Coastal walk Malta-Gozo: stage 1

The first hiking stage begins near the airport of Malta (see Overnight near the airport). From here it is only a 7 km walk to the coast. This leads on small side streets and narrow paths past countless parcels surrounded by stone walls, in which mainly vegetables are grown.

The actual coastal hike starts at the excavation site "Ħaġar Qim". If you want to visit the 5.000-year-old temple complexes, you should plan about 1 hour (adults approx. 10 € admission including multimedia show in the visitor center, link: https://heritagemalta.mt/explore/hagar-qim-mnajdra-temples/). The archaeological site consists of two temples about 500 meters apart.

Abbreviation: Who wants to shorten stage 1 by bus: The excavation site is well connected by public transport (among other things Line 201 without changing from the airport, about once an hour).

Below the two temples there is a thick watchtower and a narrow memorial stone. At the height of this memorial stone is the barely visible descent down to the transverse coastal hiking trail. We hike north along this coastal hiking path and after a little over 2 km we reach Għar Lapsi, a small bay with several restaurants (two on the main street, one hidden a little below at the small harbor).

From Għar Lapsi we first walk along the main road, but then turn left before a serpentine at a quarry. The stony path leads past several scattered houses and then suddenly seems to end. However, if you look closely, you will discover that a dirt track leads up here, sometimes very overgrown.

Note: In this section of the way we pass several signs with "Private Property, No Entry". It is said that it is not always clear in Malta whether these signs were justified or only serve as a deterrent. Since the property to be crossed here is uninhabited and not fenced and this route is also included in the Michael Müller hiking guide, we ignored the prohibition sign (see also Private routes in Malta).

After we have mastered the overgrown trail, we meet a dirt road that leads up to a small coastal road. We follow this to the left to a small church with a domed roof. From there we climb up to the very striking rock viewpoint at the Dingli cliffs

From the viewpoint it goes up to the large coastal road, we leave it after a short time and turn inland to spend the night in Rabat or Mdina (approx. 4 km from the coast, see Rabat / Mdina Hotels).