Gozo is one of those places that everyone visiting Malta gets told about and about half of them actually go to. The ones who don’t tend to say they ran out of time, which is fair enough, but Gozo is a 25-minute ferry ride from the north of Malta and the return crossing is free, so the barrier is lower than it sounds. If you’re spending a week in Malta and you skip Gozo, you’ve made a mistake. There, I said it.
The question most people actually have isn’t whether to go, it’s how. The options are more varied than they used to be, the answer depends on where you’re staying and what you want to do, and some of the most commonly given advice (rent a car, take the bus) is worse than it sounds in practice. Here’s what I’d actually recommend in 2026.
Getting to Gozo: which ferry is right for you
There are now three ways to get to Gozo by sea from Malta, which is more than there used to be.
The Ċirkewwa ferry is the classic option and still the most reliable. It’s operated by Gozo Channel, runs up to 74 times a day, takes about 25 minutes and costs €4.65 for foot passengers. The slightly confusing thing is that you don’t pay on the way there, payment happens on the return journey from Gozo, you just walk on. No ticket needed for the outbound crossing, no booking required, turn up and get on. The downside is that Ċirkewwa is at the very north of Malta, about 25km from Valletta, and getting there takes time. Bus 222 from Sliema takes about 1 hour 20 minutes. A taxi from central Malta runs around €30. If you’re driving a hire car, it’s about 45 minutes from Valletta depending on traffic, and you can take the car on the ferry for a fee.
The fast ferry from Valletta (run by Gozo Highspeed) is better if you’re staying in or near the capital. It departs from Lascaris Wharf in the Grand Harbour roughly once an hour, takes 45 minutes and costs from around €6-7.50. Foot passengers only, no cars. The advantage is obvious if you’re in Valletta: you walk down to the harbour and get on a boat rather than spending an hour on a bus. The disadvantage is that it’s more likely to be cancelled in rough weather than the main ferry, so in winter or if there’s any wind it’s worth having a backup plan.
From May 2026, fast ferries also run from Sliema and Buġibba to Gozo, taking around 30 minutes and costing between €6.50 and €8.50. This is new and genuinely useful for anyone staying in the central coastal strip who doesn’t want to either drive to Ċirkewwa or go all the way into Valletta first.
Getting around Gozo once you’re there
This is where a lot of day trip plans fall apart, and nobody tells you in advance.
Gozo has buses. They work, technically. But every route runs through Victoria in the middle of the island, which means getting from one coastal spot to another involves going back to the centre each time, and the frequency on some routes is low enough that missing a connection means waiting a long time. I’ve heard enough stories of people stranded for an hour at a bus stop that I stopped recommending buses for day trips. If you’re staying in Gozo for several days and you’re happy to go slowly, buses are fine. For a single day where you want to see more than one or two things, they’re genuinely not.
Hiring a car gets you to paved roads and most of the main sites, but Gozo’s best coastal scenery involves tracks and paths that a standard hire car either can’t manage or that you’d be nervous about taking it down. The Wied il-Mielaħ arch, some of the cliff paths near Ta’ Ċenċ, the track to Wied il-Għasri: these are the kinds of places you miss if you’re sticking to tarmac.
The case for a guided Gozo tuk-tuk tour
I’ll be honest: I was sceptical about tuk-tuk tours before I actually saw one in operation. They’re the brightly coloured three-wheeled vehicles that carry up to six passengers and a driver-guide, and they look like something you’d find at a beach resort doing five-minute loops. They are not that.
A Gozo tuk-tuk tour typically runs about seven hours on the island and covers more of it than most people manage independently. The driver is a guide who actually knows the island, gives commentary at each stop in multiple languages (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Arabic depending on the operator), and takes you through back roads and to spots that buses and standard hire cars don’t reach. The tuk-tuk’s small size means it can go places bigger vehicles can’t, which sounds like a sales pitch but is genuinely true in Gozo where a lot of the best terrain is on narrow tracks.
The standard tour typically takes in the Church of St John the Baptist in Xewkija (the dome is the third largest unsupported dome in the world, which is a fact that takes a moment to land), the Sanap Cliffs near Munxar, Xlendi Bay, the Knights’ Wash Houses at Fontana, Dwejra Bay with the Inland Sea and Fungus Rock, Wied il-Mielaħ arch, Wied il-Għasri valley, the Xwejni salt pans, Marsalforn Bay and Tal-Mixta Cave above Ramla Bay. Ġgantija Temples in Xagħra is an optional add-on at extra cost (worth it, though, the south temple dates to 3600 BC and it’s older than the pyramids).
Lunch is included, a traditional Gozitan spread with local bread, cheeses and seasonal dishes. On the return to Malta the boat passes the Comino sea caves and the Blue Lagoon, with a swim stop in summer.
Prices vary by operator but a full-day tuk-tuk tour from Malta typically runs around €80-110 per person, including transport from your accommodation in Malta, the private boat crossing to and from Gozo, the guide, lunch and the Comino cruise. Given that you’d spend that on ferry + hire car + lunch anyway, and get considerably less of the island, the value case is reasonable.
Book in advance if you’re going between April and October. The tours sell out. I say this as someone who has watched people try to book on the day in summer and fail.
What about just doing it independently
Completely valid, especially if you’re staying in Gozo for more than a day. Hire a car, get the ferry from Ċirkewwa, drive around. Gozo is small enough that you can cover a lot in a day with your own transport. The main sites, Ġgantija, the Citadella in Victoria, Dwejra Bay, Ramla Bay, the Xwejni salt pans, are all reachable by car. You just won’t get to the off-road spots and you’ll need to find your own lunch, which in Gozo is not a hardship, the island has good restaurants and the local ftira (a Gozitan flatbread typically loaded with local cheese, capers and fish) is one of the better things you can eat anywhere in Malta.
If you want to do it independently and have a bit more adventure, renting a quad bike directly in Gozo gives you access to the rougher terrain, at the cost of sorting your own route and logistics. That works well if you know the island reasonably well or are happy to navigate from a map.
A few other things worth knowing
The Discover Gozo Combo Ticket (€13 adults, €7 children) covers entry to most of the main heritage sites in Gozo including the Ġgantija Archaeological Park, the Citadella museums and several others. If you’re planning to go into more than one or two sites independently it’s worth getting rather than paying per site.
In summer, Gozo fills up. Not to the same degree as Malta’s most popular spots, but the ferry queues get long if you’re taking a car, Ramla Bay gets crowded by midday and parking in Xlendi can be frustrating. Going in May, June, September or October is significantly more pleasant than July or August, and the weather is still excellent.
The return from Gozo to Malta on the Ċirkewwa ferry is free, which always feels like a small bonus at the end of the day. That one weird thing about the Gozo ferry: you pay nothing on the way there and everything on the way back, confuses almost everyone the first time.
