We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”
– Anonymous.
We visited Gozo and Comino islands in March 2019.
We were on a 5 days trip to the beautiful county of Malta and managed to cover these 2 islands on the 2nd day.
Following is a 5 days itinerary that we had followed:
Day 1: Red line Hop on Hop off.
Day 2: Gozo and Comino (My recommendation would be to cover both these places in a single day)
Day 3: Harbour cruise in the Morning half and explore the Historic city of Valetta in the second half of the day,
Day 4: Full day trip to Sicily islands, Italy
Day 5: Morning half day trip to Blue Grotto and Marsaxslokk market
The entire trip details are covered in another blog. Here I would like to discuss exclusively about my experience with Gozo and Comino (Day 2 in my itinerary)
Gozo:
Gozo is really like a sister of Malta, infact a less developed version of Malta.
Since this was our first trip to Malta, we thought to prebook a day tour package.
I had taken the tour package from ‘Get your Guide’
Link Below –> https://www.getyourguide.com/malta-l90/discovering-gozo-malta-s-sister-island-t26106/ (English Commentary was available)
For adult (16+), ticket price was around 55 Euros and for Children (5-15 years), it was around 35 Euros.
The package included:
1) Pickup and drop from Hotel
2) To and Fro ferry Charges from Cirkewwa to Gozo (in Gozo Channel ferry).
Note: You can expect a big Queue, to enter the Ferry.
There is also a small shop available within the Ferry, where you can buy snacks and other items.
3) Bus to visit the attractions in Gozo.
4) First visit was to Ta Pinu Basilica:
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Ta’ Pinu is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and national shrine located some 700 metres (2,300 ft) from the village of Għarb on the island of Gozo.
This is one of the most visited places on the island of Gozo – Malta, not only by Maltese people but also by many tourist.
The entry is free. Seems like the visitors are not supposed to wear Shorts inside the church.
5) Next visit was to Dwejra.
Dwejra Boat ride is something you should never miss, in case if you are in this part of the world (Ticket price for Adults and Kids were around 4 Euros/person. This Ticket price was not included in the tour package) .
Dwejra Bay is truly a gem in Gozo. If you don’t have much time to explore Gozo, this boat ride should be your first priority.
Please note that ‘Azure Window’ formation is no more as it has collapsed into the sea in 2017.
6) Then they took us to an Art gallery (I personally did not like this place).
7) After Art gallery, they took us for a Non-vegetarian Buffet @ Down Town Restaurant, Rabat (Included in the package)
This was a very decent buffet. Seems the tour operators have a good rapport with the restaurant management. 15-20 chairs were already reserved for us, when we reached there.
8) Further they took us for a Train Ride to Cittadela.
This is an interesting Train trip which takes you through the city centre before reaching the entrance of Citadel.
The Historic fortified city of The Citadella is in the heart of Victoria (Entry Ticket price was not covered in the package)
This was the last part of the tour, where you will be left in front of the Citadella and you can spend more than an hour or more at your own pace.
After the specified time, they will take us back to the Gozo ferry terminal in the bus and from there to Cirkewwa in the Ferry and further to the hotels in bus.
If you are a person who doesn’t want to book your travel plans all by yourself, this tour will be a good option.
But the problem is if you are taking this tour package, you will not be able to cover Comino on the same day.
We wanted to cover Comino on the same day. So, we cut short our time in the Citadella in Victoria (last portion of the above mentioned guided tour) and took a Malta Transport Bus to the Cirkewwa port. From the port, we took a small boat to Comino and spend an hour there. The boat charge included the journey from Gozo to Comino and further Comino to Cirkewwa port and it was around 10 Euros/ person (15 euros if you wish to see the caves). We didn’t have any snorkelling or Swimming plans in Comino. So around 1 hour was fine enough for us, to explore the place and take some beautiful snaps.
My Suggestion:
Getting from Malta to Gozo is very easy. The ferry terminal located on Malta can be found at the most northern tip of Malta in Cirkewwa and in the southern part of Gozo in Mgarr. The ferries run back and forth every 45 minutes and you can find the timetable here. You can buy the ferry/ boat tickets in the port.
Take the Gozo channel ferry to reach Gozo from Cirkewwa. Don’t buy a Round Trip. Get down at the Gozo port and take a Hop on Hop off bus or else rent a bike or car. This is a small island and you can reach from one end to another in around 30 minutes. The public transport is also efficient, but the waiting time is more.
Comino:
This is indeed a heaven for people, who love diving and snorkeling.
The most beautiful part of this place is the world-famous Blue Lagoon.
Gozo, Comino and Cirkewwa ports are around 30 minutes far from each other.
Comino is between Malta and Gozo and is the smallest of the 3 islands.
The best time to visit Comino is during the months of July and August.
Don’t stop at the place where you boat drops you. Take a walk and explore the beautiful scenery from all sides.
I believe this is a car free island and the only option for you to reach here is a boat. There is only one hotel (Comino Hotel) in Comino. There are no restaurants here, but you will find 5-6 Food Trucks selling some basic stuffs like juice, Burgers and so on. There is a public toilet available.
Keep your camera handy with you as this is quite a picturesque place.
In case if you are a person who wants to spend a lot of time here for diving and snorkelling, I would suggest you to spend atleast half day here and try reaching here a little early around 9-10 AM, as the rush increases as the day progress. In such a case, the above plan of covering Gozo and Comino on a single day won’t be practical.
Take your towel, sunscreen and sunglasses. Like most touristy spots, it is pricey to buy the basics there.
You also have the option to take a short boat trip to explore some caves in this region.
