Malta budget itinerary: 5 days for under €600 total

Is Malta cheap? The honest answer

Malta is not a cheap destination in the league of Southeast Asia or eastern Europe — but it is cheaper than France, Italy, or Spain for a comparable experience. Food at local pastizzerias costs €0.40. The bus network is flat-rate €2 per trip (free with an Explore Card, €21 for 7 days). The Sliema-Valletta ferry is €1.50. Most of the outdoor attractions (Dingli Cliffs, the promenades, Valletta’s streets and gardens) are free.

Under €600 for 5 days is achievable. This is the breakdown: roughly €100-110/day for one person, which covers a dorm bed or budget B&B (€20-30), three meals (€15-25), transport (€3-5), and one paid activity (€10-20).

The main budget risks: tourist-trap restaurants (€20-30 for a pizza), taxis when buses are available, and the “just one more” mentality on GYG tours that each seem individually worth it but add up fast. This guide helps you pick the one GYG activity that’s worth spending on per day.

At a glance

Day	Focus	Budget est. (1 person)
1	Valletta (free)	€55-70
2	Mdina + Dingli (mostly free)	€60-75
3	Gozo (budget day trip)	€55-70
4	Blue Lagoon + cruise	€65-80
5	Three Cities + harbour	€50-65
Total		€285-360 (accommodation separate)

Accommodation: Hostel Malti Sliema or similar hostel: €22-30/night dorm, €55-70/night private room. 5 nights = €110-350 depending on dorm vs private.

Total budget (dorm): approximately €395-510. Total budget (private room): €545-710 (pushing the limit on the upper end).

Day 1 — Valletta: the best free city in the Mediterranean

Valletta is remarkable for a capital city: the vast majority of its pleasures are free.

Free in Valletta:

Walking the streets and bastions
Lower Barrakka Gardens (better views than Upper, zero crowds)
Upper Barrakka Gardens (€0, the Grand Harbour view is free)
Merchants’ Street market (morning, free)
St George’s Square (free)
All churches except St John’s Co-Cathedral
The Mediterranean Conference Centre exterior
The promenade walk

Worth paying for:

[ Valletta self-guided audio tour ] — app-based, €5-8, covers the main sites with historical context at your own pace. Much cheaper than a guided walking tour (€25) for comparable information.

Morning

Ferry from Sliema to Valletta (€1.50). Walk the city from south to north: Valletta Waterfront, City Gate, Republic Street (don’t eat here — tourist prices), through to St George’s Square, Upper Barrakka Gardens, walk the full bastions east to Fort St Elmo.

Afternoon

St John’s Co-Cathedral: €15 for the full ticket, €10 for a student ticket. This is the one paid entry in Valletta that’s genuinely worth the cost — the Caravaggio room alone, the floor of Knights’ tombstones. If money is tight, skip it and use the audio tour for context, then stand outside the cathedral and know what’s inside.

Budget meal strategy for Valletta:

The tourist-trap restaurants are on Republic Street and Strait Street. The local places are:

Crystal Palace Rabat style (pastizzerias on Old Bakery Street, St Lucia Street) — pastizz €0.40, ftira (filled flatbread) €3-4.
Caffe Cordina on Republic Street does good coffee (€2.50) and decent snacks at non-tourist prices despite the location.
Lunch: €8-12 at a Maltese catering-style restaurant (there are several on Merchants’ Street).
Dinner: self-catering from a Maltese supermarket (Lidl, PG Supermarket) — €6-8 for a proper dinner.

Day 2 — Mdina and Dingli: free with transport

Transport: Bus 52 from Sliema to Mdina, €2 each way (or free on 7-day Explore Card). Return via bus 55 from Dingli to Rabat, then 52 to Sliema. Total transport: €6-8, or included in card.

Mdina — mostly free

Mdina has an entry fee of zero. Walking the medieval streets, the bastions, the views — all free. The Mdina Experience audio-visual show is €7.50 and genuinely good, but optional.

The cathedral is free to enter (the museum inside is €5 — skip it for this budget day). Walk the bastions from Bastion Square at the end of the main street — views over half of Malta, completely free.

Rabat — free and delicious

Crystal Palace pastizzeria in Rabat: pastizzi €0.40, ricotta or pea filling. Eat three. Total cost: €1.20. This is the most famous pastizzeria in Malta and should be on the list of every budget traveller.

St Paul’s Catacombs: €6.50 adult. Worth it. 2,000-year-old underground Christian burial network, completely uncrowded, genuinely fascinating. If you have the Heritage Malta multi-pass (€50, covers 12+ sites for 30 days) from a different context, use it here.

Dingli Cliffs — free

[ Dingli Cliffs 2-hour Segway tour ] — €35 and fun, but not necessary. The cliffs are free to walk. Taxi from Rabat: €8. Bus 55 from Dingli back toward Rabat costs €2.

Stand on the edge. Look at the sea. It costs nothing.

Budget accommodation note:

Hostel Malti in Sliema (St Julian’s area) is the budget standard — clean, social, good location, dorm beds approximately €22-28/night. Book well ahead in July-August.

Day 3 — Gozo on a budget

Gozo is surprisingly budget-friendly if you avoid the organised tours (which are good value for time, but expensive for budget travellers).

Transport:

Bus 41 from Sliema to Cirkewwa: €2 (or Explore Card)
Cirkewwa-Mġarr ferry: €4.65 return (you pay at the Gozo end)
Bolt or shared taxi on Gozo: €8-12 per trip Total transport Gozo day: approximately €15-20

[ Malta: Gozo full-day tour with guide, temples and train ] is an organised option that handles all transport for approximately €35-45 — actually competitive for budget travellers who want to see Ġgantija included without navigating independently.

Free in Gozo:

The Citadella above Victoria: entry free, the ramparts and views free
Victoria’s back streets and market (Merchants’ Street, 7am-1pm)
Marsalforn promenade and salt pans
All beaches (Ramla Bay, Xlendi bay, Marsalforn)

Worth paying for:

[ Victoria guided walking tour ] — €15-20, 2 hours with a guide who explains the Ottoman raid, the baroque rebuilding, the cathedral story. Good value.
Ġgantija temples entry: €10. UNESCO, 5,500 years old. Worth it.

Budget lunch in Gozo:

Victoria’s Fontana area (the artisan area below the Citadella): small shops and cafés that serve ftira (Gozitan bread) with local ġbejna cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. €4-6 for a proper local lunch.

Return: Last ferry from Mġarr to Cirkewwa, then bus back to Sliema. Total day cost including transport and Ġgantija: approximately €30-45.

Day 4 — Blue Lagoon: the budget version

The Blue Lagoon is one of the most expensive experiences on a Malta trip if you go with the wrong boat. The budget approach:

From Mellieha (cheapest departure point): [ Malta Comino Blue Lagoon boat from Mellieha ] — one of the most basic and affordable Comino crossings, approximately €12-15 return. Simple boat, no lunch, no DJ.

Bus from Sliema to Mellieha: 40 minutes, €2 (or Explore Card).

Total Comino day cost: bus €2 + boat €12-15 + food on Comino (€5-8, bring your own water/snacks) = €20-25.

Honest tip on Comino food: The food stalls at the Blue Lagoon charge €8 for a hot dog, €4 for a bottle of water. Bring your own water (2L minimum in summer) and your own snacks. This alone saves €15-20.

Timing: [ Book the morning boat departure ] for Comino before 9:30am to beat the peak crowd. The lagoon is dramatically more enjoyable — and genuinely more photogenic — before the main boats arrive from Sliema at 11am.

Alternative (evening): [ Blue Lagoon evening catamaran cruise ] — arrive after 5pm when the crowd has left. Often cheaper and the light is better for photos. Check if this works with your Sliema return bus schedule.

Day 5 — Three Cities and a free harbour cruise

Transport: Valletta-Three Cities ferry: €2.65 return. Bus Sliema-Valletta: €1.50 ferry or €2 bus.

The Three Cities — mostly free

Walking Birgu, Senglea, and Cospicua: free. The streets, the waterfront, the views of Valletta from Senglea’s tip — all free. The Fort St Angelo audio tour is €10 — worth it, but can be skipped for a tight budget.

[ Traditional 2-harbours day cruise of Malta ] — approximately €15-20, gives you the Grand Harbour and Marsamxett Harbour from the water. This is genuinely one of the best value activities in Malta for the visual experience vs cost ratio.

Free harbour viewing options:

Upper Barrakka Gardens: free, best Grand Harbour view
Senglea tip (Il-Gardjola): free, the view of Valletta from the Three Cities side
Valletta Waterfront: free, from sea level looking up

Budget dinner strategy for day 5:

If you’ve been budget-disciplined for 5 days, this is the night to spend slightly more on a proper Maltese meal. A local restaurant in Birgu (backstreets, not the waterfront) will give you rabbit stew, hobż biż-żejt, and a glass of local wine for €18-22 per head. That’s the Malta budget splurge that’s worth it.

The complete budget breakdown

Category	5 days total
Accommodation (hostel dorm)	€110-150 (5 nights × €22-30)
Food and drink	€100-125 (€20-25/day, local cafés and pastizzerias)
Transport (Explore Card + ferries)	€40-55
Paid activities	€55-80 (Comino boat, audio tour, Ġgantija, St John’s)
Total	€305-410

This leaves room inside the €600 target for a taxi or two, a one-off restaurant dinner, or a spare GYG tour if something looks irresistible.

Budget rules for Malta

Always use the Tallinja Explore Card (€21 for 7 days). Single tickets are €2 each — if you take more than 11 bus trips in a week, the card pays for itself. On a 5-day itinerary with daily travel, you’ll take 15-20 trips easily.

Eat at pastizzerias for snacks. Crystal Palace in Rabat, any pastizzeria in Sliema, pastizzerias in Valletta side streets. €0.40 for a pastizz, €3-4 for a ftira. You will not be hungry.

Avoid waterfront restaurants in tourist zones. Republic Street Valletta, Sliema seafront, Valletta harbour restaurants — prices are 30-50% higher than one street back.

The ferry is better than Bolt. Sliema to Valletta by Bolt: €5-8, 15-20 minutes in traffic. By ferry: €1.50, 5 minutes. No comparison.

Free activities are genuinely good. Valletta’s streets, Dingli Cliffs, Mdina’s wanderable historic centre, the Sliema promenade, Marsamxett Harbour at night — none of these cost anything and all of them are among Malta’s best experiences.

What budget travellers skip that they shouldn’t

The Hypogeum: Not affordable to skip if history matters to you. €35 for the experience, book ahead. Nothing else in Malta is comparable.

At least one harbour cruise: The traditional harbours cruise ([ traditional 2-harbours day cruise ]) is around €15-20 and the Grand Harbour from the water is genuinely extraordinary. It is money well spent.

A proper meal in a backstreet restaurant: €20 for a table-service Maltese meal once in the trip is worthwhile. Budget food (pastizzerias, ftira, Lidl) is fine but the full experience of Maltese cooking requires sitting down for it once.

What budget travellers should skip

The hop-on hop-off bus: €22/day, and the bus network (€2) covers almost everything on the HOHO route. Skip it.

Organised day tours: Most day tours to Mdina, the south coast, or Gozo include transport you don’t need if you’re comfortable with the bus system. The exception: the Gozo full-day tour (€35-45) is genuinely competitive vs doing it yourself.

Republic Street restaurants: €18-25 for pasta that you can eat for €10 one street back. The food is not noticeably better.

Blue Lagoon at noon in summer: Not a budget issue per se, but the most expensive disappointment available on a Malta trip — crowded, €8 hot dogs, no space. Go early or late.

How to adapt this itinerary

Longer version: See 5-day Malta and Gozo standard itinerary for the same route without budget constraints.
With history focus: See 5-day history buff Malta itinerary — some overlap but adds Hypogeum and Tarxien.
Hostel alternative: For a private room on a tight budget, apartments on Airbnb in Sliema or Gzira are often competitive with hotels for 5+ nights.

Practical info

Best time for budget travel: November-March. Prices for accommodation drop 30-40%, sites are almost empty. Weather is cool (15-18°C) but very rarely unpleasant.
Second best: April-May or October — shoulder season prices, Mediterranean weather.
Worst time on budget: July-August — prices peak 30-40% above shoulder season, especially accommodation.
Accommodation booking: Hostel Malti Sliema (well-reviewed, good location, dorms from €22). Book Hostelworld, Booking.com, or direct.

Frequently asked questions about Malta on a budget

Is Malta cheap for tourists?

By Western European standards, Malta is mid-range to budget. Food at local spots is genuinely cheap (pastizzi €0.40, ftira €3-4, fish lunch €15-20). Tourism infrastructure (entry fees, tours, boat trips) is comparable to other Mediterranean destinations. Accommodation is the most variable — hostels from €22, boutique hotels €120+.

What can you do for free in Malta?

A huge amount: Valletta’s streets and bastions, Upper and Lower Barrakka Gardens, the Grand Harbour view, Dingli Cliffs, Mdina’s medieval streets, the Sliema promenade, all beaches, Marsaxlokk harbour, the Three Cities waterfront, the Victoria Citadella ramparts in Gozo, all salt pans.

What is the cheapest way to get around Malta?

The Tallinja bus 7-day Explore Card (€21) covers all buses for a week. The Sliema-Valletta ferry is €1.50 each way. For the Gozo ferry: €4.65 return foot passenger. Bolt is available for flexibility (€8-15 per trip).

What is a pastizz and where can I get the best one?

A pastizzi (plural pastizz) is a savoury pastry filled with either ricotta or mushy peas. It is Malta’s most iconic street food. The best are at Crystal Palace in Rabat (best overall) and Is-Serkin in Valletta. They cost €0.35-0.50 each. Eat them warm.

Last reviewed: 2026-04-20

Malta on a budget: 5 days under €600