Malta: Travel and Packing Tips

UPDATED: 2/5/2023

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After a full week spent in Malta on both the mainland island of Malta plus a couple of days on the smaller island of Gozo, here are some of the tips we hope will help make your planning easier and your trip as wonderful as ours!

Packing Tips for Malta

Don’t forget your hat, or do what I did and go full tourist by purchasing a (cheaply made) straw hat.

Hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen - This Mediterranean country is bright with the sun towering overhead. Our trip in late September wasn’t even in the prime of the summer, but it was quite hot and very sunny.
Swimwear - If you’re going in the summer, there are plenty of options for a dip in the Mediterranean or a swim in the Blue Lagoon, just off the middle, uninhabited island of Comino. Malta is also a great place for divers to explore shipwrecks.
Cool, breathable clothing - Air conditioning is not ubiquitous, and places that have it (some rentals, some restaurants) are specific units instead of central air conditioning like we have in the United States. Make sure to wear clothing that breathes because you can be certain to get sweaty.
Reusable water bottle - Make sure to stay hydrated!
Comfortable shoes - The older cities and walled fortresses have cobblestone streets that can be tough on feet. I rotated between a pair of Roman-style sandals that were securely attached to my feet for hotter days and Sperry boat shoes for our more active days, including our 3-mile hike along a cliff. Dustin tends to travel in hiking boots most places we go and was comfortable in those.
Layers - In September, the early mornings and nights could be a little cool, though we usually didn’t need an extra layer for long. Those sensitive to the sun should plan on having a lightweight layer to protect their arms from the sun, too.
Be aware of the weight limit for your bags if you’re flying out on Air Malta. Apparently our economy ticket only allowed for a much lighter bag weight than we have had before. While we flew into the country without any issue, on our return flight from Malta, they weighed our bag and we ended up having no choice but to pay extra to check it. We were able to move enough out of our second bag so that we could at least carry-on one!

Travel Tips for Malta

Plan well, then sit back and relax while on your adventure.

Do your homework on transportation before deciding where to go and how to get there. Check out our transportation-focused blog that covers the full list of options and recommendations.
Consider purchasing the Malta Pass, which could save you money depending on how many of the sites you plan on visiting. The pass covers locations on both Malta and Gozo, and you can review the details of the pass and purchase it from Heritage Malta’s website here.
Because of the layout of the country, be thoughtful about where you decide to book your overnight accommodations. Places ‘just outside’ of a city may not be that easy to get to. Learn more about our recommendations and factors to consider on our accommodation-focused blog here.
If you go during a holiday - and we always recommend checking this out about any destination before going - you may find unexpected closures. We had hoped to see Fort St. Angelo and Fort St. Elmo and both were closed the entirety of our trip. On the flip side, a number of museums were open and free due to the holiday (Independence Day). You can check out the dates of Malta’s national holidays on their government site here.
Malta’s currency is the Euro. In general, we were able to use our credit cards in most spots, but it would be wise to have some cash on you for smaller purchases and locations outside of major cities.
The national language of Malta is Maltese, a unique, Semitic language with somewhat unknown/debated origins. There are 30 letters in the alphabet, which you can view here. Don’t know Maltese? Good news - English is spoken by nearly everyone and Italian, which we heard a lot of, is spoken by about two thirds of the population. But love languages anyway? Check out this Maltese language intro course on Udemy.
One of our favorite places to visit was the underground, Neolithic burial site of Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum (and yes, that first letter is one of those unique Maltese letters). It is important to purchase tickets in advance, as only a small number of people are allowed on guided tours to maintain the preservation of the delicate site. Tickets can sell out weeks or months in advance and are available online here. We were fortunate to get ours about two months in advance during off-season.
This is always a good tip before visiting anywhere, but definitely read up on Malta’s fascinating history. We promise you’ll get so much more out of your trip if you do so, and you’ll get some ideas of the places you wish to visit. We read four non-fiction books covering Malta from prehistory through the 1565 Siege of Malta to its important place during World War II. You can check out those books and our reviews of them on our blog here.
If, like us, you are from the United States, you will feel like a European when you travel in Malta. Very few people from America visit each year. According to 2018 statistics, only 1.8% of the nearly 2.6 million visitors to Malta were from the United States. Part of the reason for that is that it is a long trip from the US! This explains the “you’re going where?” response we got from most people. The most common nationalities touring Malta come from the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and Poland. This was the first place we have gone where we didn’t feel like people took one look and assumed we were Americans.