and half a day for Comino. Then leave two days for nothing but swimming, because that’s what the islands are for.
It’s the only thing in Malta that sells out months ahead. They cap the number of people allowed in each day to protect it. If you want to see it, book it before you book your flights.
What changes with the season
You get the best walking of the year, and the island is green.
- The countryside is green from February to April and burnt brown by June, so put the walking days early in the trip.
- The sea does not really warm up until May. Treat a beach day as a coast day and you will not be disappointed.
- Holy Week moves every year and changes opening hours across a lot of towns. Check the dates before you fix a day to Valletta.
Everything is open and everything is busy. The heat sets the timetable.
- The midday heat limits you more than the distance does. Start early, stop between one and four, then go out again in the evening.
- The Blue Lagoon needs a slot booked in advance. It is free, but it is not optional.
- Beaches fill from mid-morning, and the northern buses fill with them. A full bus will drive straight past your stop.
The sea is still warm and the crowds have gone. Many people prefer October for that reason.
- The water lags the air by about a month, so swimming is still on the table through October.
- The Valletta harbour ferries switch to their winter timetable on 1 November, and the last crossing comes earlier than people expect.
- Rain returns in November. Keep one flexible day rather than booking every morning.
Swap the beach days for walking days and the itineraries still work.
- The sea is too cold for most people, so every beach day in these routes becomes a coast walk instead.
- Comino boats run to a reduced service or stop altogether, so treat the Blue Lagoon as a summer plan.
- The sites and the museums are almost empty in winter, so this is a good time to walk round them.
One piece of admin before the fun: travel insurance. A European health card gets you treated here but pays nothing towards a flight home. Standard policies often exclude diving, which is one of the main reasons people come to Malta.
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