Malta
Temples older than the pyramids, a capital built by knights, and English as an official language — Malta is the Mediterranean at its most improbably concentrated.
Seven thousand years
on a very small island
Malta is three inhabited islands south of Sicily, closer to Africa than to most of Europe, and it has been fought over by almost everyone — Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, the Knights of St John, Napoleon and the British. All of them left something, which is why a country this small carries three UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The oldest of them predates anything you would expect. The megalithic temples at Ġgantija on Gozo and Ħaġar Qim on the main island are among the oldest free-standing stone structures anywhere — older than Stonehenge and older than the Egyptian pyramids. Valletta, by contrast, is comparatively modern: a fortified sixteenth-century city built by the Knights after the Great Siege, and a UNESCO site in its own right.
For Indian travellers Malta has two practical advantages that are easy to underrate. English is an official language, so nothing needs translating and signage, menus and paperwork are all in English. And the swimming season is genuinely long — the sea stays warm well into October, which makes Malta work as a beach destination when much of Europe has closed for the winter.
When is your Malta?
A properly Mediterranean climate — hot dry summers, mild wet winters, and a swimming season considerably longer than most of Europe. The limiting factor in high summer is heat and shade, not rain.
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Malta visa — what you need to know
Malta is in the Schengen area and Indian passport holders need a Schengen visa. Two things distinguish the Maltese process: the deciding authority is a named central unit rather than a consular desk, and Malta's mission in India is a High Commission rather than an embassy.
Malta describes the Central Visa Unit as the government's immigration central authority responsible for implementing national visa policy and the provisions of the Schengen acquis. It is the body that decides the application — not the visa application centre, which receives it, and not a consular officer acting independently. That matters when you are chasing a status update: the centre can tell you where your passport is, and no more.
Malta and India are both Commonwealth members, so Malta's mission in New Delhi is a High Commission. Schengen short-stay applications for Malta from certain countries are processed directly by the High Commission of Malta in India. This is a genuine difference from most Schengen missions here, and it is worth using the correct term when corresponding.
Applications are lodged at VFS Global visa application centres, which operate in a number of Indian cities including Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Jalandhar. Malta issues a Schengen short-stay visa for visits not exceeding 90 days and a separate National — D — visa for longer stays, so make sure you are applying under the right category before booking anything.
Malta charges the common Schengen visa fee. Its published fee schedule sits in a separate section of the Identità site that we could not verify at the time of writing, so this page does not print an amount it cannot stand behind — confirm the current figure, and any visa application centre service charge, when you book. Under the common Visa Code an application may be lodged up to six months before travel and, as a rule, no later than fifteen calendar days before it, with a decision normally taken within fifteen calendar days and extendable where a case needs further examination. Final visa decisions remain with the relevant authorities.
Travel medical insurance valid across the Schengen area for the whole of your stay is required, with minimum cover of €30,000 including medical repatriation. Apply to Malta only if it is your main destination — the country where you will spend the most days. Because Malta is small and often added to an Italian or wider Mediterranean itinerary, check this honestly against your actual nights rather than assuming the island qualifies.
For all Malta journeys we design, we prepare your complete visa documentation package — the forms, the supporting documents, the sequence of submission. Our visa specialists help travellers prepare complete applications with careful document guidance. Final visa decisions always remain with the relevant authorities.
Travel Malta intelligently
Malta is small, safe and English-speaking, which removes most of the usual friction. What is left is heat, shade and one ticket that has to be booked months ahead.
Malta travel FAQ
The questions Indian travellers ask most often before booking Malta.
An island for every
kind of traveller
The whole country is about the size of a large city, so a single base works for the entire trip — the decision is which island to sleep on, not how to get around.
A fortified city built by the Knights of St John, with St John's Co-Cathedral, the Grand Master's Palace, and gardens looking down over the Grand Harbour.
Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra on the south coast and Ġgantija on Gozo — among the oldest free-standing structures on earth.
An underground burial complex carved into rock across three levels, and the single hardest ticket in the country to obtain.
Greener, slower and more rural than the main island, with the Citadel above Victoria, the Ġgantija temples and quiet swimming at Ramla Bay.
The Blue Lagoon at Comino, the Blue Grotto sea caves, swimming from rock ledges, and some of the clearest diving in the Mediterranean.
Mdina, the walled former capital known as the Silent City, and Birgu, Senglea and Cospicua across the Grand Harbour from Valletta.
A working fishing harbour filled with painted luzzu boats, a Sunday fish market, and the south coast cliffs beyond it.
Short distances, safe swimming, forts to climb over and a language nobody has to translate — Malta is one of the easiest Mediterranean countries with children.
Valletta or a Gozo farmhouse, harbour dinners, sea caves at sunset, and a swimming season that stretches either side of the European summer.
Tell us whether you want history, sea and swimming, Gozo, or a mix, and our travel designers will shape the week around it.
How far in advance
should you book?
Malta is straightforward to book except for one attraction with a hard daily cap, and a summer season when the island genuinely fills.
It is the only thing in the country that can be sold out months ahead. Fix it before your dates harden.
From six months ahead. The window closes, as a rule, fifteen calendar days before travel, but that is the legal cut-off and not a sensible target.
Valletta or Sliema for history and transport; Gozo for quiet. Many trips do both.
There are no direct long-haul routes from India, so allow for a change of aircraft.
What to pack
for Malta
Hot, bright and reflective off limestone and sea. Sun protection matters more here than warm clothing for most of the year.
Take water shoes. A great deal of Maltese swimming is entered from rock ledges and lidos rather than sand, and the limestone is sharp underfoot and slippery where it is wet.