Things to Do in Malta in December: A Local Guide to the Quiet Season

December is the month Malta stops performing for its visitors and just gets on with being Malta. The cruise ships thin out, the queues at the headline sites disappear, and the temperature settles into the mid to high teens, which is the range the island is genuinely best explored in.

That changes what is worth doing. The things to do in Malta in December are not a reduced version of the summer list. Walking, diving, historic sites and markets all work better now than they do in August, while the beach and boat trip side of the island largely shuts down. Here is how to plan around it.

What to expect from the weather, the daylight and the holidays

Daytime highs usually sit in the mid to high teens, with cooler evenings and a reasonable chance of a short, heavy rain shower rather than all-day drizzle. Daylight is the bigger adjustment: the sun sets shortly before 17:00 in mid December, so an afternoon start leaves you walking a historic town in the dark.

Four public holidays land in the month. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception falls on Tuesday 8 December, Republic Day on Sunday 13 December, Christmas Day on Friday 25 December, and New Year’s Day on Friday 1 January. Expect banks, government offices and most shops to close, museums to run holiday hours, and buses to switch to a public holiday timetable. Our guide to getting around Malta by bus, ferry and taxi is worth a read before you build an itinerary around those dates.

Walk the places that are unbearable in August

Mdina is the clearest example. The silent city is genuinely silent in December, and walking its lanes without a tour group ahead of you is a different experience entirely. The same applies to the Three Cities across the Grand Harbour, where Birgu’s waterfront and the back streets behind it reward an unhurried hour or two. You can reach them by the traditional dghajsa boats that cross from the Valletta side.

Valletta itself is the easiest of these from the Sliema and Gzira waterfront, via the ferry across Marsamxett Harbour. For the context behind what you are looking at, our piece on the history of Valletta covers the Knights, the Great Siege and how the grid was laid out. Guests at Valletta View Apartments look straight across at the city, which makes the short crossing an easy thing to repeat two or three times in a week rather than treating as a single day out.

For something longer, the Dingli Cliffs path runs along Malta’s highest point at roughly 250 m above the sea, with clear winter visibility out towards Filfla. Closer to base, the Gzira and Sliema waterfront promenade is a flat, uninterrupted walk that is far more pleasant in December than in summer heat. It is also the reason Blubay Apartments works well for winter trips if you are travelling with a dog, since it is our pet-friendly property and this is the season you can actually walk one comfortably.

Marsaxlokk on a Sunday, and eating in winter

The Sunday fish market at Marsaxlokk is the one fixed appointment worth building a December weekend around. Stalls run along the harbour front, the painted luzzu boats sit moored behind them, and the fish restaurants along the quay are busy with Maltese families rather than tourists at this time of year. Go in the morning, and book a table if you want to eat afterwards.

Winter is also when Maltese cooking makes the most sense. Rabbit stew, bragioli and soups like kusksu and minestra are cold weather dishes that feel odd in July and right in December. Marsaxlokk is reached by bus from Valletta rather than directly from the Sliema side, so allow for a change. Azur Hotel sits on the Gzira waterfront within walking distance of the Valletta ferry and the main bus connections, which makes mornings like this straightforward. We cover the route and several others in our guide to day trips from Sliema.

Diving and the sea in December

Malta’s dive season does not stop at the end of summer. The sea holds much of its warmth into early December, usually still in the high teens, and winter visibility is often better than in peak season because there are far fewer boats stirring up the sites. Dive centres operate year round, with wetsuit thickness the main thing that changes.

Shore dives around Cirkewwa in the north remain the most accessible, and the wrecks off the coast stay diveable through the winter. Swimming, on the other hand, is a smaller crowd. The water is manageable for the committed but most visitors find it too cool by mid month, so plan sea days early in December rather than late.

Indoor things to do in Malta in December

When the rain does arrive it tends to be brief but heavy, so it helps to have a list. St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta holds Caravaggio’s Beheading of Saint John the Baptist and is worth an hour on its own. The Grandmaster’s Palace, the National Museum of Archaeology and the Lascaris War Rooms are all within a few minutes’ walk of each other. The prehistoric temples at Hagar Qim and Mnajdra sit under protective canopies, so they stay visitable in poor weather.

Teatru Manoel in Valletta, one of the oldest working theatres in Europe, runs its pantomime season through December, a Maltese tradition that draws local families as much as visitors. The simplest of the indoor things to do in Malta in December, though, is to stay put: Bayview Hotel & Spa is the only property in our portfolio with a spa, sauna, jacuzzi and an indoor pool alongside the outdoor one, which covers a wet afternoon without leaving the building.

Where to Stay for a December Trip to Malta

All five of our properties sit on or near the Gzira and Sliema waterfront, within reach of the Valletta ferry and the main bus routes, which matters more in winter when daylight is short and you want less travel time between stops. Bayview Hotel & Spa is the pick if you want the spa and indoor pool as a weather contingency. Valletta View Apartments faces the capital across the harbour, which is at its best in the long December evenings. Blubay Apartments gives you self-catering space for a longer winter stay and welcomes dogs, with a pet accessible rooftop pool. Azur Hotel keeps you a walk from the ferry for repeat trips into Valletta and the Three Cities. Alavits Hotel is the straightforward Gzira base for a short winter break built around walking, museums and food.

If your trip falls closer to the end of the month, the festive programme changes the picture considerably, with Valletta’s lights, the Gozo nativity village and the New Year’s Eve celebrations all worth planning around Christmas in Malta 2026. For routes, timings and the practicalities of moving between all of this, start with our Malta transport guide.