Malta sits in the middle: cheaper than France, Italy or the UK for food, drink and getting around, but no longer the budget bolthole it was a decade ago. The honest answer is that a trip here costs what you let it – peak-summer hotels in Sliema and dinners on the tourist strip add up fast, while buses, pastizzi and the free sights keep a careful trip genuinely affordable. Expect to spend roughly €50–70 a day per person at the shoestring end and €100–150 at a comfortable mid-range pace, once your room is paid for. Here's where the money actually goes, and how to spend less of it.
- 01Malta is mid-priced – noticeably cheaper than Western Europe for food, drink, transport and most attractions, but pricier than it used to be.
- 02Accommodation is the swing factor: a room in peak summer can cost more than the rest of the day combined, so your dates and area decide the budget.
- 03Eating out stays kind on the wallet if you lean on pastizzi, ftira and local kavas rather than the seafront tourist menus.
- 04Most of Malta's best sights – Valletta, Mdina, the coast and the beaches – are free; the paid highlights are a handful of boat trips and tickets.
- 05The cheap version is easy: travel off-season, ride the buses, self-cater part of the time, and the trip drops into genuine-bargain territory.
The short answer: is Malta expensive?
No – not by Western-European standards. Day to day, Malta undercuts France, Italy and the UK on the things you buy most often: coffee, a beer, a bus fare, a casual lunch. A main that runs ~€25 in a French bistro is closer to ~€15 here.
Where it catches people out is summer. From June to September the island fills up, and hotel rates in Sliema and St Julian's climb to levels that feel out of step with the cheap lunch you just had. Tourist-strip restaurants, white taxis and organised excursions are the other places the bill creeps up.
So the cost of Malta is really the cost of two decisions: when you go, and how you sleep, eat and travel once you're there. Get those right and it's an affordable Mediterranean break.
What a trip to Malta actually costs per day
Strip out flights and your room, and a day on the island falls into three rough tiers. These are per person, assuming you're sharing a room – solo travellers pay more, because accommodation doesn't split.
At the shoestring end, around €50–70 a day, you're on buses, eating pastizzi and ftira with the odd self-catered meal, and letting the free sights and a beach do the heavy lifting, with a couple of local beers in the evening.
A comfortable mid-range pace, roughly €100–150, buys a sit-down lunch and dinner, the occasional taxi, and a paid boat trip or museum most days without counting every euro.
Above that, €200 or more a day stretches to boutique dinners, private transfers and premium tours. Malta can absorb a luxury budget, but it doesn't demand one.
Accommodation: where your money really goes
Your room is the single biggest line in the budget, and the one that swings most. Off-season a clean double can be ~€60–90 a night; in August the same room in a prime resort area can be two or three times that.
Area matters almost as much as season. Sliema and St Julian's are the priciest bases, while Bugibba, Qawra and parts of Mellieħa run cheaper, and self-catering apartments cut the cost further on a longer stay. Our guide to where to stay in Malta breaks the areas down by budget and vibe.
Eating and drinking: Malta's cheap side
Food is where Malta stays firmly affordable. A pastizz – the flaky ricotta or pea pastry sold from hole-in-the-wall kavas – costs well under a euro, and a ftira sandwich or a plate of the local rabbit makes a filling lunch for not much more than €10–15.
The bill climbs on the seafront. Tourist-strip restaurants in Sliema, St Julian's and Bugibba charge city prices for the view, so step a street or two back for the same food at local rates, and look for the fixed-price lunch menus that many places run.
Drinks follow the same pattern. A local Cisk beer or a glass of Maltese wine is cheap by northern-European standards, especially bought in a village bar rather than a rooftop cocktail lounge.
Getting around without overspending
Transport is one of Malta's genuine bargains. A single bus fare is roughly €2–2.50 and valid for two hours, and a multi-day Tallinja card gives unlimited travel that pays off fast on a week-long stay – the full picture is in our guide to getting around Malta.
The pricey exception is taxis. Skip flagging a white cab and use Bolt or eCabs, which are cheaper with upfront fares. From the airport you've got the cheap Airport Direct express bus, a fixed-fare taxi at ~€17–20, or a pre-booked private transfer waiting at arrivals.
Car hire is cheap here, often from ~€25 a day, and worth comparing rates if you're chasing remote beaches or the south. For a city-based first trip, though, it's a cost you can skip – buses and ferries reach most of what you came for. The Malta trip overview covers all the practical planning basics if you're starting from scratch.
Sights and activities: a lot of it is free
Much of Malta's appeal costs nothing. Wandering Valletta and walled Mdina, exploring the Three Cities, and swimming off the rocks or the sandy bays are all free – our things to do in Malta guide leans heavily on sights that don't charge entry, and the best beaches cost only the bus fare to reach them.
What you do pay for is a short list. The boat trip out to the Blue Lagoon on Comino runs about €30, the prehistoric Hypogeum is a pricier ticket at roughly €35 and must be booked well ahead, and Popeye Village is around €15.
Beyond those, most museums, temples and historic sites charge a modest ~€6–10, so even a culture-heavy itinerary rarely runs up a big tab.
How to do Malta on a budget
The levers are simple and they stack. Travel in spring or autumn, base yourself outside the priciest resort strip, ride the buses, self-cater part of the time, and let the free sights carry the days – then spend on one or two paid highlights you actually want.
Do all of that and Malta tips back into bargain territory. Skip them, lock into August and eat every dinner on the seafront, and you'll wonder where the money went. The choice, more than the destination, sets the price.
Featured image: Cosal / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
