Malta in April: Weather, Easter Dates and What to Do

Malta in April runs daytime highs of 19–20°C and night lows of 12–14°C, with only 20–26 mm of rain across 4–6 wet days – the driest month since the previous September, and the point at which the Maltese year stops being changeable. The countryside is still green from the winter rain and has not yet been burned off by the summer sun.

The sea has barely moved: about 16–17°C, still within the winter floor it has held since February. So April is a walking, sightseeing and events month rather than a beach one. Easter is the event most people plan around – but its date moves every year across a five-week window, and it lands in March about as often as in April, which is worth checking before you book.

What is the weather like in Malta in April?

Warm enough to be outdoors all day, cool enough that the towns are still comfortable at midday – the combination that makes April and May the two easiest months to sightsee in Malta.

Sources disagree on the rainfall detail in the usual way: Climates to Travel gives April about 4 wet days and 20 mm, while Malta's Met Office series gives 6 days and 26 mm. Either way it is a small figure, and it arrives as short bursts. The heavy winter systems are done by April, and a washed-out day is genuinely rare.

The gap between day and night is the thing to pack for. A 19–20°C afternoon drops to 12–14°C after dark, and older stone buildings hold that cool for a long time. Our Malta temperature by month page sets April against the full year.

When is Easter in Malta, and does it always fall in April?

No – and this is the single most common mistake in April guides to Malta. Easter's date moves every year within a five-week window running from 22 March to 25 April, and it falls in March roughly as often as it falls in April.

In 2027, Easter falls entirely in March – Good Friday on 26 March and Easter Sunday on 28 March – so an April 2027 trip to Malta will miss it completely. 2029 splits the difference in a way that matters locally: Good Friday, which is the biggest single day of the Maltese Easter, falls on 30 March 2029, even though Easter Sunday is 1 April. If the processions are the reason you are going, it is Good Friday you need to be there for, not the Sunday.

Check the date for the year you are travelling before you book anything around it. In years when Easter does land in April, that week is the one exception to the month's otherwise low prices, and it needs booking further ahead than the rest of the month.

What happens in Malta at Easter?

Holy Week is the most serious week in the Maltese religious calendar, and it is genuinely worth timing a trip around if it lines up.

• Good Friday – solemn processions with life-sized statues carried through the streets, in near-silence, with participants in period costume. The processions at Żejtun, Qormi and in the Three Cities are the ones locals name first
• Easter Sunday – the mood reverses completely, with l-Irxoxt, the statue of the Risen Christ, run through the streets at speed by its bearers
• Practicalities – processions are free to watch, they run for hours, and the streets they use close to traffic
• Food – figolli, almond-filled Easter pastries, appear in every bakery for the fortnight beforehand

It is the clearest window into Maltese Catholic culture the visitor calendar offers, and it is unstaged – these are parish events that would happen with or without an audience.

What else is on in Malta in April?

The Malta International Fireworks Festival is an April fixture, and it is more substantial than the name suggests – it is a competitive international pyrotechnics event staged over the Grand Harbour, with a separate opening night in Nadur on Gozo. The 2026 edition ran from 18 to 30 April, with the competition nights in Valletta and the finale over the harbour.

The programme changes every year, so treat the specific nights as something to verify rather than assume. Confirm the exact dates on the festival's own programme before booking a trip around it – secondary listings frequently disagree, and the schedule spreads across two islands.

Beyond that, April is the month to use the ground while it is still green. A Gozo day trip is at its best now, with the island at its most agricultural and the ferries quiet, and Mdina and Rabat are walkable at midday in a way they will not be from June onwards. Valletta and the harbour cities take a full day each without the heat pressing.

Can you swim in Malta in April?

Not really. The sea sits at about 16–17°C in April – the third month running at its winter floor, because water gains heat two to three months behind the air. By late April it has begun to creep up, but not to anything most people would call swimming.

This is the asymmetry that catches spring visitors out: October has almost the same air temperature as April and a sea around 24°C, because autumn water is still shedding summer heat while spring water is still cold from winter. If the sea is the point of the trip, autumn beats spring by a wide margin. May is the first month where the water becomes arguable, at around 19°C.

Beach lidos start reopening through April, and the Comino boat season builds towards a proper start in May. Diving runs all year.

What does April cost, and what should you pack?

April is good value outside Easter week, which is the one stretch where demand and prices spike – and in years when Easter falls in March, April has no spike at all. Our is Malta expensive guide sets a daily budget, and the best hotels in Malta list shows where the shoulder-season value sits. For how April compares across the year, see best time to visit Malta.

Pack for a mild month with a real day-to-night swing.

• Layers and a light jacket – 19–20°C days, 12–14°C nights
• A packable waterproof – 20–26 mm across 4–6 days, in short bursts
• Comfortable walking shoes – April is the walking month, and the countryside is at its best
• Something that covers shoulders and knees – churches enforce it, and Holy Week more so
• Sunglasses and sun cream – the spring sun is stronger than 20°C suggests on an island with no shade

The full things to do in Malta guide covers opening hours; several state-run sites switch to summer hours during April, so check rather than assume either pattern.