Xerri's Grotto

Landmark

Landmark · Xagħra, Malta 36.0513°N 14.2614°E

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on Xerri's Grotto

Time needed

15 minutesAlong a 17 m guided path

Effort

7 m undergroundDown a staircase

Access

Xagħra villageTriq l-Għar ta' Xerri

Opening hours

What are the opening hours of Xerri's Grotto?

No owner website publishes the hours. Visitor listings place the opening in the daytime but disagree on the days and the start time, so confirm locally before setting out for Xagħra.

Entry fee

How much does it cost to visit Xerri's Grotto?

Entry is ticketed. The grotto is privately run by the family that lives above it, so the admission arrangement can change from year to year.

Mobility

Is Xerri's Grotto suitable for people with mobility problems or claustrophobia?

Visitors report just over 30 steps down to the cave, with the same stairs back up. Visitor guides warn it may not suit anyone with significant mobility problems, poor balance, difficulty on narrow stairs or unease in tight spaces.

Beneath the streets of Xagħra, a spiral staircase inside a family home leads you down to a lit chamber of stalactites and stalagmites.

What makes it special

Xerri's Grotto is a small cave beneath the Xerri family's house, known for its speleothems. These are mineral deposits that form as water dissolves limestone. Unlike Mixta Cave, there is no sea view here, and the interest is all below ground.

The guided path runs between the formations, which grow so slowly that a careless knock can break in seconds what took millennia to build.

Electric lights pick out the formations along the path, and the air below holds at about 19 °C.

Anthony Xerri found the cave in the 1920s while digging a well under the house. The staircase you go down is built into that original well shaft.

Visiting

Ringing the bell at the inner door of the house is how a visit starts, visitors report. A family member then leads you down the stairs and shows you round the cave in person.

At the bottom, the guided path crosses the lit chamber, and your host walks it with you, pointing out the formations on either side. Visitors report that photography is allowed in the cave.

Ninu's Cave is not far away in the same village, so if you are exploring Xagħra on foot, you can see both caves in one outing.

Tips

Keep your hands off the formations, however close they come to the path.

Visitors say a tour depends on someone in the family being free, so leave some slack in your plan. If nobody answers, carry on to another sight in the village and come back later.