Car hire in Malta starts from around €25 a day off-season and booked ahead, which makes it one of the cheaper parts of a trip here. It earns its keep if you are heading for the remote swimming spots, the south coast or Gozo, and it is largely wasted money on a city-based first visit.
The headline rate is not where the cost sits. The deposit blocked on your card, the insurance excess, the fuel policy and the age and payment-card rules are what decide your final bill – and they are also what stops people at the desk. The minimum hire age is generally 21, and Malta drives on the left. Sort the card and the insurance before you fly, not at the counter.
Do you actually need a car?
For a first visit based in Sliema, St Julian's or Valletta, no. Buses, ferries, ride-hailing apps and organised day trips reach the headline sights, and you skip Malta's tight, expensive town parking entirely.
A car earns its keep in three cases: the remote rocky swimming spots, the south coast around the Blue Grotto and Marsaxlokk, and a few days on Gozo – all places where buses are slow, infrequent, or both. It also helps if you simply dislike waiting at a stop in August.
Our getting around Malta guide covers the bus-and-ferry alternative in full, including what a week of public transport actually costs.
What car hire really costs
Around €25 a day is a realistic off-season starting point for a small manual booked in advance, rising in peak summer and for automatics. Treat it as a floor rather than a forecast: rates on this route move a lot by season and by how early you book.
The components that move your total are more predictable than the rate itself.
| Cost | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Base rate | From around €25/day off-season, booked ahead |
| Deposit | Blocked on the main driver's card, sized to the excess |
| Excess cover | Marked up at the desk; cheaper bought separately |
| Young-driver surcharge | Per day for under-25s (see below) |
| Extras | Additional driver, child seat, GPS – each per day |
| Fuel | Commonly full-to-full – return it full or pay their rate |
Booking ahead is the single biggest lever on price. Reserving weeks before you fly beats the walk-up desk rate, and in August it is the difference between a cheap car and no car.
Car hire sits at the affordable end of a Malta budget, which fits the wider picture in our is Malta expensive guide. Just do not let the extras quietly undo the saving.
Deposit, excess and insurance
This is where the real money sits. Most companies block a deposit on the main driver's card to cover the insurance excess – the amount you would pay towards damage. A higher excess means a lower headline price and a bigger hold on your card.
You will be offered excess-reduction or "full" cover at the desk, usually at a marked-up daily rate. The cheaper route is normally a standalone excess-reimbursement policy bought before you travel, or the cover bundled into some comparison-site bookings. Read what is already included so you are not paying twice for the same protection.
Credit cards, debit cards and no-deposit rates
The payment card causes more problems at Maltese desks than the price does.
- Large international chains more often still require a credit card in the main driver's name for the deposit hold
- Local and independent Malta-based suppliers commonly accept debit cards or offer no-deposit rates – a genuinely widespread option here, not a rare exception
- The card must belong to the lead driver and carry enough available balance for the hold
- Cash and third-party cards are generally not accepted for the deposit
If you do not have a credit card, search specifically for a debit-friendly local supplier rather than hoping your booking will be accepted. Filter for it at the comparison stage and confirm it in the terms, because a deposit refused at the counter on arrival day has no easy fix.
Several Malta-based firms build their offer around exactly this. Josef Car Hire advertises no deposit taken and accepts payment without a credit card, GoCar Malta markets itself on no deposit and no credit card, and Car Rentals Malta is another local operator that sets out its deposit and excess terms up front.
Names and terms change faster than a guide can track, so confirm the current policy in writing when you book rather than relying on a page like this one.
Your licence: do you need an International Driving Permit?
This is the detail most worth checking before you travel, because getting it wrong strands you at the desk with a booking you cannot use.
Per Transport Malta's own guidance, most visitors holding a valid non-EU licence may drive in Malta on that licence alone for up to 12 months from the date of entry, with no International Driving Permit legally required. EU and UK licences are accepted straightforwardly.
The catch is that the law and the rental company are two different gates. Some individual rental companies impose their own IDP requirement regardless of what the law asks for, particularly where the licence is not issued in Roman script or in English. That is a commercial policy, and the desk applies it.
Age limits and the young-driver surcharge
The minimum hire age in Malta is generally 21, with some vehicle categories and some suppliers setting it higher. You will also usually need to have held your licence for one to two years.
Under-25s pay a young-driver surcharge on top of the daily rate. As a concrete illustration, Hertz's Malta terms state roughly €8 per day for drivers under 25 – that is one named operator's figure rather than a market standard, and surcharge amounts vary meaningfully between companies. Check the line in your own quote rather than budgeting from anyone else's number.
Automatics, fuel and where to pick up
Most cheap hire cars in Malta are manual. Automatics exist, cost more, and the affordable ones sell out first, so book early if you need one. Cars run small on purpose here – the village lanes are narrow and the parking is tighter.
The standard fuel policy is full-to-full: you collect the car with a full tank and return it full, or pay the supplier's refuelling rate, which is never the cheap option. Fill up before you head back to the airport.
For pickup, the desks are at Luqa airport, which suits anyone who wants the car from the moment they land. The trade-off is driving straight into Maltese traffic after a flight – if that sounds unappealing, take a private transfer to your base and collect the car in town for the days you will actually use it.
Malta drives on the left, the local driving style is assertive, and town parking in Sliema and Valletta is scarce and pricey. Base yourself somewhere you can park, and the car becomes an asset rather than a daily problem.
Featured image: Marika Caruana / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0