Car hire · Gozo
Car hire in Gozo, with kids
Gozo is the island where you might genuinely not need a car. Here is how to tell.
Our verdictProbably — but not always, and we will not pretend otherwise.
Gozo is fourteen kilometres across. If you are staying in Victoria or somewhere central for a long weekend, you can walk, bus and taxi it without much pain — the buses radiate out of Victoria and taxis are cheap by UK standards.
What you lose without a car is the good stuff. Ramla, San Blas, Wied il-Għasri and Mġarr ix-Xini are the beaches worth the trip, and they are exactly the ones the bus does not usefully reach. San Blas in particular is a walk down that will end your day if you are carrying a toddler back up.
So: a week, small kids, and any intention of getting to a beach that is not Marsalforn — hire a car. Three nights based in Victoria for the town and the food — you can skip it and spend the money on lunch.
One practical note: if you are hiring on Malta and bringing the car over on the Gozo ferry, check your hire agreement allows it. Most do, but not all, and the fine print is where they get you.
Questions we get asked
- Do I need a car in Gozo with kids?
- Not always. If you are central for a few days you can manage without. But the best beaches for young kids are the ones the buses do not reach usefully, so for a week with small children we would hire one.
- Can I take a Malta hire car on the Gozo ferry?
- Usually yes, but check your agreement — a minority of companies prohibit it, and the ferry staff will not be the ones who tell you. The crossing is about 25 minutes and you pay on the way back, not the way over.
- Should I hire the car in Malta or on Gozo?
- If you are spending the whole trip on Gozo, hiring locally is often cheaper and saves you the ferry queue with a car. If you are splitting your time, one car from Malta airport is simpler.
- Is it easy to drive on Gozo?
- Much easier than Malta. Roads are quiet, distances are tiny. The catch is the villages: some streets are genuinely one car wide, and the smallest car you can live with is the right car.