Gozo, Malta
An island with a life of its own
Eighteen villages, a każin in every one, terraced country between them and the sea around it all. Written from Gozo, for everyone who comes over, whether for a week or for the afternoon.
Our own photograph
The whole island, in twelve doors
Gozo is twenty-six square miles and it takes about twenty minutes to drive across. That is small enough to cover properly, which is what this is for.
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Where to eat
Seafood off the Mġarr boats, a proper Gozitan ftira, farmhouse tables and long Sunday lunches.
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Villages & hamlets
Eighteen of them, each built around its parish church, its każin and its festa.
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Beaches & the sea
Red sand at Ramla, deep water at Dwejra, and which bay suits today’s wind.
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Diving & fishing
Shore dives at Dwejra and Reqqa, the wrecks off Xatt l-Aħmar, and the fish that comes off the boats.
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Festas & każini
Two band clubs to a village, a festa most weekends from May to September, and Carnival in Nadur.
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Holidays & events
The fourteen days Malta takes off, what each one closes, and when the ferry queue is worst.
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Staying & buying
Farmhouses and hotels for a week, and the second homes Maltese families keep here for the weekend.
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Countryside
Terraced fields, dry stone walls, valley walks and the cliffs at Ta’ Ċenċ.
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Faith & folklore
Ta’ Pinu, the wayside chapels, and the superstitions that sit quite comfortably beside the Church.
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History & heritage
Ġgantija older than the pyramids, the Ċittadella, Ta’ Kola windmill and Calypso’s Cave.
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Crafts & artists
Lace worked on the ċombini, filigree, the Ta’ Dbieġi crafts village, studios and galleries.
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Getting here & around
The Ċirkewwa ferry, the fast boat from Valletta, the buses, and whether you need a car.
Bays worth the drive
All 18 bays, and which suit today →- sandy · Blue FlagSheltered from S, SW, W
Ramla l-Ħamra
Gozo's big red-sand beach, below Xagħra and Nadur, backed by open fields rather than buildings.
- sandySheltered from S, SW, W
San Blas Bay
A small red-sand cove below Nadur, reached down a road so steep that most people walk it.
- dive site
Sheltered from E, NE, SEDwejra
The Inland Sea, the Blue Hole and Fungus Rock on the west coast, and the best-known diving in the Maltese islands.
- baySheltered from W, NW, SW
Ħondoq ir-Rummien
Clear water on the Qala side looking across to Comino, with a small shingle beach and rock on either side.
- bay Sheltered from N, NE, NW, E, W
Mġarr ix-Xini
A long narrow inlet with a shingle beach at the end, one restaurant, and almost nothing else.
- baySheltered from S, SW, W
Daħlet Qorrot
A working boat bay below Nadur, with brightly painted boathouses cut into the rock and very few people.
- baySheltered from S, SW, SE
Marsalforn Bay
Gozo's seaside town, with a small sandy beach at the head of the bay and most of the island's hotels and restaurants around it.
- rockySheltered from S, SW, SE
Qbajjar Bay
Flat rock and a sliver of coarse sand just west of Marsalforn, next to the start of the salt pans.
Every bay on this island is unusable in some wind
The finder reads the live forecast and tells you which of the eighteen are sheltered from whatever is blowing today. It is the thing we would most want if we were coming over.
Where to begin
All 18 villages and hamlets →- Central GozoFesta: St George
Victoria (Rabat)
Gozo's capital and the one place that feels like a town. The Citadel above it, It-Tokk below, and most of the island's shops and buses.
- North GozoFesta: The Nativity of Our Lady
Xagħra
The largest village by population, sitting on a plateau above Ramla. Ġgantija, Ninu's Cave and a square that fills up on summer evenings.
- East GozoFesta: St Peter and St Paul
Nadur
High, spread out and fiercely proud of its carnival. San Blas and Daħlet Qorrot are both below it.
- Central GozoFesta: St John the Baptist
Xewkija
Dominated by the Rotunda, whose dome is visible from most of the island. Also where Gozo's industrial estate sits.
- East GozoFesta: Our Lady of Loreto
Għajnsielem
The first village most people pass through, since the ferry lands below it at Mġarr. Fort Chambray sits on the headland.
- North GozoFesta: Santa Marija
Żebbuġ
A hilltop village with long views, and the council that Marsalforn belongs to.
Guides
All guides →- Diving
Diving in Gozo
Why divers pick Gozo over Malta, the shore sites that make it unusual, what the water does through the year, and where the wrecks are.
- Fishing & farming
Fishing in Gozo: the boats, the seasons and the fish
Mġarr is the island's working harbour, not a picture of one. What the fleet catches, when each fish is in, and how to order so you are eating what came off a Gozo boat.
- Eat & drink
Ġbejniet: the Gozo cheeselet
What ġbejniet actually are, the four ways you will meet them, and why Gozo makes them better than Malta does.
What is open, what is on, which bay works
One email a month from the island: what has opened or closed, when the festas fall, what is in season, and anything we have corrected. No partner emails, and one click to leave.