Dwejra Bay
This deep round bay on Gozo's west coast is a swim off rock-cut steps when the sea is calm, beneath the stretch of cliff that held the Azure Window.
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You can walk the Cittadella's ramparts in Victoria, Gozo's capital, after dinner, and in the morning catch a bus from the terminal below to any corner of the island.
Town guide, Malta. Meridian Dispatch.
Ninety seconds on Victoria
July and mid August for the feasts. St George's festa always ends on the third Sunday of July, and Santa Marija falls on 15 August. The Aurora and the Astra each stage an opera in October.
Take the Gozo Channel car ferry from Ċirkewwa to Mġarr, then route 301 inland. Ferries sail daily, up to every 30 minutes by day, on a timetable that changes with the season. Route 301 leaves the Vapur harbour stop from morning until late evening, and the day's table is online at Malta Public Transport.
Route 311 runs to Dwejra, 330 to Xlendi, 310 to Marsalforn, 312 to Għarb, 302 to Ramla and 301 to Mġarr harbour. N301 is the Gozo night route starting at Victoria. Timetables are on the Malta Public Transport route pages.
The Visitors' Centre and Heritage Malta's sites inside the walls, among them the Old Prison and the Gran Castello Historic House. The Gozo Archaeology Museum closed on 13 April 2026, and the combined ticket still covers the other sites in the Cittadella. Walking the walled town itself needs no ticket.
09:00 to 17:00 on open days, with last admission at 16:30. It closes on Mondays, on Wednesdays in January and February, and on 1 January, Good Friday and 24, 25 and 31 December.
The trip is a bus and a boat. Airport route TD4 leaves roughly twice an hour, with the earliest bus near 05:20 and the final one near 00:50. It connects to the Valletta fast ferry to Mġarr, which carries walk-on passengers only and wants check-in a quarter of an hour or more ahead. For the car ferry, airport route TD1 goes to Ċirkewwa.
Yes, if you want buses to every corner of Gozo from your door. For the sea outside your room, pick Xlendi or Marsalforn.
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Victoria is Gozo's capital, in the middle of the island, with the walled Cittadella on the hill above it. The island's main bus terminal is here, so Dwejra and the churches in the fields are a short ride away.
One hotel stands in Victoria itself, The Duke on Republic Street, facing the Cittadella. The Kempinski is out west at San Lawrenz, near Dwejra, a bus or taxi ride away.
48 min from It-Tokk
5 min from It-Tokk
Grouped by what each place is best for, from the walled town on the hill to the cliffs at Dwejra.
The Cittadella, It-Tokk and St George's are a few minutes' walk apart in town. Dwejra, Ta' Pinu and the lighthouse are a bus ride out from the terminal.
This deep round bay on Gozo's west coast is a swim off rock-cut steps when the sea is calm, beneath the stretch of cliff that held the Azure Window.
Read the guide
Boats leave a calm lagoon on Gozo's west coast, pass through a natural tunnel in the rock and come out beneath tall cliffs on the open Mediterranean.
Read the guide
On a hilltop visible from all over Gozo, this walled town is the island's major landmark. You take in the views from its ramparts, then step inside a cathedral whose dome is only painted on its flat ceiling.
Read the guide
From almost anywhere on Gozo you can see this dome, which the villagers of Xewkija raised themselves over several decades. Inside, a lift takes you up into it.
Read the guide
On Gozo, you walk behind the altar of the most famous pilgrimage church in the Maltese islands to reach the small chapel it was built around, then on into corridors lined with thanks offerings.
Read the guide
Look up in Gozo's cathedral and you see a dome that was never built, painted in perspective on the flat ceiling. A small museum behind the church holds its treasures.
Read the guide
You look straight down a round shaft in the rock of Gozo's west coast, where the water turns electric blue and an underwater arch opens to the sea, right next to where the Azure Window stood.
Read the guideWalking these joined-up old houses in the Cittadella, you see how a Gozitan household lived and worked, room by room.
Read the guideThe silver of Gozo's feast-day altar and the old carriage of its bishops are on show at close range in the cathedral's own museum, round the back of the church.
Read the guideThe walls of Gozo's oldest surviving prison still carry the marks its inmates scratched into the stone over centuries: sailing ships, names, crosses, dates and games. Step inside a cell to see the space one prisoner was kept in.
Read the guideThis is where you learn about Gozo's protected habitats and breeding seabirds, through an audio-visual show upstairs, then sit in a back garden of native plants that looks straight at Gozo Cathedral.
Read the guideSteep and short, the climb to the bastions on the hilltop starts from this main square in Gozo's capital, and so does the loop into the old town. Both walks bring you back down here afterwards to sit at a table.
Read the guideGozo's Golden Basilica stands in Victoria's oldest quarter, its marble walls overlaid with gilding and paintings. You come to see the wooden statue of St George, the island's patron saint.
Read the guideSeveral levels beside St George's Basilica hold the parish's treasures and changing exhibitions, and you can end the visit with a drink above the town.
Read the guideAfter a short climb from the Dwejra car park, you can stand on the roof of this squat Knights' watchtower, high above Fungus Rock, the rock it was built to guard.
Read the guideFive kilometres from Victoria, you look down from the clifftop at the end of a valley north of Għarb onto Gozo’s most prominent remaining sea arch, a block of limestone suspended over clear water.
Read the guideClimb Ġurdan Hill for one of Gozo's best all-round views, taken from the open summit around a lighthouse built under British rule.
Read the guideTwo water reservoirs from the 1870s, set in the ditch of the fortress above, now serve as its introduction. One hall has touch screens and panels on the military, church and civil past.
Red interiors and two tiers of boxes give this theatre of the La Stella band society its grand air, with room for more than a thousand.
Shade is scarce in Victoria, and this public garden on Republic Street supplies it, with palm-lined paths, benches and fountains.
Springs and old aqueducts keep this valley on the edge of Kerċem green, and running water follows the country walk through it. The Knights hunted here, and the land is still farmed.
An elegant baroque front, compared with Borromini's Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona, looks onto Għarb's village square. Building ran from 1699 to 1729, once the village had outgrown its first parish church.
A country road runs out of Għarb to this lone chapel near the cliff called Ras San Mitri.
A squat limestone block in Dwejra Bay, Fungus Rock is a nature reserve where landing is forbidden. The Knights guarded it for a plant on its flat top that was thought to stop bleeding.
Former British military quarters near Għarb now house workshops where potters, glass blowers, lace makers and filigree workers can be watched at the bench.
Marble Stations of the Cross line the rough track up this hill, which starts beside the car park opposite Ta' Pinu. The climb is steep, worn in places and takes around 20 minutes.
The walled town on the hill is open at all hours and needs no ticket to walk. The cathedral, the museums and the Old Prison sit in its lanes.
On a hilltop visible from all over Gozo, this walled town is the island's major landmark. You take in the views from its ramparts, then step inside a cathedral whose dome is only painted on its flat ceiling.
Read the guideLook up in Gozo's cathedral and you see a dome that was never built, painted in perspective on the flat ceiling. A small museum behind the church holds its treasures.
Read the guideWalking these joined-up old houses in the Cittadella, you see how a Gozitan household lived and worked, room by room.
Read the guideThe silver of Gozo's feast-day altar and the old carriage of its bishops are on show at close range in the cathedral's own museum, round the back of the church.
Read the guideThe walls of Gozo's oldest surviving prison still carry the marks its inmates scratched into the stone over centuries: sailing ships, names, crosses, dates and games. Step inside a cell to see the space one prisoner was kept in.
Read the guideThis is where you learn about Gozo's protected habitats and breeding seabirds, through an audio-visual show upstairs, then sit in a back garden of native plants that looks straight at Gozo Cathedral.
Read the guideTwo water reservoirs from the 1870s, set in the ditch of the fortress above, now serve as its introduction. One hall has touch screens and panels on the military, church and civil past.
It-Tokk is the square at the foot of the Cittadella, and St George's Basilica stands in the old quarter of lanes behind it.
Steep and short, the climb to the bastions on the hilltop starts from this main square in Gozo's capital, and so does the loop into the old town. Both walks bring you back down here afterwards to sit at a table.
Read the guideGozo's Golden Basilica stands in Victoria's oldest quarter, its marble walls overlaid with gilding and paintings. You come to see the wooden statue of St George, the island's patron saint.
Read the guideSeveral levels beside St George's Basilica hold the parish's treasures and changing exhibitions, and you can end the visit with a drink above the town.
Read the guideRed interiors and two tiers of boxes give this theatre of the La Stella band society its grand air, with room for more than a thousand.
Shade is scarce in Victoria, and this public garden on Republic Street supplies it, with palm-lined paths, benches and fountains.
Springs and old aqueducts keep this valley on the edge of Kerċem green, and running water follows the country walk through it. The Knights hunted here, and the land is still farmed.
Two basilicas in town, the pilgrimage church of Ta' Pinu in the fields to the west, and the Rotunda's dome on the road from the ferry.
From almost anywhere on Gozo you can see this dome, which the villagers of Xewkija raised themselves over several decades. Inside, a lift takes you up into it.
Read the guideOn Gozo, you walk behind the altar of the most famous pilgrimage church in the Maltese islands to reach the small chapel it was built around, then on into corridors lined with thanks offerings.
Read the guideLook up in Gozo's cathedral and you see a dome that was never built, painted in perspective on the flat ceiling. A small museum behind the church holds its treasures.
Read the guideGozo's Golden Basilica stands in Victoria's oldest quarter, its marble walls overlaid with gilding and paintings. You come to see the wooden statue of St George, the island's patron saint.
Read the guideAn elegant baroque front, compared with Borromini's Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona, looks onto Għarb's village square. Building ran from 1699 to 1729, once the village had outgrown its first parish church.
A country road runs out of Għarb to this lone chapel near the cliff called Ras San Mitri.
The Inland Sea, the Blue Hole and Fungus Rock lie a short walk apart on the west coast. Route 311 runs there from the bus terminal.
This deep round bay on Gozo's west coast is a swim off rock-cut steps when the sea is calm, beneath the stretch of cliff that held the Azure Window.
Read the guideBoats leave a calm lagoon on Gozo's west coast, pass through a natural tunnel in the rock and come out beneath tall cliffs on the open Mediterranean.
Read the guideYou look straight down a round shaft in the rock of Gozo's west coast, where the water turns electric blue and an underwater arch opens to the sea, right next to where the Azure Window stood.
Read the guideAfter a short climb from the Dwejra car park, you can stand on the roof of this squat Knights' watchtower, high above Fungus Rock, the rock it was built to guard.
Read the guideFive kilometres from Victoria, you look down from the clifftop at the end of a valley north of Għarb onto Gozo’s most prominent remaining sea arch, a block of limestone suspended over clear water.
Read the guideA squat limestone block in Dwejra Bay, Fungus Rock is a nature reserve where landing is forbidden. The Knights guarded it for a plant on its flat top that was thought to stop bleeding.
Former British military quarters near Għarb now house workshops where potters, glass blowers, lace makers and filigree workers can be watched at the bench.
The hills north-west of town carry a lighthouse with a view over the whole island, and a path of marble Stations of the Cross opposite Ta' Pinu.
Five kilometres from Victoria, you look down from the clifftop at the end of a valley north of Għarb onto Gozo’s most prominent remaining sea arch, a block of limestone suspended over clear water.
Read the guideClimb Ġurdan Hill for one of Gozo's best all-round views, taken from the open summit around a lighthouse built under British rule.
Read the guideSprings and old aqueducts keep this valley on the edge of Kerċem green, and running water follows the country walk through it. The Knights hunted here, and the land is still farmed.
A country road runs out of Għarb to this lone chapel near the cliff called Ras San Mitri.
Marble Stations of the Cross line the rough track up this hill, which starts beside the car park opposite Ta' Pinu. The climb is steep, worn in places and takes around 20 minutes.
Start in It-Tokk, the square at the centre of town, and turn right up It-Telgħa tal-Belt. The gate of the Cittadella is about five minutes uphill. Begin at the Visitors' Centre by the entrance, in two restored water reservoirs from the 1870s, where a short film covers the site; it closes on Mondays.
Inside the walls, buy the ticket for the Cathedral of the Assumption at the Cathedral Gift Shop. Stop just inside the door and look up: the dome above you was never built. The cathedral closes to visitors on Sundays.
In summer, see the ticketed sites first and keep the ramparts for later in the day. Then walk down to St George's Basilica in the old quarter, where the wooden statue of St George was carved by Pawlu Azzopardi in 1838. Eat on St George's Square, facing the church.
In the afternoon, take route 311 from the bus terminal to Dwejra. At the Inland Sea, boats leave the lagoon through a tunnel in the cliff to the open sea, a ride of about 15 minutes. The Blue Hole is a few minutes' walk away, and Fungus Rock stands in the mouth of Dwejra Bay.
Keep a second day for the hills. Ta' Pinu stands in open country between Għarb and Għasri, and the path opposite its main entrance climbs Ta' Għammar Hill past marble Stations of the Cross. Route 308 runs from Victoria to Għasri, where a moderately steep walk leads up to Giordan Lighthouse and a view over the whole island.
Malta's one airport is at Luqa, on the main island, and Gozo is a ferry crossing beyond it. Take TD4 to the fast ferry in Valletta, or TD1 to the car ferry at Ċirkewwa, then route 301 from Mġarr.
Airport route TD4 runs about every 30 minutes to the Gozo fast ferry in Valletta's Grand Harbour, the first bus from the airport around 05:20 and the last around 00:50. The boat carries foot passengers only to Mġarr, and asks you to check in 15 to 20 minutes before it sails.
Route TD1 runs hourly from the airport to Ċirkewwa; allow about an hour by bus or taxi. The crossing to Mġarr takes about 25 minutes, boats sail as often as every 30 minutes in the daytime, and there are no reservations.
From the harbour stop, Vapur, route 301 runs to the bus terminal in Victoria from early morning to late evening. The day's timetable is on the Malta Public Transport route page.
On the car ferry, tickets are validated only when you board at Mġarr to leave Gozo, not at Ċirkewwa.
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On high ground in north Gozo, Xagħra holds the Ġgantija temples, two Neolithic stone structures, and a village square with cafes.
Cliffs close around a narrow inlet on Gozo's south-west coast, with a small resort fitted between them.
The official pages this guide was checked against.
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