What it is like
A ridge village, strung out along the high ground, with the church of Saints Peter and Paul in the square facing an old stone cross. The name comes from the Maltese nadar, to observe at length, because this is where people watched the sea from. Nadur is large and residential rather than pretty, and the interest is at the edges: the lanes dropping north to the coast and the fields of pomegranate and citrus between them.
What is actually here
Ta’ Isopu Tower, also called Ta’ Sopu or San Blas Tower, is a Knights-period watchtower on the cliff between Daħlet Qorrot and San Blas. Ta’ Kenuna Tower was put up by the British in 1848 to carry the telegraph between Malta and Gozo, and now sits inside a new botanical garden of Maltese plants.
Daħlet Qorrot below the village is a row of boathouses, most of them converted out of natural caves and ledges in the rock. The village keeps a small maritime museum with naval material from the Knights, the British period and the twentieth century.
Carnival and Imnarja
Two things here are genuinely unlike anywhere else. L-Imnarja, the festa of Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June, is a national holiday. Carnival in February is the other: no programme, no committee, no floats worth the name, just people in unusual and often satirical costumes filling the streets after dark. If you want organisation, go to Victoria instead.
Getting there
Buses from Victoria take about fifteen minutes and run along the ridge road. The village itself is easy to drive in; the lanes down to the bays are not, and the one to San Blas is steep enough that most hire cars should be left at the top.
When to come
Late June for Imnarja, February for carnival. The bakeries are worth a detour at any time of year. Late autumn brings the Nadur Garmin 10K and a Halloween event in the square.
Questions about Nadur
What is Nadur carnival actually like?
Spontaneous and satirical. There is no programme and nothing to buy a ticket for; people arrive in whatever costume they have put together, often grotesque or aimed at a local figure, and the streets fill after dark. It is not staged for visitors and it is very different from the organised carnival in Victoria.
Where do I get a Gozitan ftira in Nadur?
Maxokk Bakery on St James Street and Mekren Bakery on Hanaq Street. Both are long established, both work from stone ovens, and both are small operations, so ordering ahead is sensible in summer.
Which beaches are below Nadur?
San Blas, a steep red sand cove at the bottom of a very sharp lane, and Daħlet Qorrot, which is a boathouse inlet rather than a beach. Ramla is on the village's western side. None of the three has much parking, and the lane to San Blas defeats most cars.
What is Ta’ Kenuna Tower?
A tower built by the British in 1848 to carry the telegraph link between Malta and Gozo. It now stands inside a newly planted Maltese botanical garden. The views along the ridge are the reason to walk up to it.