Gozo, Malta

Il-Kastell, Victoria — the walled citadel at the heart of Gozo.

Laid-back Gozo is a highlight of any visit to Malta. Easily accessible from the main island by a short ferry crossing or day cruise, this smaller, greener sibling to Malta is a key part of Odyssey’s Malta itinerary, its beautiful scenery and fascinating history reached in barely twenty-five minutes by boat.

Gozo has been inhabited for more than 7,000 years, since farmers from nearby Sicily first crossed over. The island is home to many of the world’s oldest freestanding buildings, including the famous neolithic Ġgantija temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the megalithic Xagħra Stone Circle. Tradition holds that Gozo was featured in The Odyssey, as the island of Ogygia, where the sea nymph Calypso held Odysseus prisoner for seven years. The island has been ruled from Malta from antiquity, with the exception of a brief period of independence when the people of Gozo rose up against French forces during the Napoleonic Wars.

The capital of the island, Victoria, known locally as Rabat, is a small walled city with a long history. Settlement in the area was established by the Phoenicians, and was passed over to the Romans. The city centres around Il-Kastell (or the Cittadella), a small citadel which has long protected the city from invasion. Though the site was settled in the Bronze Age, the current walls were built between the 15th century and 1622. Following a terrible raid on Gozo by the Ottoman Empire, in which most of the island’s population — between 5,000 and 6,000 people — was put into slavery, it became tradition for each of the island’s families to sleep in Il-Kastell at night until the 17th century.

Wied il-Għasri, a narrow inlet on Gozo’s north coast, with its tiny beach at the foot of the gorge.

Hillier and greener than the main island, Gozo is home to the archipelago’s most beautiful scenery. Though the Azure Window of Dwejra Bay collapsed in 2017, the Inland Sea — a lagoon accessible through a tiny tunnel in the cliff face, just big enough for a fishing boat to get through — is still wildly picturesque. A seaside village has long sat by the lagoon, supported by the fishing trade that heads through the tunnel. For more stunning views, head to the Ta’ Ċenċ Sea Cliffs, which overlook the Mediterranean.

Gozo is also home to many of Malta’s best beaches. Get away from it all at San Blas Bay, a tiny bay of reddish sand, surrounded by steep, terraced fields. Beautiful Ramla Bay is home to a sandy beach, overlooked by the remains of a Roman villa. In calm weather, head to Wied il-Għasri, a tiny beach at the bottom of a steep staircase, for snorkelling and swimming. Options for adventurous travellers include scuba diving and exploring the island on a quad bike.

Sleepy Gozo is the kind of place where traditions continue as they have for centuries past. Walk or drive past Xwejni Bay, where a wild landscape has been shaped by nature into salt pans. One local family continues to work the pans, as it has for generations, and in summer you can buy salt direct from the pans at a small stall. To understand the islands’ staunch Catholic traditions, head to the Basilica of Ta’ Pinu, an atmospheric church set alone on the top of a hill. The Basilica is Malta’s shrine to the Virgin Mary, and an important site of pilgrimage.

Mġarr harbour, where the ferry from Malta arrives, has long been home to Gozo’s fishing boats.

Though most make their tour of Gozo on a day trip taking the ferry from Malta, it is also possible to find accommodation on the island, at a small hotel or a seaside resort. The small island is easy to explore by car or bike, and hop-on hop-off tours also deposit passengers around the island. On both of Odyssey’s Mediterranean Islands small group tours, Day 5 is spent entirely on Gozo, following a full day in Valletta on Day 3 and the walled city of Mdina on Day 4. The group takes the morning ferry across, visits the citadel at Victoria and the coastal village of Xlendi, takes a boat ride at Dwejra out to Fungus Rock, and stops at the Ta’ Pinu basilica before a tour of the Ġgantija Temples in Xagħra, returning to Malta in the evening. Readers wanting the fuller five-day route across both islands may find it useful to read our Malta itinerary for mature travellers.

Gozo’s slower pace and older stones make a natural counterpoint to Valletta’s fortress grandeur, and together the two islands give a fuller picture of Malta’s long, layered history than either could alone. Seeing Gozo as part of a longer Mediterranean journey, alongside Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, sets it in the context of the wider islands that once held the keys to this sea. Our complete Mediterranean Islands itinerary guide traces that full 25-day route from Malta through to Corsica.

For all the articles Odyssey Traveller has published for mature travellers, click through on this link.