We had made an elaborate plan for this day. The day arrived warm and sunny but we decided that we were on holiday and rushing around wasn’t justified! So we dropped Blue Lagoon off our list and decided to go to Gozo directly.

The country of Malta is made up of three major islands – Malta, Gozo and Comino. Malta is the largest island and has its capital Valletta. Gozo is an island to the north of Malta, closer to Italy (Sicily is just 50 miles away). Between these two islands is Comino, mostly uninhabited.

Other than these there are several rocks that can pass off for islands.

There are high speed passenger services from Valletta to Mgarr, the port on Gozo. That would mean taking the bus around on Gozo or opt for an organised tour both of which would not be convenient. Hence we opted to take our rental car to Gozo on the Gozo channel ferry.

Gozo Channel Ferry

The Gozo ferry operates from the port called Cirkewwa that’s located in the northern tip of the Malta Island. It takes over a 100 vehicles and several 100 passengers. The ship is massive and has bars and restaurants on it with seats both inside and the outside. Our familiarity with the ferries in Scotland (CalMac) made understanding the system a breeze. 

The road from San Gwann to Cirkewwa took us through the popular resort towns of Malta – St. Paul’s Bay and Mellieha with its beautiful beaches, deep blue waters and tourists walking along the streets. We reached Cirkewwa in about 45 minutes and queued up for boarding. The boarding was neatly organised though we felt the directions to the vehicle boarding point could have been clearer. 

They operate between 2-3 ferries at one time and there’s more ferries available for scheduling during peak hours. The wait time is roughly 20 minutes for boarding. The access gates close well before the specified departure times and the times aren’t adhered to strictly. They can only be used as a guide. Their website provides information on the vehicles waiting to board and also has several webcams for us to understand the actual wait times. There is no payment necessary in the onward journey. Payment is collected at the Gozo end on return.

We drove on to the ferry, parked our car and walked up the steps to the deck. It was a gorgeous day and the sea was a deep blue and turquoise in the shallow spots. The wind was heavy though as the ferry made its way over the channel. I got a glimpse of the famed blue lagoon as we passed Comino and it was indeed, a beautiful blue!

Mgarr

As we arrived at Mgarr we saw the other ferry leaving the harbour heading towards Malta. There were parked yachts in the harboured as the high ferry navigated the sea wall and the parked boats to dock at the port. The de-boarding was equally uneventful. 

The town of Mgarr is located up a hill and it was a sight to see the buildings and the steeple of its church rise from amongst the buildings. As with Malta the buildings were all built of Yellow limestone and were uniform in appearance.

Rotunda St John Baptist Church

Our first stop was at this huge church in the small town of Ix-Xewkija. The town was void of tourists and it was quiet when we arrived to park in front of the church. 

It was a beautiful square with a fountain and typical Maltese architecture all around. It was so quiet and appeared like we were the only tourists. We walked up the steps into the church, which was free to visit.

The church was built in 1678 and has the third largest unsupported dome in the world. This church is visible from all over Gozo and also from the sea when arriving into Mgarr. The church was maintained very well and there was a small museum at the back. For €3 one can go up to the dome to see the views over Gozo and out to Malta as well. 

Victoria – Rabat

Our next stop was the main town in the island. It was earlier known as Rabat, rechristened by the British as Victoria. This is a charming bustling town in the middle of Gozo with a citadel, a lovely square with a beautiful church and several top quality restaurants. 

We arrived here a little past 12 noon, parked the car in the large parking lot near the bus station and made our way to the St. George’s square and Basilica. The streets were narrow and uphill and quite a task for vehicles to make their way up. The city was pretty crowded and we realised it was a good decision to bring the car rather than depending on the bus.

The square was busy with lot of restaurants that were teeming with tourists having lunch. This area had a lot more Italian feel to it than the island of Malta.

We then made our way down to Casa Vostra for lunch. The Italian owned restaurant had very good reviews and a lot of vegetarian options. Hence we booked a table in advance. We were glad we did because we arrived to a packed, small restaurant! The food was exquisite and the flavours new! The pizza, soup and the pasta were all flavoured well and we thoroughly enjoyed the food.

We then made our way up the hill to the citadel. We initially thought of taking the car to park up there but we weren’t sure of the availability of parking space looking at how crowded the city was.

The Citadella

The Citadel is said to have been inhabited since the Bronze Age. During the medieval period this settlement was converted into a castle. In the 16th century after the citadel was attacked and ransacked by invading Ottomans, they built a new defence wall which remains intact to this date. 

Inside the citadel is a lovely church, narrow streets and some beautiful buildings from the medieval period. The views from the ramparts are extensive and you can see all over the island and to Malta. 

It was quiet and not as crowded as the rest of Victoria was and there were times when we had the whole area to ourselves. There was also a lovely shop selling souvenirs made from ceramic with reasonable prices, just beside the church. There is a lot of history but we were not able to visit the entire citadel as we had limited time.

Dwejra Bay

The drive to Dwejra Bay from Victoria was through some pretty, quiet villages with a huge church in its centre. Dwejra Bay has huge parking lots looking out to the sea and the huge limestone cliffs. This is the site of the famed Azure Window which sadly collapsed in a storm in 2017. The bay was still beautiful with its limestone formations and other other attractions, like the underground sea, that we did not have time to check out.

The coastal scenery and the waves lashing against the limestone cliffs carving history were peaceful and a good end to our time in Gozo.

The drive back to Mgarr harbour was uneventful as we took the same road back through Victoria. However there was a huge vehicle queue to board the ferry. When we joined the queue it was over a mile long and it stretched further as we were waiting to board. It took us an hour and half to board the ferry and be on our way to Malta. Apparently a lot of Maltese visit Gozo over weekends and return on Sunday evenings. 

Dinner was delicious pizza at the restaurant in the resort and we wrapped up our packing for the check-out the day after.