Malta

The small island of Malta is located midway between Sicily about 100 km to the north and Libya quite a bit further to the south. It consists of the main island (Malta), the much smaller island, Gozo, a short distance to the north with the even tinier island of Comino (home of the famous “blue lagoon” and generally unpopulated) in between.

The north side of the island, particularly around the capital Valletta and the airport, is massively built up with large numbers of resorts and hotels (tourism is the biggest source of income) meaning the island is the second most densely populated country in Europe after Monaco. It is also known for it's amazing diving with crystal clear waters and many shallow-lying shipwrecks.

The climate is mild with winters quite cool (but never below 0 Celsius) but summers can be extremely hot with temperatures in the 40 Celsius range. There is very little fresh water on the island so in the summer the fields are not watered so it can be very brown…

The food features a lot of seafood, particularly shellfish, and the diet is generally Mediterranean. There are no large herds of livestock on the island so beef and pork can be quite expensive and not terribly fresh.

If you want to drive, main roads around the island are quite good and well sign-posted but side roads can be very narrow and in rough shape. The posted speed limits are in km/hr but these are generally ignored as are most of the other rules of the road like stopping at stop signs. Traffic can be quite bad particularly around the built-up tourist areas on the north side of the island.

There is an excellent public bus service that offers frequent services at reasonable prices with generally pretty new buses. Uber also operates on the island.

There are regular ferries between the main island and Gozo with ferry terminals at Marfa and Mgarr (respectively). There is also a high speed ferry to Gozo operating from Valletta. You can also catch a ferry to Scilly (Pozzallo) from Valletta. Comino can be reached by small tourist boats that regularly depart from the Marfa area.

It is easy to get around in Malta with distances quite short and transport being generally quite good. Malta has a great deal of history so there are lots of old cities and monuments to visit, never mind the often spectacular scenery such as the cliffs on the south side of the island.

Gozo island is a short distance north of the main island.

It's capital city is Victoria with it's large walled citadel (free entrance, though a fee is charged to enter the cathedral in the grounds) commanding amazing views of pretty much all of the island, and is also home to the main cathedral. The sleepy island is full of small towns and winding roads with some incredible scenery.

On the north side of the island, near Żebbuġ, there ancient salt pans that are still used today which you can walk around and explore (do not walk ON the pans…).

Ta' Pinu is a modern church that is known for it's many miracles and is worth a visit if only to see the amazing modern tile murals in front of the building (that or the various items of the proof of miracles attached to the walls of the rooms to the left of the altar).

The seaside town of Marsaxlokk on the south side of the island has a large Sunday market around the harbour that features local produce as well as both tourist and local market items (including homewares). This can get very busy as it is a tourist destination so parking can be a nightmare during market day.

Mdina is the old capital of Malta, a small, ancient walled city in the middle of the island. No cars are allowed in the city itself but you can hire a horse to take you around or, better yet, simply walk around. It can get very busy with tourists and be careful with the horse carts pushing pedestrians out of the way on the narrow streets.

St. Paul's cathedral is in the middle of the city, it is co-cathedral with St. Peter's in Valletta.

Be sure to get away from the shops and businesses to explore the small, narrow back streets.

Popeye Village is the set of “Sweethaven” used for the 1980 Robin William's film “Popeye”. It has been turned into a bit of a theme park with things like live shows and a small assortment of children's activities near the car park, but it is not what most visitors would call a “theme park”. This is really for film buffs or fans of the cartoon character as I am not sure children will really find it entertaining for any length of time.

There is parking at the top of the cliff (along with a café) where you pay a small fee to enter the site with a steep climb down. They regularly screen a short documentary of the site (along with free small container of popcorn) in one of the buildings, there are regular, free short walking tours, and a live show (featuring Popeye and friends) but otherwise you simply wander through the buildings which look amazing. In the set itself there is a small café near Olive Oil's house at the far end as well as a larger restaurant immediately to the base of the entrance cliff.

Note that you do not have to pay to see the village as there is a great view from the nearby cliffs beside the main entrance.

The capital of Malta, Valletta is a large walled city on the north side of the main island, a short distance from the airport. This is the home of the country's parliament and has a wide assortment of restaurants and entertainment.

Valletta is home of the countries “co-cathedral”, the spectacular, St. John's (the other co-cathedral is St. Peter's in Mdina). Note that an entrance fee is charged.

It has a large harbour where cruise ships regularly dock but is also where ships arrive with goods for the island. Though not strictly speaking part of Valletta, the “three cities” on the south side of the harbour opposite the city are well worth walking around. There are regular boat tours of the harbour also on offer.

Malta is part of the EU and visitors entering from other Schengen-member countries do not require a visa but must show valid ID (such as a passport). For others, a three month (90 day) visa is available for visitors.

Malta is part of the Euro currency union so uses the Euro (EUR) for currency.

Here are some pictures taken on my trip to Malta in 2025:

For further information, please see:

• Visit Malta (Official Site)
• Wikipedia - Malta
• Wikitravel - Malta
• Wikivoyage - Malta