Car hire · Malta
Car hire in Malta, with kids
Malta is where you land, and where a car earns its keep. It is also where the driving is worst.
Our verdictHire one. You will use it every day.
Malta is small but it is dense, and public transport is the kind of thing that works fine until you are doing it at two in the afternoon in August with a buggy, a cool bag and a child who has decided today is the day. The buses are cheap and they go nearly everywhere, but they are hot and they are full.
The driving itself is the trade-off. Maltese traffic is busy and the roundabouts are a contact sport. Roads are fine, signage is fine, but nothing moves quickly at rush hour and the airport road is grim at 8am. Give everything twenty minutes more than the map says.
Parking is the real tax. In Valletta and Sliema you will circle. Most of the big family hotels have their own parking, and if yours does not, factor that in before you book the car.
Questions we get asked
- Do I need a car in Malta with a toddler?
- Realistically yes. You can survive on buses and the occasional taxi, but with a buggy and a nap schedule a car turns a two-hour ordeal into a twenty-minute drive. It is the single thing most families tell us they were glad they booked.
- What does car hire at Malta airport cost?
- Off-season you can get a small manual for very little. July and August is a different market — book early, and expect to pay several times the winter rate. Add roughly €5 to €8 a day per child seat.
- Is driving in Malta hard?
- It is busy rather than dangerous. They drive on the left, same as the UK. The roundabouts are assertive and lane discipline is a suggestion. If you are comfortable driving in a British city you will be fine.