Getting Around Gozo: Car, Bus or Scooter?

In brief: Getting around Gozo is easiest by hire car if you have company or luggage. Buses are cheap but slow. A scooter works for solo travellers who want flexibility and do not mind the heat or narrow roads.

There is no single best way of getting around Gozo, but there is almost certainly a best way for you, depending on how much flexibility you want, how fit you are, and how much you are willing to spend in the August heat.

Gozo is small. You can drive from one end to the other in about twenty minutes on a good day. That smallness is deceptive, though. The island’s roads are narrow, the signage is inconsistent, and the villages are laid out in a way that feels designed to confuse anyone who did not grow up there. Getting from Victoria to Ramla Bay sounds simple until you are reversing out of a dead end with a hire car while a local waits patiently in a Daihatsu that is somehow wider than the gap you are trying to squeeze through.

I have done all three: rented a car, taken the buses, and hired a scooter for a day I would describe as educational. Each option has a genuine case to be made for it, and each has a moment where it will let you down. Here is how they actually compare.

Getting Around Gozo: The Honest Overview

Gozo’s public transport is run by Malta Public Transport, the same operator that covers Malta. The network exists, it covers a reasonable number of routes, and it is cheap. A scooter gives you freedom and a sunburn. Car hire in Gozo sits somewhere between the two: more expensive than either, but genuinely the most practical option if you are travelling with someone else or have luggage that does not fold flat.

The decision mostly comes down to two variables: how many people are travelling with you, and how far off the main roads you want to go. If you want to reach the inland farmhouses, the quieter beaches, or the more obscure archaeological sites without relying on walking the last two kilometres in direct sun, a car is hard to argue against. If you are based in or near Victoria and plan to visit the main sights, the buses are genuinely fine.

Car Hire Gozo: Practical but Not Without Friction

Car hire in Gozo is available at the Mġarr ferry terminal and in Victoria, which is convenient enough. Prices are reasonable by European standards, particularly for small vehicles, and most operators will rent to drivers over 21 with a standard licence. The cars themselves tend to be small, which is not a criticism. It is a feature. Anything larger than a medium hatchback becomes genuinely awkward on the older roads around Għajnsielem and the back streets of Xagħra.

Parking is mostly free and mostly findable, which is a better situation than Malta. The coastal car parks near Dwejra and Xlendi can fill up by mid-morning in peak season, so arriving early matters. Navigation apps work, though they occasionally route you through roads that look like paths, so treating the first suggested route with a degree of scepticism is sensible.

The case against renting a car is straightforward: if you are travelling alone, the cost per person is higher than either alternative, and Gozo’s relatively compact size means you are paying for flexibility you might not fully use. If you plan to drink at dinner, which is a reasonable plan given the local wine, you will also need to factor in taxis for the evenings or commit to being the designated driver.

Gozo Bus Routes: Better Than You Might Expect

Gozo bus routes radiate outward from Victoria’s bus terminus, which sits just off Republic Street. Most of the main destinations are covered: Marsalforn, Xlendi, Mġarr, Ramla, Dwejra, San Lawrenz. Services run regularly during the day, though less frequently in the early morning and evening. The fares are low, the buses are air-conditioned, and the routes cover more ground than the island’s reputation for poor public transport would suggest.

The limitations are real, though. Buses do not run on schedules that suit spontaneous decisions. If you want to leave a beach at 3pm on a Tuesday, you may be waiting forty minutes in the shade of a carob tree with no guarantee the bus will be on time. The routes also stop at the villages, not at the sites themselves, so reaching somewhere like the Ggantija temples from the bus stop in Xagħra still requires a ten-minute walk each way.

For solo travellers on a tight budget, or for anyone spending most of their time in or around Victoria, the buses are a completely reasonable way to operate. They are also a good backup for evenings when you do not want to worry about driving.

Scooters: Freedom With Conditions

A scooter changes the experience of Gozo in a way that is difficult to overstate. The island’s roads are quiet enough outside peak summer weeks that riding feels genuinely pleasurable rather than anxious. You can stop where you want, park almost anywhere, and reach places that buses do not go and where a car feels oversized. The views from the road between Marsalforn and Żebbuġ, for instance, are the kind of thing you absorb differently at 40kph on a scooter than through a car window.

The conditions matter, though. Gozo’s roads include stretches of uneven tarmac, loose gravel at junctions, and the occasional inexplicable speed bump placed where no reasonable person would expect one. A scooter is not the right choice if you have not ridden one recently and confidently. It is also not the right choice for a group of more than two, for anyone carrying substantial luggage, or for anyone who underestimates how much sun you absorb when you are moving at speed without shade.

Scooter hire is available from several operators in Victoria and Mġarr, typically with a 125cc option that requires a category A licence endorsement in some cases, depending on your home country’s licence rules. Check before you book rather than after.

Which Option Actually Works for Which Trip

A couple or small group staying for four or more days will almost certainly find a hire car the most cost-effective and least frustrating option once you split the daily rate. The freedom to leave when you want and go where you want is worth the extra cost over buses, particularly if you are trying to cover the less accessible parts of the island.

A solo traveller on a week-long trip has a genuine decision to make. Buses for day-to-day movement, combined with one or two days of scooter hire for the areas buses do not reach, is a combination that works well and keeps costs down. It is the approach I would take now, having once hired a car solo for five days and spent more time finding parking in Xlendi than actually swimming.

Families with young children have fewer real options. A car is almost always the right call, both for convenience and for carrying everything that travelling with children requires. Scooters are not a practical family transport solution, and buses with tired children and beach equipment are an exercise in optimism.

The Bottom Line

• Car hire in Gozo makes the most sense for couples, small groups, or families who want flexibility and are covering the whole island.
• Gozo bus routes are cheap, reasonably reliable, and perfectly adequate for main destinations when you are not in a hurry.
• Scooters offer the best experience of the island but require recent riding confidence and are best used for one or two days rather than as a sole transport solution.
• Combining buses for daily use with one day of scooter hire is a practical and cost-effective approach for solo travellers staying a full week.
• Whatever you choose, plan around the afternoon heat. Between noon and 3pm, being stuck at a bus stop or riding an exposed scooter is a miserable experience that a little timing adjustments will avoid entirely.