Travel blog: Malta & Gozo - Day 2

Lemayee
7 jan 2020
3 minuten om te lezen

Bijgewerkt op: 24 jan 2020

A brief overview of the second day of our 6-day visit to these beautiful islands at the end of December 2019.

Day 2: Gozo, Nadur, Ramla Bay, Marsalforn, Xwieni Bay, Wied il-Ghasri, Victoria, Dwejra Bay, Mgarr

After waking up in our Airbnb in Żebbuġ I took a landscape panorama from our balcony view. Żebbuġ stands for olive in Maltese and the name derives from the large olive groves that stood in and around the current location of the church and the centre of the town.

We took the car to the harbour in Cirkewwa, where we took the Gozo Channel Ferry. It takes approximately 20 minutes to get from Cirkewwa to Mgarr on Gozo. On the ferry you have some nice views on both islands, also some drinks and snacks are available.

We decided to follow a driving tour through Gozo, which we found in our Lonely Planet guide, on page 147 to be exact. Our first stop on Gozo was the city of Nadur, which is the second biggest city on Gozo. The word "Nadur" which in Maltese means "look out" and is derived from the Arabic word "Nadara". Nadur is located along the coast line and there is a watchtower that overlooks the sea lanes from malta to Gozo. There is also a nice market square with a beautiful church, which was, unfortunately for us, closed.

After visiting Nadur we continued our trip to Ramla Bay, which is famous for its red-gold sand and, apparently, a lot of jelly fish. I would not prefer going for a swim here myself. After a small photo session we decided it was time for lunch and drove off to Marsalforn which has a compact harbour and some good sea-side restaurants. We had lunch at Pulena, which is situated on the boulevard and had a reasonable Tripadvisor rating.

For our next destination we followed the coast line, and passed the Marsalforn Bay and the salt pans at Xwieni Bay. The salt pans are still in use and are a fascinating thing to see. We ended our somewhat "unstable" coastal drive on the breathtaking gorge and bay of Wied il-Ghasri, which can be seen as an Instagram paradise. I would definitely recommend an all terrain type vehicle such as an offroad jeep for example. We somehow managed with our Hyuandai i20 which can be quite adventurous on the rough coastal roads of Gozo.

Our next sight was the citadel in Victoria, the chief town of Gozo, located in the centre of island. The citadel is a small walled city with various museums, but it's great to walk around and enjoy the views and have a coffee or beer. After visiting the citadel we made a brief stop at Ta Mena Estate to taste and buy some local wines and produce.

Dwejra Bay was next-up, we tried to reach the bay in time for a golden hour sunset and managed to do so with a few minutes to spear. Grasping the last rays of sunlight made for great panorama's.

As night fell we decided to have dinner in Mgarr and wait until the all traffic to the ferry had disappeared. We visited the Parish Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven just before it closed.Then we continued to see the Church of the Madonna of Lourdes on the way to our restaurant one80 near the harbour. On the way to the restaurant we managed to make a few long exposure shots from the port. We took the ferry back to our Airbnb in Żebbuġ and called it a day.