Everything You Need To Know About Driving In Malta

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I have been living in Malta for 2 months now and I brought my own car. It’s been a learning curve, but I’m here to tell you everything that I know and learned about driving in Malta as a non-Maltese, so you know what you’re getting yourself into.

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In another post I wrote about all the ways you can get around in Malta. Since I brought my own car, this is the mode of transportation I have most experience with. And here is everything I learnt about driving in Malta.

General traffic rules

In Malta they drive on the left side of the road, unlike most of the other European countries. This has taken me a few drives to get used to.

You do have to give priority to traffic coming from the right.

Traffic

One thing I noticed while driving in Malta is that it will always be busy on the road. There are parts where there is less traffic, but some parts I’m always in a traffic jam, without fail.

The business is obviously noticeable when it comes to parking too, which brings me to my next point.

Parking in Malta

Parking is mostly free in Malta, but it can be an issue to find a spot sometimes. As a visitor, you’re allowed to park in the white parking spots. The yellow ones are for permit holders and the blue ones are disability parking spots.

As I mentioned above, Malta’s roads are pretty crowded and so are the parking spaces, but I personally have always found a spot to park. There have been some occasions where we went to a crowded beach and the official parking was full, but luckily farmers around these places know this and they open up their surrounding fields for you to park for a few euro’s. It’s smart to carry a bit of cash when you go out.

If you’re planning on visiting Valletta, I would recommend parking outside of Valletta and walking the rest, or parking in Sliema or Three Cities and taking the ferry there. This is because you’re paying a fee for parking during peak hours by recording your license plate. This fee is charged on weekdays between 8am and 6pm, but you won’t get charged for entries after 2pm.

Read more: How To Get Around In Malta

Driving behavior

I have heard many people complain that the Maltese drive like maniacs, but I personally don’t think that’s true. Maybe I’m desensitized from driving in Italy, but they honestly don’t pull that many stunts here. They are not all up in your booth, rushing you, or blinking their lights at you.

Similarly to Italians, the Maltese drive assertive. Driving in Malta requires a bit of confidence behind the wheel and take your spot on the road.

The only thing to look out for is people just not looking. I’ve had some cars just crossing the road, not paying attention. My car horn has never been used this much haha! Maybe this is what they mean with ‘driving like maniacs’, but if a car is not going that fast and you’re aware of your surroundings, you’re good.

And, if anything, they often drive pretty slow! Especially when there is a speed camera. They all suddenly slow down up to 20km/h slower than the allowed speed. It always confuses me. Do they know something I don’t? Or are they just really scared to get a ticket? I never got one when driving the speed limit (which I obviously don’t deserve if I do), so I think they all just rather be safe than sorry.

Speed limits in Malta

In Malta there are no highways. Between the houses you’re allowed to go 30km/h, but the roads are so small, trust me, you don’t want to go faster. Then there are the bigger roads in the towns where you can go 50km/h and then there is the ‘highway’ where you’re often allowed to go 60km/h, with some exceptions of 50, 70 or 80km/h.

Road quality

If you’ve ever driven in Italy you know the roads are pretty bad. The roads in Malta are overall a bit better, but you still have to be careful with some potholes and some deep street gutters. On the 60+km/h roads this is less of an issue.

Rent a car

When you decided that driving in Malta is your thing, you can rent a car.

Here you will find rental cars from Valletta airport!

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With all this information you’re fully prepared to take on the Maltese roads! Happy driving!

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