Sort this before you fly
Most of what goes wrong on a Malta trip goes wrong in the first six hours. Twenty minutes of admin, in the right order, prevents nearly all of it.
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Most of what goes wrong on a Malta trip goes wrong in the first six hours: no data at the airport, no cash for the kiosk, a taxi fare nobody agreed on, and the discovery that the one thing you actually wanted to see has been fully booked for three weeks. None of that is difficult to prevent. It is about twenty minutes of admin, done in the right order, before you fly.
1. Documents and entry
Malta is in the European Union and in the Schengen area, and uses the euro. If you hold an EU or EEA passport or identity card, there is nothing to do. If you do not, you are subject to the standard Schengen rules for your nationality, and the EU has been phasing in new border systems — biometric registration at entry, and a pre-travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors. The timetable for these has shifted repeatedly, so the only sensible advice is to check the European Union’s own travel pages a few weeks before you fly rather than trusting any blog, this one included, on the current state of it.
Driving licences: EU and UK licences are used directly. Many non-EU licences are accepted alongside an International Driving Permit, and rental companies set their own rules on top of the law — so if you plan to rent a car, read the terms of the specific rate rather than assuming.
2. Data, and why it matters here
If you are travelling from another EU country, your plan roams in Malta at domestic rates and you can stop reading this section. Everyone else has a choice to make before departure, because you will want maps from the moment you land: bus stops are announced and signed in Maltese, place names have several spellings, and the route you need is rarely the obvious one.
An eSIM bought in advance is the cleanest solution — it installs over your home wi-fi, activates when you land, and costs a fraction of non-EU roaming charges. Check first that your phone supports eSIM and is not carrier-locked. The alternative is a local prepaid SIM at the airport, which works fine and takes longer.
A Malta eSIM before you fly
Install it the night before, land with working data, and skip the airport shop. For a week of maps, messaging and the odd upload, a small data package is enough; you are not going to stream much on a trip like this.
Get a Malta eSIM Affiliate link. If you are coming from within the EU, ignore this — your own plan already works.3. Money
Malta uses the euro and cards are accepted essentially everywhere that has a till. Cash still matters in three places: the kiosks on Comino, some village bars and pastizzerias, and the Sunday market at Marsaxlokk. Carry a modest amount and top up from a bank ATM rather than the standalone machines in tourist areas, which tend to offer poor conversion.
The one thing worth doing in advance if you are coming from outside the eurozone is sorting how you will pay without losing a percentage on every transaction. A travel card or multi-currency account that converts at the interbank rate saves a surprising amount over a week — and always, always decline the machine’s offer to charge you in your home currency.
Do not pay the conversion spread twice
A multi-currency account or travel card gets you a fair rate on every payment and cash withdrawal instead of your bank’s markup plus the ATM’s. Set it up before you leave; verification can take a day or two.
Compare travel money options Affiliate link. If you already bank in euro, you do not need this.4. Health cover and insurance
Malta’s public healthcare is good, and EU citizens with a European Health Insurance Card — and UK visitors with a GHIC — are covered for state-provided medically necessary treatment on the same basis as residents. Bring the card; it is free and it is not travel insurance.
What the card does not cover is the list that actually ruins trips: cancellation, missed connections, a repatriation, stolen belongings, and anything involving a hired scooter or a boat. Malta is a water-sports destination, so read the policy’s activities list rather than the summary — diving in particular is excluded or surcharged on many standard policies, and Malta is one of Europe’s best dive destinations.
Travel insurance that covers the water
If you plan to dive, snorkel from a boat, hire a scooter or take a small charter to Comino, check those are named in the policy before you buy on price. Compare a couple of providers on cover for activities, medical limit and cancellation — the premium difference is usually small next to the difference in what is actually included.
Compare travel insurance Affiliate link. Whatever you buy, buy it when you book the trip — cancellation cover only works if it predates the reason you cancel.5. The things that genuinely sell out
- The Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum. A 5,000-year-old underground burial complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and admission is capped at a small number of visitors per day to protect the microclimate. Tickets routinely go weeks or months ahead through Heritage Malta. If it is on your list, book it before you book your flights, and build the trip around the slot you get.
- Automatic hire cars in summer. A minority of the fleet. See the car guide.
- Good restaurants in Valletta on a Friday or Saturday. Small dining rooms, and the island eats out a lot.
- Early Comino crossings and small-group charters. Covered in the Blue Lagoon guide.
6. What to pack that you would not think of
- Something on your feet for the sea. Most of Malta’s coast is rock, not sand, and the swimming is excellent from ladders and flat platforms. Water shoes change the trip.
- A UK three-pin adaptor. Malta uses Type G, not the European two-pin. This surprises visitors from mainland Europe every single week.
- Sun cover you can swim in, and a hat. Shade is scarce on the coast and the sun in July is not the sun you have at home.
- A light layer for the evenings, even in summer — the sea breeze on an exposed promenade is real — and proper rainwear between November and March, when it rains hard in short bursts.
- A refillable bottle. Tap water is safe and comes largely from desalination; many people find it tastes of it and buy bottled. Filling up at your accommodation and chilling it deals with most of the objection.
7. Two things about the Maltese week
Sunday. Marsaxlokk’s market is a Sunday morning institution and worth the trip, but plenty of shops elsewhere close and some petrol stations run reduced hours. Do not leave the practical errands for Sunday.
Feasts. Malta has an unusually full calendar of public holidays and, through the summer, a rolling programme of village festi — band marches, street decorations and serious fireworks, usually at night. If one falls in your week, go. Also be aware that they close roads and fill buses, so check before you plan a tight schedule around one.