Discover Gozo

Malta has two sister islands. One of them — Comino — has a single hotel, no permanent community to speak of, and is known almost exclusively for the Blue Lagoon that draws day-trippers from across the archipelago. The other is Gozo. And Gozo is a world entirely its own.

With a population of around 40,000 people, Gozo is small enough to feel genuinely intimate and large enough to have a real life of its own — a working island with villages, farms, restaurants and a character that mass tourism has not yet managed to smooth away. Our Product Manager Thomas has been visiting Gozo for many years, and his view on it has not changed: this is one of the last places in the Mediterranean where you can still feel that you have genuinely got away. Not away from Malta — away from the version of travel that looks the same everywhere.

What keeps Gozo unique is precisely what it does not have. There are no large international hotel chains here. No resort strips. No Paceville. The accommodation landscape is dominated by boutique properties and — most distinctively — private farmhouses, which represent one of the most genuinely special ways to holiday anywhere in the Mediterranean. Our trusted farmhouse partner Mario and his team offer a selection of private farmhouse properties across the island, each one combining the thick-walled, sun-cooled character of traditional Gozitan architecture with the comfort and privacy that a well-run holiday home delivers. If you have never stayed in a Gozitan farmhouse, it is an experience that is difficult to describe and very easy to remember.

For those who prefer hotel accommodation, the two principal options are the Kempinski San Lawrenz — a genuinely excellent luxury property set in the quiet village of San Lawrenz, away from the coast and surrounded by countryside — and the Cornucopia, a charming and well-run boutique hotel that captures the intimate character of the island beautifully.

The yacht marina is one of Gozo's most compelling landmarks — and one that Thomas consistently recommends to first-time visitors. Seen from the hillside above, with the boats moored below and the channel between Gozo and Malta stretching away in the distance, it is one of the most quietly spectacular views in the Maltese islands. The bars and restaurants along the marina waterfront are among the best on the island, and an evening spent there — with good food, good wine and that particular quality of light that the western Mediterranean produces in the early evening — is difficult to improve upon.

On the subject of restaurants, Thomas has three specific recommendations that he returns to consistently. Chapeau Gozo is where you eat Gozitan food at its finest — the Braised Pork Cheek, the Barbary Duck Breast and the Duck and Asparagus Risotto are dishes that reflect a genuine mastery of local ingredients and traditional technique. Bistro Boca brings a French culinary sensibility to the island in a way that works beautifully — refined, well-executed and a pleasant surprise to find in a place of this scale. And Casa Vostra is, in Thomas's words, the real thing — a genuinely Italian restaurant run by two Italians, Gianluca and Michele, who have brought their culinary heritage to Gozo entirely intact. If you want Italian food cooked by people who grew up eating it, Casa Vostra is where you go.

Beyond the restaurants and the marina, Gozo's natural and cultural attractions are extraordinary for an island of its size. The natural Salt Pans on the northern coast — still worked by hand as they have been for centuries — are one of those quietly remarkable things that you stumble upon and find yourself thinking about long afterwards. Mixta Cave and the Blue Hole diving site are essential visits for anyone with an interest in the island's geology and underwater life. St George's Basilica and the Citadella — Gozo's ancient fortified capital, with views across the entire island from its ramparts — are architectural experiences that rival anything in the main island.

One Honest Note

Gozo is not for every traveller — and Thomas would be the first to say so. If you are looking for nightlife, for large resort facilities, for an all inclusive hotel with a waterpark and an animation team, Gozo will disappoint you. This is an island that rewards those who want to slow down, explore at their own pace and experience a version of the Mediterranean that is becoming increasingly rare. If that sounds like exactly what you need, it will be one of the finest holidays you have ever taken.