The best day trips in Malta by car
Six half-days and full days that are genuinely better with a car — where to go, roughly how long the drive takes, and when to set off.
Updated 21 July 2026 · 6 min read
Mdina and Dingli Cliffs
The classic half-day, and the one where the drive is part of the appeal. Park in Rabat outside the walls — you can't drive into Mdina — and walk in through the gate. Give it a couple of hours, then carry on ten minutes west to Dingli Cliffs for the best sunset on the island.
About 25 to 30 minutes from most of the resort areas. Go late afternoon and you get Mdina quiet and Dingli lit.
Marsaxlokk and the south-east
The fishing harbour with the luzzu boats, best on a Sunday morning when the market runs along the front — and correspondingly impossible to park then, so arrive early or park back from the water.
Pair it with St Peter's Pool round the headland for a swim, or with Birżebbuġa and Pretty Bay. Twenty minutes from the airport, half an hour from Sliema.
The north-coast beaches
Għadira at Mellieħa is the big sandy one and the easiest with children. Golden Bay and Għajn Tuffieħa are the prettier pair on the west coast, with steps down to the sand at the second.
Thirty to forty minutes from the Sliema side. Go early in summer — the car parks fill by mid-morning and the roadside spaces go with them.
The Three Cities
Birgu, Senglea and Cospicua across the Grand Harbour from Valletta: older, quieter and far less walked than the capital. The marina at Birgu is the obvious anchor, and the streets behind it are the point.
Fifteen to twenty minutes from the airport. Leave the car this side and take the ferry across to Valletta if you want both in a day — it avoids the capital's access charge entirely.
Gozo, properly
A full day rather than a half. Ferry across from Ċirkewwa, then Victoria and the Ċittadella, Ramla Bay for the red sand, Xlendi or Dwejra on the west coast.
Leave early — the summer queue at Ċirkewwa builds through the morning, and the last thing you want is to be watching the clock on the way back.
Comino and the Blue Lagoon
The one where the car only gets you to the boat. Drive to Ċirkewwa and take a passenger ferry across; there are no cars on Comino.
Worth doing early or out of peak season — the lagoon in August at midday is not the photograph you've seen.
Common questions
- How far is anything in Malta?
- Rarely more than 45 minutes by car, and usually less. Time of day matters more than distance — the Msida and Marsa junctions slow badly at peak.
- Can I do Gozo as a day trip?
- Comfortably, if you leave early. Take the car across on the Ċirkewwa ferry so you can actually reach Ramla, Dwejra and the villages once you're there.
- What's the best day trip with children?
- The north-coast beaches, then Mdina for something different. Both are short drives and neither needs much planning beyond arriving before the car park fills.