Find out how to go to Malta on a price range: from low cost eats to scenic streets

Welcome to considered one of Europe’s best-value locations for vacationers, simply explored by public transport together with buses and ferries, or independently and affordably with a rental automotive. Lots of Malta’s high sights are free to expertise, together with the heritage streets of Valletta and the sun-kissed golden sands of the nation’s seashores.

Visiting outdoors of the busy interval of June to August typically combines decrease lodging costs, shorter queues and a few of Europe’s warmest and most settled spring and fall climate.

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Make the most of low-cost airways

Flying from key British hubs together with London, Manchester, and Birmingham, low-cost airways easyJet and Ryanair are an inexpensive option to attain Malta. Wizz Air is the most suitable choice when flying from central and jap Europe with direct flights from cities together with Budapest, Vienna, and Warsaw. Spanish low-cost airline Vueling hyperlinks Barcelona with Malta.

Catch the ferry from Sicily

In case you’re exploring Italy, it is a simple ferry journey south throughout the Mediterranean from Sicily to Malta. Linking Pozzallo on Sicily’s southeast coast to Valletta’s harborfront Cruise Terminal, journeys on Virtu Ferries take just below two hours. Launched in 2021, Ponte Ferries supply a competing service taking 3 ½ hours from the port of Augusta, halfway between Catania and Syracuse on Sicily’s east coast. Discounted Sicily to Malta day-return fares are supplied, and each ships may also accommodate automobiles.

Lodging costs rise throughout competition season and the peak of summer time, however not astronomically © Matt Munro / Lonely Planet

Go to in the course of the shoulder seasons

Malta will get particularly busy from June to August with guests attracted by scorching, rain-free climate, and well-liked dance music festivals together with Isle of MTV, Misplaced & Discovered, and ABODE on the Rock.

The shoulder seasons of April to Could and September to October nonetheless supply nice climate, heat Mediterranean waters, and good-value lodging charges outdoors of the peaks of summer time.

Think about Malta’s cooler months for even higher worth

Rain and occasional storms influence Malta from November to March, but when your focus is on exploring indoor sights such because the Nationwide Museum of Archaeology, the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum or St John’s Co-Cathedral, it is a good time to go to.

Lodging costs are decrease, queues on the sights will likely be shorter, and it is nonetheless often hotter than most different European locations. February’s annual Carnival is well known with parades, floats and avenue events throughout each Malta and its smaller sister island of Gozo.

Save with Heritage Malta

Heritage Malta presents an array of low cost choices for exploring its numerous places round Malta and Gozo. Standout sights embrace Fort St Angelo within the Three Cities, Valletta’s Nationwide Museum of Archaeology and the Nationwide Struggle Museum at Fort St Elmo. Providing the very best worth is the Heritage Malta Multisite Cross – grownup/concession/youngsters €30/10/12.50 ($32/10.50/13). Notice that entry to the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum will not be included with a Multisite Cross, and reserving the hypogeum a number of months forward is really useful to keep away from having to pay a €15 ($15.80) last-minute reserving surcharge.

The exterior of the Parliament House in Valletta bathed in sunshine
Shopping for a Malta Cross is an efficient worth option to see quite a few sights or get on a sightseeing tour © Pit Inventory / Shutterstock

Pay money for a Malta Cross

Legitimate for a interval of 1, two or three days ( €50/80/100 | $52.70/84/105), a Malta Pass permits admission to greater than 40 sights round Malta and Gozo – together with the megalithic archaeological website of Ħaġar Qim & Mnajdra – and likewise for sightseeing buses and interactive cinema experiences on each islands. Test the web site for infrequent large reductions on the cardboard’s standard buy value. Playing cards must be bought on-line earlier than arrival, both for supply to your private home tackle or to your Malta lodging.

Feast on pastizzi and ftira

Served from hole-in-the-wall stalls and bakeries round Malta, the nation’s favourite snack is a parcel of flakey pastry filled with ricotta cheese, peas and herbs. The value of pastizzi rose to €0.50 ($0.52) in April 2022, inflicting a lot consternation across the nation, however they continue to be an awesome worth breakfast or mid-afternoon snack. One other economical option to eat Maltese-style is to feast on a ftira sandwich, conventional disc-shaped loaves of bread filled with cheese, olives and a paste of sun-dried tomatoes.

Purchase a number of unfilled ftira at a bakery and cram them with native Gozitan cheese. There is a good cheese choice within the grocery store delicatessen within the basement of Valletta’s Is-Suq Tal-Belt, a historic produce market that is now a meals corridor with well-priced and various flavors and cuisines from around the globe.

Make new journey buddies in a hostel

Malta presents some wonderful hostels, and costs outdoors of the busy June-to-August interval are good worth. Anticipate to pay round €20 ($21) per evening for a dorm mattress, considerably decrease than the excessive season fee of round €30 ($31.60) per evening. Trendy and sociable hostel lodging contains Inhawi close to the nightlife of St Julians and Paceville, and Two Pillows Malta within the historic backstreets of Sliema.

Go self-catering and get monetary savings in an Airbnb

Reserving Airbnb lodging is an efficient choice in Malta, with many self-contained residences obtainable in historic buildings in cities and villages outdoors of costlier Valletta. Search for properties in central neighborhoods corresponding to Floriana, or additional afield in areas together with Birkirkara from the place it is easy to discover Valletta and the remainder of the island by bus. Most areas have good supermarkets and street-side produce markets for grocery buying.

wide angle image of the beach with a hotel at Golden bay in Malta
Malta’s intensive bus community will get you to most locations across the island © telesniuk / Shutterstock

Discover (virtually) all over the place by bus

Each Malta and Gozo are well-served by Public Transport Malta’s intensive bus community, and whereas punctuality can drop off in the direction of the tip of the day, most areas of the islands may be reached, and costs are simply €2 ($2.10) for a single-ride ticket together with a two-hour switch window. An Explore Card (grownup/little one €21/15 | $22/15.80) presents limitless bus journey for seven days. Additionally obtainable is a multi-user 12-day journey card (€15/$15.80) that can be utilized concurrently by {couples} or households.

Expertise sensible views for the price of a ferry experience

Valletta Ferry Services supply two passenger-only routes, one linking Valletta throughout Grand Harbour to the Three Cities, and the opposite throughout Marsamxett Harbour to the waterfront esplanade of Sliema. Tickets value €1.50/2.80 ($1.60/3 | single/return), whereas a limiteless seven-day cross is €10 ($10.54). Given the astounding views, each ferry journeys are an absolute discount. Public Transport Malta’s ExploreFlex choice is a chargeable stored-value card combining discounted journey on buses, harbor journeys with Valletta Ferry Providers, and bike leases with Tallinja Bike.

Get on a motorbike

Bikes may be taken on harbor ferries and are a wonderful choice for impartial exploration upon arrival within the Three Cities or across the Sliema waterfront. Malta has two app-based bike-sharing packages. Tallinja Bike has 11 docking stations on Malta and three on Gozo, whereas nextbike is an analogous service and likewise presents e-bikes. Bikes will also be taken on the Gozo Quick Ferry passenger service linking Valletta to Mġarr Harbour on Gozo.

Tourists walking down narrow streets with wooden doors and historical houses
Strolling is among the finest methods to see Malta’s stunning heritage streets and it will not value you a cent © Radiokukka / Getty Photos

Stretch your legs amid centuries of historical past

Malta is a vacation spot that is simply made for strolling, and it prices completely nothing to discover the honey-colored heritage streets, plazas and laneways of Valletta, or enterprise additional afield to the walled hilltop metropolis of Mdina. Historic and spectacular church buildings, many adorned with priceless artworks, are free to enter, whereas the most cost effective of thrills for lively vacationers embrace northern Malta’s golden seashores and the cliff-top strolling trails of Gozo.

Hire a automotive for extra flexibility

Automotive rental charges in Malta are a few of Europe’s lowest, and since most of the islands’ roads are slim and winding, guests are literally higher off hiring a smaller and cheaper automotive. Stay up for rental charges of round €20-25 ($21-26) per day. Notice that visitors in Malta may be busy, however driving is less complicated outdoors of the Valletta/Sliema/St Julians conurbation, and on a lot quieter Gozo.

Each day Prices

  • Hostel room: from €20 ($21) for a dormitory
  • Primary room for 2: from €70 ($74) evening
  • Self-catering condominium (together with Airbnb): nightly costs from €70 ($74) for a personal room to round €130 ($137) for the entire place.
  • Public transport ticket: bus €2 ($2.10)
  • Espresso: round €2 ($2.10)
  • Sandwich: ftira €5-6 ($5.30-6.30)
  • Dinner for 2: round €50 ($53)
  • Beer at a bar: round €4 ($4.20) for native Cisk lager or €6 ($6.30) for Maltese craft beer