Two ferries, and they are not interchangeable
There are two ways across and they serve different people.
The car ferry runs from Ċirkewwa, at the top of Malta, to Mġarr on Gozo. It takes about twenty-five minutes, it carries vehicles, and it runs every day of the year including Christmas Day. This is the one you want if you are driving, and it is the one almost everyone means by “the Gozo ferry”.
The fast ferry runs from Valletta to Mġarr in about forty-five minutes and takes foot passengers only. It is longer on the water but it saves the drive up to Ċirkewwa, which is most of Malta, so door to door from Valletta it usually wins. In summer it books up.
The fare quirk
You pay at Mġarr, on the way out.
Nobody takes your money at Ċirkewwa. You drive on, you cross, you drive off, and the first time it happens you will spend the day wondering whether you got away with something. You did not: the fare covers the round trip and it is collected when you leave Gozo.
This is worth knowing for two reasons. The obvious one is that leaving costs money you were not expecting to spend. The less obvious one is that the ticket booths at Mġarr are the thing between you and the boat, so arriving at the terminal five minutes before a sailing is not the same as being on it.
The queue, and when it is bad
The car ferry is a queue rather than a booking. Most of the year that is pleasant: you turn up, you wait a sailing at most, you go.
Three times it is not. Mid-August, and above all the week of Santa Marija on 15 August, is the busiest stretch of the Maltese year and much of Malta comes over. Easter weekend is the same in miniature. And on any hot Sunday in July or August the afternoon return queue builds from about four o’clock.
If you are travelling on one of those, go very early or very late and leave the middle of the day alone.
Once you are here
Gozo is about fourteen kilometres across. Nothing is far. What is true instead is that the roads are narrow, the last stretch to several bays is steep or unsurfaced, and parking at the popular ones fills by mid-morning in season.
Buses radiate from the terminus in Victoria. Almost every route runs through it, which means Victoria to anywhere is straightforward and village to village usually means going in and coming out again. The fare system is the same Tallinja one as Malta and the same card works on both islands. For reaching Victoria, Marsalforn, Xlendi and the larger villages this is perfectly good.
For the coast it is not. San Blas, Daħlet Qorrot, Mġarr ix-Xini, Reqqa Point and Wied il-Mielaħ are either unserved or served by a stop a long hot walk from the water. If those are why you are coming, you want a car.
Taxis exist and there are ranks at Mġarr and in Victoria. Agree the fare before you set off.
Cycling is better than the contour lines suggest, because the distances are short, but the island is a plateau cut by valleys and almost every journey involves a climb out of one. In July and August it is a genuinely bad idea between eleven and four.
Whether you need a car
Honestly: it depends entirely on what you came for.
If you are staying in Victoria or Marsalforn for a few days, eating well, walking into town and swimming at the nearest bay, you do not need one and parking in Victoria will annoy you if you have one.
If you want the bays this island is actually known for, you do. The ones worth the drive are the ones the buses do not reach, and that is not an accident: they are quiet because they are awkward.
Elsewhere on the island
- Countryside The Gozo countryside: terraces, walls and valley walks A plateau cut by valleys, held up by dry stone walls somebody still maintains. Where to walk, when not to, and what you are actually looking at.
- Crafts & artists Crafts and makers on Gozo Lace, filigree, blown glass and pottery, the crafts village at Ta’ Dbieġi, and how to tell what was made on the island from what was flown in to be sold here.
- History & heritage Gozo’s history, from Ġgantija to the Ċittadella Temples older than the pyramids, a citadel whose population was carried off in a single raid, a windmill from 1725 and a lighthouse on the highest hill. What is actually worth your time.
Questions
Do you need to book the Gozo ferry?
Not for the car ferry. It runs on a frequent timetable and works as a queue: you drive up, you wait, you board. In August and over the big public holidays that queue can be two or three sailings long, which is the one time booking would help and the one time it is not available. The fast ferry from Valletta is a fixed timetable and foot passengers only, so that one is worth booking ahead in summer.
Why did nobody take my money on the way to Gozo?
Because the fare is collected at Mġarr, on the way out. Both directions are paid for in that one transaction, so arriving feels free and leaving feels double. It catches almost everyone once and it is not a mistake.
How much is the Gozo ferry?
At the time of writing the standard adult foot passenger fare is €4.65 for the round trip, with children aged three to twelve and Gozo residents paying a subsidised rate, and infants free. Vehicle fares depend on the vehicle and change more often, so check Gozo Channel directly rather than trusting a figure on any guide page, this one included.
Do you need a car on Gozo?
For a short stay in Victoria, Marsalforn or Xlendi, no. For reaching the bays that make the island worth coming to, San Blas, Dwejra, Mġarr ix-Xini, Daħlet Qorrot, effectively yes, unless you are happy walking the last stretch in the heat. The buses reach the villages; they do not reach most of the coast.
Can you take a hire car from Malta to Gozo?
Usually, but check the rental agreement before you book the ferry rather than at the gate. Most Maltese hire companies allow it; a few charge extra or exclude it, and the ferry staff will not know which yours is.
How do the buses work on Gozo?
Nearly every route radiates from the terminus in Victoria, so a journey from one village to another almost always means going into Victoria and out again. That is fine for Victoria to anywhere and slow for anywhere to anywhere else. Fares are the same Tallinja system as Malta, and the same card works on both islands.