4 day Malta itinerary | A relaxed guide for winter breaks

In winter, planning a trip to Malta makes far more sense as a city break than a beach holiday.

Compact and easy to explore, it’s an equally wonderful destination for a cultural off-season getaway – although don’t get me wrong, one day I will be back for sun, sea and sand!

This guide to 4 days in Malta is based on how we structured our relaxed trip: slow mornings, plenty of bakery stops and most importantly, no car. If you’re looking for a jam-packed tour of the highlights, I’ll also recommend where you can hit extra spots!

If you’re wondering how to spend 4 days in Malta without feeling rushed, this 4 day Malta itinerary is the perfect balance of history, coastal scenery and relaxed evenings.

FAQs | 4 days in Malta

Is 4 days in Malta enough?

However, if you’re visiting in the summer and want to factor in some extra beach or hiking time, you could easily spend a week in Malta.

For a first trip, particularly during the winter season (we visited in January!), 4 days in Malta is a great introduction. The island is small, easy to explore and if the weather is good, you can see a lot of the highlights in just a long weekend.

Where to stay in Malta?

We based ourselves in Valletta and it was absolutely the right choice for a winter or shoulder season break.

After reading lots of recommendations to stay in Sliema or St Julian’s, I was nervous it was a mistake. However, it shows that sometimes you have to go with your gut: Valletta is easy to get around, boasts plenty of food & drink options and, best of all, it’s absolutely beautiful.

There are plenty of lovely boutique hotels but for our chilled out trip, we chose 136 Old Bakery, a stunning and quiet apartment close to all the major attractions. I’d highly recommend it but if you want to know more, come back soon for my full review.

Do you need a car for this 4 day Malta itinerary?

No, we navigated our entire trip without a car.

A car would absolutely give you more freedom, especially if you’re keen to get off the beaten track, but a combination of the bus network and Bolts works perfectly for a short trip.

A big reason for us not hiring a car was basing ourselves in Valetta. With narrow hilly streets and space at a premium, parking looked difficult even in the off-season! However, the capital is highly walkable and the excellent ferry/bus connections work well from here.

If you’re visiting in warmer weather and staying outside Valetta near the beaches, a car may be more useful then. I’ll usually use a comparison site like Kayak, Booking.com or Expedia to find the best car hire deal.

What is the best time of year to visit Malta?

I always love a shoulder season trip so March – May and September – November area brilliant to enjoy warm weather without the summer crowds.

Even in January, the weather is mild but we did get a fair bit of rain and of course, it’s not great for beaches. As we learned, there’s also a chance some of the more outdoorsy activities – think Blue Grotto boat trips and even ferries to Gozo – may be cancelled during the winter weather.

However if you treat a winter long weekend in Malta as a city break, it works perfectly all year round! It’s a nice relaxed location to explore without feeling too hectic and the cooler temperatures are ideal for sightseeing.

Day 1: Arrive & explore Valletta

We had a super early start so after our four hour flight from Manchester, we deliberately kept the first afternoon relaxed. You can add in more attractions than what I’ve covered here if you’re feeling more energetic!

If you’ve arrived in time for lunch, head to a local cafe or bakery to refuel after your journey. We hadn’t done any research and chose Manouche Craft Bakery & Bistro on a whim. It wasn’t our favourite meal of the trip – although their breakfasts look great! – but got us off to a solid start.

Then, after hotel check-in, it’s a great time to get your bearings.

Valletta is super walkable (but hilly – don’t say I didn’t warn you) so take a stroll through the winding streets, scope out some more dining spots for the rest of your trip and enjoy the harbour views from the Upper Barrakka Gardens.

If you’re nearby at 12:00 or 16:00 daily, you’ll hear the famous canon fire but honestly – it’s not worth going out of your way for especially!

Looking for somewhere to pop in quickly? Try Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel – the church famous for its huge dome – before heading out for a sweet treat.

Gelateria Cremilla is the best spot in the city, with authentic gelato in lidded metal tins and one of the best pistachios we’ve tried in a while!

When it’s time for dinner, it’s possible to dine outside even in January – a novelty I just love as a suffering UK resident. Malta’s restaurants are well-equipped with heaters, blankets and rain shelters so come wearing a jumper or coat to enjoy the beautiful Valletta at night.

We went to Grano on a whim: it’s actually famous for its daytime sandwiches, but the evening pasta spot around the corner is pretty good too!

Day 2: Valletta & The Three Cities

Ready for your first full day in Malta? You’ll be racking up the step count today so it’s vital to fuel up with a delicious breakfast. We couldn’t resist Fuwamai‘s souffle pancakes and I would highly recommend for a non-traditional but exceptionally wonderful start to the day.

Most of this day will be spent exploring The Three Cities (or Cottonera), a trio of fortified towns set across the Grand Harbour from Valletta. The fast ferry leaves every 30 minutes in winter, costs €3 (or €4.50 return) and takes just 10 minutes to cross to Vittoriosa, the ‘city’ we spent the most time in and a great superyacht spotting location!

Aside from indulging my Below Deck inner fangirl, there are a couple of great attractions in Vittoriosa. You can buy an adult combo ticket for Fort St Angelo + Inquisitor’s Palace (just 10 – 15 minutes walk from each other) for €13.00 – a saving of €3 vs buying separately.

We really enjoyed our visits to both for getting an insight into the religious history of Malta and, of course, great views of Valletta from Fort St Angelo! For a quick lunch in between, try the highly rated BarRocco or get a grab n go pastry from Champ Pastizzeria, a spot favoured by locals in one of Vittoriosa’s lovely squares. The bolognese arancini was delicious!

Tip: don’t forget to look up at the entrance to the Inquisitors Palace to see the beautiful fresco.

Now, depending on your pace, you can go in either direction to either Senglea or Cospicua. We chose Senglea to check out the Basilica of the Nativity of Mary and the Gardjola Gardens.

It’s super quiet here – and Vittoriosa isn’t exactly busy! – so you don’t need long, but it’s another charming part of the city great for taking some snaps of the gorgeous Maltese architecture.

Once your feet are aching, catch the ferry back to Valletta and get ready for a delicious meal. Lots of the cuisine around is Italian but we were in the mood for tapas and stumbled across a total gem.

After my 3 days in Malaga last year, I was thrilled to see that Iber & Co is run by a Spanish family from Malaga and it really lived up to all the excellent food we ate there. Side note – if you are interested, I wrote a whole food guide on the best places to eat in Malaga. But back to Malta, the recommendations at Iber & Co were top tier and we particularly enjoyed the prawns Pil-Pil, Spanish olives and pork cheek in red wine.

By now, you’ll be full of tinto de verano, tapas and be ready to hit the sack. Don’t worry – this 4 day Malta itinerary slows down a little tomorrow!

Day 3: Prehistoric sites and coastal beauty

It’s time to get out of the city! Grab a pastry or local ricotta-filled favourite pastizz (we liked the masters Bakery Boutique) before heading to the entrance of Valletta.

Here, you’ve got two options if you’re without a car and want to explore Ħaġar Qim & Mnajdra, Malta’s famous prehistoric sites. The bus looked super easy and cheap, but unfortunately it was a weekend and only running once an hour. So, we downloaded the trusty Bolt app and it turned out to be super affordable mode of transport for the under 30 minute journey.

Pay €10 for your combo ticket for Ħaġar Qim & Mnajdra Archaeological Park and first hit the visitor centre for a bit of intel before wandering down to the sites.

It’s really worth the visit as, unlike visiting Stonehenge, you can even wander through some of the huge ancient boulders. As well as taking up your time soaking in the ancient wonders, the coastal grounds are lovely for a stroll too so I’d recommend carving out a good couple of hours for your visit.

Now, we got a pro tip from our Bolt driver that helped us tick off another classic Maltese attraction. Boat trips in the Blue Grotto are super popular in summer but don’t tend to run in the winter, so this is the next best thing.

Leave the prehistoric sites on foot, turn right and walk 15 minutes down the road to the Blue Grotto viewpoint where you can catch a glimpse of the stunning water from above. You can catch a bus back to Valletta from the other side of the road, or order a Bolt to take you onwards.

If you’re visiting in summer, a boat trip is one of Malta’s absolute must-dos. I personally would love to go back and experience this soon!

Here, you have two options. If you want to spend a day on Gozo, I’d recommend spending the afternoon in Mdina today. However, a storm got in the way of our Gozo plans, so we had to stay on Malta and checked out some other well-known villages.

We missed out on the quaint Marsaxlokk Fishing Village but instead went over to Sliema for a walk down the harbour and a spot of Greek food – dolmades well and truly have my heart.

With January treating us to some warm sunny weather for the afternoon, we really enjoyed our walk along Sliema’s waterfront.

However, it cemented our joy to be staying in Valletta instead too. In comparison, the coastline looked built-up, modern and full of hotels. If anyone has stayed there and knows otherwise once you’re off the main drag, please let me know in the comments – I’m intrigued!

What we didn’t expect however, was the wonderful mode of transport back to Valletta. As well as the public bus, a regular ferry runs across the bay to Valletta – on the other side to where you catch the Three Cities ferry, but the same price.

With daylight fading fast, it’s the cheapest sunset cruise we’ve ever been on and way better than the bus!

Choose any spot you’ve got your eye on for dinner – with so much Italian food around, it was inevitable we’d end up back in pizza and pasta heaven! That night we chose Taste, but i Pupi also has great all-round reviews, and indoor seating in case of rain.

Day 4: Gozo day trip OR finish the main attractions

As I mentioned, a storm earlier in the week damaged Valletta’s fast ferry terminal and shut down our plans for a Gozo day trip. While we were absolutely gutted, it also let us take the our 4 day Malta itinerary a little slower and I hate to admit, it worked for me in third trimester pregnancy!

It was a super rainy day unfortunately, so after a relaxed brunch at Elephant’s Shoe (reviews are split – mine was great, the husband’s not so good), we went to one of Valletta’s most popular attractions, the Grandmaster’s Palace.

Adult tickets are €12 and it’s not huge, so you probably can see the whole thing in 60 – 90 minutes but if you’re with a Roman empire loving man, beware. The palace houses the biggest collection of armour, shields, swords and other military paraphernalia I’ve ever seen. In all honestly, it’s pretty cool but even my patience was wearing thin after looking at the 50th suit of armour!

Come rain or shine, St John’s Co-Cathedral is also an essential visit on your trip to Malta. Interestingly, it’s named Co-Cathedral because it’s used as an alternate seat for the bishop at St Paul’s Cathedral, Mdina – one we missed out on due to visiting on a Sunday, so bear that in mind!

At first we thought €15 entrance is a bit steep – it didn’t look like much from the outside at all. Trust me, it’s an absolutely spectacular example of Baroque architecture at its most lavish and it’s well worth allowing a couple of hours here in your 4 day Malta itinerary.

As well as marvelling at all the sights in the huge building, the audio guide is pretty good and they also have a whole exhibit dedicated to Caravaggio, due to his paintings The Beheading of St John the Baptist and St Jerome Writing from his time on Malta being preserved in the cathedral. Turns out it’s much more than just good place to shelter from the rain!

Once you’ve enjoyed a morning of culture, head to Mdina or ‘The Silent City’ named for its tiny quiet streets that, tourists aside, are super sparsely populated – crazy considering it’s Malta’s former capital.

The well-known Fontanella Tea Garden is the fortified town’s most popular spot for lunch and its Bruce Bogtrotter-esque chocolate cakes definitely deserve the hype! Unfortunately, it was raining too hard for us to enjoy its beautiful terrace views – although we did pop up to have a look as we were leaving.

It was busy when we arrived and we had to wait for an indoor seat so in the summer, be prepared to queue.

Mdina itself is beautiful but tiny. You could easily walk virtually every street in 30 minutes but spend time browsing the local stores and taking in the views, especially if the cathedral is closed like when we visited. If you look carefully, you can also spot a few Game of Thrones filming locations here!

You can also pair Mdina with the nearby city of Rabat for a more lively feel or extra dinner options. However, if you’re in the market for dinner while you’re in Mdina, Bacchaus comes highly recommend and is a great place to finish the evening in style.

It’s worth staying until dark purely for the atmosphere: when it goes dark and the crowds leave, you’ll feel as though you have the whole town to yourself. Just don’t think about the numerous ghost stories of headless brides and phantom carriages…

Summary

Now depending on when your flight is, you might have some extra time the next day to soak up the last of Malta’s beauty. In the spirit of relaxation, we enjoyed another lovely brunch at Sunday in Scotland before heading to the airport for our flight, but you might want to see some last spots if you’ve missed anything – especially if you spent a day on Gozo.

This 4 day Malta itinerary doesn’t cover all of Malta’s best things to do by any stretch but for a winter city break, you’ll find this pace busy enough but not so frantic that you return to work more tired than when you left.

Treat your 4 day Malta trip as a compact Mediterranean city break rather than a classic beach holiday, especially in winter. It’s the perfect excuse to slow down, take your time over meals and enjoy the winter sun – even with bursts of rain and wind in between.

I already can’t wait to return to Malta in a different season to see how its natural wonders!

Laura x