Gozo, Malta: 2 Day Itinerary

During our hike along the cliffs near Xlendi Bay, we could see the Cittadella in the distance (center right of photo).

UPDATED: 2/5/2023

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We fell in love with the little island of Gozo (it’s about 25 square miles). Gozo is the smaller of Malta’s two inhabitable islands (the third island, Comino, can be visited but is not really inhabited) and is a great side trip to pair with a visit to the mainland. If you’re looking to do just that, check out our recommended 3-5 day Malta itinerary as well! In this blog we’ll cover some general information on Gozo, information on how to get there, and our recommendations for spots to visit to fill 2 (or more) days. If you want to pick up a guide book, we used Lonely Planet’s Malta and Gozo guide to plan our trip.

Culturally, Gozo has some of its own holidays and traditions that set it aside from mainland Malta, though this was not immediately obvious to us as casual observers. Based on what read in our research Gozo also has a reputation based on what we had read prior to visiting for being a more laid back place than mainland Malta and is often described as a country (vs city) setting. Perhaps it is in some ways, though again, we found it to be quite populated in the main city of Victoria (and we went in a ‘shoulder season’ of September). So, why would we recommend you tack on a visit to Gozo while in the country?

top reasons for visiting gozo

History and archaeology galore! (We’ll share more about specific sites below.)
Hiking along the brilliantly blue Mediterranean. (We’ll share details on a perfect hike we took below.)
Easy-to-use and budget-friendly bus system to go anywhere you could want to visit.
Explore a walled, Medieval city
Varied museums and cultural sites
The island is (purportedly) the real-life location of the island of Calypso where Odysseus was ensnared by the nymph for seven years

This epic hike along the cliffs near Xlendi Bay is recommended for anyone who likes to get away from it all.

Artifacts of pottery have been found on Gozo dating over a range of several thousand years.

Be sure to just relax and let your hair blow free.

A Roman statue and inscription were on display.

how to get to gozo

The only way to get to Gozo (that we are aware of) is via the main island of Malta and is a short ferry ride away. It’s worth noting that the ferry terminal on the mainland of Malta is in the town of Cirkewwa, which is about a 40-75 minute drive (depending on traffic) from the airport or Valletta. If you’ll be visiting Malta, check out our blog dedicated to transportation in the country for details on your options and our recommendations.

where to stay on gozo

After researching this before our trip, we decided to stay in the main city of Victoria, and we would recommend this to others for a few reasons. First, it has the walled fortress city of Cittadella, where we recommend you spend at least half a day. Second, because of its central location and as the site of the main bus terminal, it is much easier to catch public buses from here to any other locations on the island that you want to visit. Stays further afield mean you may need to catch multiple buses to get to another location, which adds time and is a hassle. The one downside of Victoria is that it is not on the ocean, but it is easy to take a trip out to drink in that scenery. For those wishing for a quiet or more rural stay, you may prefer to stay outside of this hub. You can find some great options for places to stay in or near Victoria on VRBO’s site here.

When you arrive at Cirkewwa harbor by ferry you can easily take a bus or taxi to your final destination.

Gozo Itinerary - 2 Days

There is no right way to visit any location, so tweak this based on your own interests and preferences! Note that Victoria is also known as “Rabat,” which is Arabic for “suburb” since Victoria originally emerged as a suburb of the old walled fortress. What’s important to be aware of is the fact that there is another Rabat in Malta - right outside of Mdina on the mainland. This can get confusing when you’re doing research, so make sure you’re looking up the Rabat on the island of Gozo. For two days, we would recommend about one day in the Gozo capital of Victoria and another day in one of the many other destinations around the island. We selected Xlendi Bay for a seaside meal and hike, so we have details on both Victoria and Xlendi below. There are many other alternative spots to visit, so while we didn’t get to them on this trip, we’ll provide a list of those that most piqued our interest in case they appeal to you, too! Of course one answer is to spend more like a week on Gozo and see it all!

Victoria (also known as rabat) - a half to full day

We spent probably about 5-6 hours in total, spread over two days (because of the timing of our arrival to Gozo) exploring these spots in Victoria. We did not see everything and found this to be a good pace to take things in without feeling rushed, though if we had an entire day to take this all in more leisurely, that would have been a great option.

Explore Medieval Streets - In the center of Victoria is a rabbit warren of old Medieval streets that wind this way and that, have beautifully quaint townhouses, and have potted plant street gardens dotting the roads. This is worth wandering both during the day as well as at night, when it will feel like a wholly different experience. With the hushed quiet and lack of people at night, these old streets were both semi-creepy and also transported us back in time (at least in our imaginations). If you’re trying to find this spot on a map, look for the section of the city south of the Cittadella surrounded by 4-5 main streets (nestled between these streets: Id Dawwara Tomba and Triq Taħt Putirjal).
Cittadella - This fortress city sits inland and up on a hill, a prime look-out spot for people to scan the surrounding countryside and hills. While today we can appreciate the 360 degree views from atop it for purely aesthetic reasons, it would have provided a sense of safety to earlier eras. Evidence dates human habitation on the site back to the Bronze Era with some less solid evidence suggesting Stone Age usage. The Cittadella currently on the spot dates to around the year 1500. One of its most significant historic moments was when it was attacked by the Ottomans in 1551 (fourteen years prior to the Siege of Malta on the larger island), and while 300 or so citizens escaped, the rest - a large group of 6,000 people - were taken by Ottomans as slaves and shipped to Tripoli. It took 150 years for Gozo to regain the population prior to the invasion, so its easy to see what a lasting impact this had on the island. Today, the Cittadella offers a lot of activities within its walls, so here are some spots within the Cittadella for you to visit. You do not need to purchase a ticket to enter Cittadella. The city itself is open for people to wander and in fact has a small number of residents still.
- The Visitor’s Center at Cittadella - Located at the fortresses base, the purchase of a ticket (inside the museum) gives you access to the visitor’s center plus includes museum access to 5+ museums within the city walls. The ticket is good for 30 days. The visitor’s center has recently been redone and provided a helpful overview of Cittadella through different lenses and its history. After exploring the small exhibit, you can enter a separate room that plays an immersive video – by immersive I mean that you stand in the center of the room, and the video plays on all the walls around – to help bring its history to life further. The visitor’s center does not require a lot of time - 30 minutes is probably sufficient for the small space - but by the time we walked out of it, we had a solid understanding of Cittadella, which helped us better interpret what we saw within its walls.
- Archaeology Museum - 30 minutes is probably sufficient for this smaller version than the mainland Malta Museum of Archaeology. Geared toward both general Maltese archaeology as well as Gozo-specific information, this is worth a quick stop.
- Cathedral of the Assumption - This is the Cittadella’s cathedral in the city square. We enjoyed viewing it from outside, particularly in light of its sweeping staircase. Entry requires a separate ticket purchase from the all-inclusive ticket for the other museums in the city, and while I don’t recall the price, we felt it was a bit steep particularly when we had already visited other amazing cathedrals on mainland Malta.
- Prison Museum - This tiny museum allows visitors to explore the fortress prison, and carvings made by prisoners are visible in the limestone (as well as more modern carvings by rude tourists unfortunately). It is located right up the street from the main square.
- Gran Castello house - What is now one building was originally multiple townhouses that date to the early 16th century. This museum provides a fascinating window into the architecture of the city where it was most experienced by its inhabitants - in their own homes. The houses were hewn out of the same limestone as everything else in Malta and had stone walls and floors, as well as interior courtyards to provide fresh air and light. The houses actually felt much more part of the outdoors than we would have expected from their stone facades. While the house itself is interesting in its own right, there are also exhibits throughout that are highly variable in nature: agricultural tools and implements, recreated rooms (such as a bedroom and kitchen), and information on the local industries such as fishing. Allow more time for this stop.
- Natural History Museum - This museum holds local and non-local flora and fauna, including an interesting display of stuffed birds (all of which had died natural deaths) and butterflies. This is a small museum which may not live up to your expectations if you compare it to other larger and better funded museums, but for a small museum included in our ticket it was worth a visit. Dustin really enjoyed the ocean fossils, which included a few huge Megalodon teeth. While it would have been great if more information on each species was provided, we had an enjoyable visit.
- Shipwreck Museum - Billed as a temporary exhibit, this museum was supposed to have closed weeks before our visit, so we’re not sure if it is going to become permanent or not. We almost skipped this one and are so glad we didn’t! Like any well-trafficked coastal area, Malta has its history of shipwrecks. Given the historic use of the island, though, it has arguably more interesting shipwrecks than many places. In 2007, a Phoenician shipwreck was discovered off the coast in Xlendi Bay and was historic for a few reasons. The shipwreck dated to the 7th century BCE, meaning it is about 9,000 years old and making it the oldest shipwreck discovered in the region! The findings provide new insights into the Mediterranean trade routes of the Phoenicians and which goods were popular for trading (wine and oil are a few). This pocket-sized museum held urns and other remnants of that wreck in remarkably good condition!
- Cittadella’s Ruins - As you move to the back part of the town, you’ll come across buildings in ruins. What makes this particularly fascinating is that much of the ruins date back to the Ottoman attack in 1551 where a large portion of the local population was killed or taken as slaves. It is chilling to look at the remnants of a fight to survive that dates back some 470 years in the light of the present day.
- The House (and Legend) of Bernardo Dupuo - Buried in the ruined streets, one has a gate covering the door and a placard identifying it as the home of Bernardo Dupuo. We learned about his story in the visitor’s center, and it is a sad one that dates to the Ottoman attack in 1551. Discovering that the city was about to be attacked by the Ottomans, Bernardo Dupuo, decided he would rather kill his wife and two daughters than have them captured as slaves. So, upon hearing of the invaders, he returned home with his family, killed them, and then went out to battle, where he himself fell. I love hearing stories of places – even, unfortunately, tragic ones like that – and seeing the spot where they occurred.
- Cittadella’s Ramparts - From atop the walls of the fortress (along the back of the city), you can take in aerial views of the ruins and walled city below as well as see the surrounding towns and countryside. Because Gozo is a small island (25 square miles in size), you’ll be able to pick out the various coastal towns from this height.
- Cittadella at night - If you have the chance, wander the walled city under the cover of dark. The cathedral is beautiful lighted, the warren of streets are fun to wander with their spotty lantern light, and the ramparts will provide sweeping views of neighboring cities.

Courtyard gardens can be toured in several of the open-to-the-public historic homes around the Cittadella.

Limestone arches make for excellent photographs.

Wispy clouds float through the blue sky above Victoria.

The streets are very smooth but are certainly not flat and follow the natural contours of the hilltop.

While part of the Cittadella is well maintained, a good section lies in ruins which date to the sacking by the Ottomans..

Xlendi Bay is a great place to grab a bite to eat, catch a tour boat, or jump in the water and just swim.

xlendi bay and heritage hike - a half to full day

We caught a bus from the Victoria Bay bus terminal in the center of the city and made it to Xlendi after just about a 15 minute ride. Here’s what we’d recommend for your trip to Xlendi.

Eat lunch or dinner along the coast - There are several restaurants with water-side seating in the harbor and on the cliffs up the road. We had lunch at The Stone Crab and had a wonderful meal.
Water activities - While we didn’t do this ourselves, part of the bay is cordoned off for swimmers. There were also rental stand-up paddle boards and boat trips available.
Short hike - If you hike up the hill from the central part of Xlendi where the restaurants sit, you’ll be able to easily spot a path that runs parallel to the road. When you access it, it will take you across a footbridge that dates to Roman times and up the other side of the hill to the Xlendi Tower (which you can see from a distance). This spot provides an excellent vantage point to look out over the water, the cliffs, back to the town of Xlendi, and sits atop the bay where the Phoenician shipwreck was discovered (as discussed above in the Shipwreck Museum information). A glance over the edge to a lower portion of land below will provide you with a vista of salt flats. The out and back distance from Xlendi to the tower and back to town is about 1.2 miles (2 kms) and makes for a good pre- or post-meal jaunt.
Longer hike - If you wish to keep going, the path continues away from the town of Xlendi along the coast and is a portion of the “Heritage Hike”. If you have the time and interest, we would highly recommend this route. The hike itself was not particularly difficult (I was wearing a long skirt and boat shoes, which were not ideal but totally safe given the condition of the trail). The trail weaves in and out along the coast with elevation rises. With each new peak ahead, you’ll find beautiful white limestone cliffs. Other than a couple of spots where the path intersects local roads, we came across no other hikers. One word of advice: there is essentially no tree cover, and the sun in Malta can be hot. We went late in the day (started our hike maybe around 2pm) and in late September when it is cooler than the summer. Make sure to bring water, sunblock, sunglasses, a hat, and be safe. I would not recommend hiking this in the middle of the day or in the middle of summer without adequate preparations. Consider taking this hike first thing or last thing in the day for the beautiful rising and setting sun colors. We hiked this from Xlendi to the town of Ta’Cenc, where we were able to hike into the town and catch a bus back to Victoria. This route was about 3.3 miles (5.3 km). Here is a map of the route we took:

I believe I took a picture about every twenty steps.

Evening light really brought out the warm tones of the limestone and the amazing blue of the Mediterranean.

Other spots to visit on gozo

If you have more time or don’t find our options above to your personal liking, here are some other spots on the island that we considered visiting and would have if we’d had more time. All are easily reachable via the bus system on Gozo.

Marsalforn Salt Pans - Located due north from Victoria, these salt pans are more extensive than the ones we saw at Xlendi.
Ġgantija Temples - Located northeast from Victoria, the Neolithic Temples are a UNESCO World Heritage site. They date back to somewhere in the range of 3600-3200 BCE and are considered to be one of the oldest freestanding human-built monuments in the world (like other sites we saw on mainland Malta, they also predate the Pyramids and Stonehenge). They are also thought to be the oldest of all the Maltese temples.
Dwejra Bay - Located west of Victoria, this spot is known for swimming and enjoying time on the ocean, offers visits inside the restored Dwejra Tower, and is near the spot that held the famous Azure Window, which collapsed in 2017.
Wied il-Għasri - Located north of Victoria, this is another coastal hike that is about 3 miles (5km) in length. The beach is accessible from the trail for those wishing to snorkel or sunbathe.
Day trip to the Blue Lagoon on Comino island (the island between Malta and Gozo) - This popular spot offers swimming, snorkeling, and diving activities.