Best Malta Guidebooks — Picked by Someone Who Actually Lives Here
Last updated: March 2026 · Editions and direct product links checked
A lot of Malta guidebooks are thin, generic, or clearly written by people who barely know the islands. The best mainstream guide is still Bradt. Lonely Planet is the easiest all-rounder. DK Top 10 is fine for a short trip. After that, the smarter move is to buy one book that matches your actual interest — WWII, the Knights, food, underground Malta, walking, diving, or spring nature — instead of stacking up five versions of the same basic guide.
Guidebooks ·
Walking ·
WWII ·
Knights ·
Hidden gems ·
Ancient ·
Niche ·
Diving & climbing ·
Other languages ·
Full table ·
Self-published ·
Where to buy ·
FAQ
I’ve seen tourists walk past my place in Gżira with everything from an old Lonely Planet to some €3.99 Kindle guide that looks as if it was stitched together from search results. You can usually tell when the book is bad. It sends people to places that closed years ago, or makes Malta sound flatter and duller than it really is.
The awkward thing about Malta is that the islands are small, but the history and local detail go deep. That leaves a gap. A lot of mainstream guides stay too shallow, while the really good books are often local, specialist, or hard to find outside Malta. There are also more niche books than people realise — not just history, but food, walking, diving, underground sites, and even nature.
If you’re still deciding whether Malta is for you at all, start with my Is Malta Right for You? page and the Malta vs Sicily comparison. But if the trip is already booked and you want one or two books that will actually help, this page should narrow it down.
Which Type of Malta Traveller Are You?
Before buying anything, it helps to be honest about the kind of trip you want. That matters more than the cover or the blurb on the back.
The Planner — You want transport, restaurant ideas, day plans, and something that makes the trip feel easy. Go for a proper travel guide like Lonely Planet or Bradt.
The History Nerd — You care about the Knights, the Great Siege, WWII, temples, and the layers under the surface. One travel guide plus one serious history book is the right combination.
The Walker — You want cliff paths, the Victoria Lines, rural Gozo, and long days outdoors. Buy a dedicated walking guide, not just a normal guidebook.
The Explorer — You like odd corners, old tunnels, strange stories, and places that do not show up in every tourist roundup. Bizarre Malta, Malta Sotterranea, or Hidden Malta will suit you better than another glossy general guide.
The Weekender — You’ve only got a few days and you want the essentials without overthinking it. The DK pocket guide does the job.
The Specialist — Diving, climbing, bird migration, ancient Malta, fortress history, or Maltese food. This is where niche books earn their keep.
Most people are a mix of two or three of those. That is normal. In most cases, the best setup is one mainstream guide and one more focused book.
Best General Guidebooks
If you want one guide that covers the basics well, start here.
Bradt Malta and Gozo
This is still the strongest single guide if you want more than a checklist of sights. It has more weight on history, archaeology, churches, and local texture than most rivals. It is not the handiest book to carry around all day, but it is the one I would rather read before arriving or back at the apartment in the evening.
Lonely Planet Malta & Gozo
This is easier, lighter, and more straightforward than Bradt. It is the better choice if you want a familiar guidebook rhythm: practical planning, maps, short descriptions, and a bit less depth. For plenty of travellers, that is exactly the right balance.
DK Top 10 Malta and Gozo
For a short trip, this is perfectly decent. It is quick, visual, and easy to use. You are not buying it for deep background. You are buying it because you want something small that gets to the point.
Also Worth Considering
Insight Guides Explore Malta (Insight Guides) — A reasonable option if you like walking-based structure and a more visual feel.
Marco Polo Pocket Guide Malta & Gozo (Marco Polo) — Small and functional, without offering much depth.
Mini Rough Guide to Malta (Rough Guides) — Fine as a slim digital extra, though not a replacement for Bradt if you want substance.
Best Walking & Hiking Guides
Malta is better for walking than plenty of first-time visitors expect, especially outside the hottest months. The general guidebooks do not cover this properly, so if walking matters to you, buy a real walking guide.
Malta, Gozo & Comino: 60 Walks & 3 Car Tours
This is probably the most useful all-round walking book for most visitors. It gives you range, not just detail, and works well if you want route ideas as much as strict navigation. It is especially helpful in Gozo, where walking often feels more rewarding.
Walking on Malta: 33 Walks
This one is a little more serious. Fewer routes, but more route detail. If you care about the walk itself more than browsing options, Cicerone may suit you better than Sunflower.
Best Books for WWII Malta
WWII is one of the clearest reasons to read about Malta before you come. The island’s role in the war was much bigger than many visitors expect, but most mainstream guides do not give it enough space.
Malta in World War II: Wartime Drawings by Alfred Gerada
This is one of the most affecting Malta books on the list. It does not read like a standard military history. Instead, it shows what wartime Malta looked and felt like. If you are planning to visit Lascaris, the War HQ Tunnels, or the Three Cities, it adds a lot.
Also Worth It for WWII
Malta POWs: The Interrogations of Italian Prisoners of War by Jeffrey Sammut (Midsea Books) — More personal and human than the title first suggests.
Waqa’ Ajruplon: Chronicles of Fallen Aircraft in Gozo by Matthew Curmi (Midsea Books) — Best if your interest leans toward sites, aircraft, and Gozo.
Strait Street: Malta’s ‘Red-Light District’ Revealed (Midsea Books) — Social history rather than military history, and better for that difference.
The Front Page on the Front Line (Midsea Books) — A strong pick if you like newspapers, propaganda, and how people understood the war at the time.
National War Museum: The Heritage Malta Official Guide (BDL Books) — Small and practical, especially if you want something tied directly to a site visit.
Best Books for Knights of St John & Medieval Malta
The Knights shaped so much of Malta that you can walk around Valletta seeing their legacy without quite understanding it. If you want the forts, churches, and street plan to make more sense, read beyond the basics.
The History of the Knights of Malta, Vols 1 + 2
This is old, but still worth reading if the Knights are the reason you are coming. It is not a handy holiday guide. It is a book that changes the way places feel once you visit them. Valletta and the Three Cities tend to land differently after you have spent time with it.
Also Worth It for Knights & Medieval
Late Medieval Malta (1091–1530) by Charlene Vella (Midsea Books) — Very useful for understanding the period before the Knights arrived.
The Last Knight of Malta — A good bridge between the end of the Order and Napoleon’s arrival.
The Coinage of the Crusaders and the World of Islam (Midsea Books) — One for serious readers with a specific interest.
Best for Hidden Gems, Underground Malta & the Bizarre
Most books that promise hidden gems in Malta are just renaming the obvious. There is only so much you can hide on islands this small. But a few books do manage to point you somewhere more interesting, or at least make you notice parts of Malta that standard guides flatten out.
Bizarre Malta
This is one of the few books in this lane that actually feels worth having. It leans into Malta’s odd corners, forgotten details, and stranger stories without sounding fake or forced. If normal guidebooks leave you cold, this is a good change of mood.
Malta Sotterranea
This is where Malta gets more interesting under the surface. Catacombs, underground remains, shelters, and the buried side of the islands. If you like the idea that the real Malta is partly below ground, this is the book that opens that door.
Nostalgias of Malta / Nostalgias of Gozo — Not really guidebooks, more photographic memory books, but still useful if you enjoy seeing how villages and streets once looked.
Best for Deep History (Temples, Phoenicians, Romans)
Malta’s ancient side is easy to underestimate. The temples are far older than many visitors realise, the Hypogeum is extraordinary, and the Roman and Punic layers deserve more than a page or two in a travel guide.
Malta: Phoenician, Punic, and Roman
This is a good example of the kind of book people only realise they wanted after visiting a site. It adds proper depth without being unreadable. If your trip includes temples, Rabat, the Roman Domus, or the Hypogeum, it is a strong companion.
Also Worth It for Deep History
Roman and Byzantine Malta: Trade and Economy by Anthony Bonanno (Midsea Books) — More academic, but very solid.
A History of Muslim Sicily by Leonard Chiarelli (Midsea Books) — Useful if you want to understand Malta’s Arabic layer and its wider context.
Once Upon a Time in 1798, 1799, 1800 by Yosanne Vella (Midsea Books) — A more narrative, approachable historical read.
Niche Malta Books Tourists Might Actually Enjoy
This is the area most roundups miss. Midsea and BDL dominate local publishing for good reason, but not every useful Malta book has to be another heavy history title. Some of the best buys are smaller books with a clear angle.
Hidden Malta
This gives you a different mood from the heavier heritage books. It is more contemporary and more outward-looking. Good for people who want local atmosphere, corners, streets, and a more lived-in sense of the islands.
Traditional Taste of Malta
If food is part of how you get to know a place, this is a much better buy than another generic travel guide. It gives dishes context, not just names. Good if you want the trip to feel more rooted in everyday Maltese life.
Flora of the Maltese Islands: A Field Guide
A good reminder that Malta is not just stone and sea. If you are here in late winter or spring, or you enjoy noticing what grows around you when you walk, this quietly makes the countryside more interesting.
Birds of the Maltese Islands
A strong pick for birdwatchers, spring visitors, and anyone who enjoys coastal walks with a bit more awareness of what they are seeing overhead or along the shoreline.
Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum: The Heritage Malta Official Guide
Useful if you want something tied to one of Malta’s most important sites rather than a broad prehistoric overview. Small, practical, and easy to pair with the visit itself.
Inside Malta and Gozo
More visual and companionable than deep. Good for readers who like a sense of place, imagery, and atmosphere without wanting another heavily detailed history book.
Uncommon Malta & Gozo
A looser, more literary alternative to a standard guidebook. Better for readers who like mood, voice, and a slightly less conventional way into a place.
Underground Valletta: The Heritage Malta Official Guide
A focused little guide for people who are fascinated by Valletta and want something more specific than a normal guidebook. This is the kind of book tourists really do use: short, clear, and tied to an actual place they are visiting.
Best for Diving & Climbing
Malta’s diving reputation is well earned, and the climbing scene is better than many visitors expect. These books are for people who are serious enough about those interests to want something more than a paragraph in a travel guide.
Scuba Diving Malta Gozo Comino
A real specialist book, and worth it if diving is a central part of the trip. This is not the sort of thing you buy as a casual souvenir. It is the reference you use before serious dives, or even before planning the trip itself.
Malta Rock Climbing: The Comprehensive Guide
Still the main climbing reference even though it is old and not easy to find. That tells you a lot. If climbing is one of the main reasons for the trip, this is still the guide that matters most.
Malta Guidebooks in Other Languages
Most visitors from mainland Europe read English well enough to use the books listed above. But if you prefer reading in your own language — or you want a guide from a publisher you already trust — here is what exists. The choice is uneven. German readers are well served. French readers have several strong options. Italian, Spanish, and Scandinavian readers have less to work with.
German / Deutsch
Germany is one of Malta’s biggest source markets, and the guidebook selection reflects that. You have more choice in German than in any language other than English.
Marco Polo Reiseführer Malta & Gozo (Klaus Bötig, 21st edition, 2025) — The most frequently updated German-language Malta guide. Compact, practical, includes a free tour app. Bötig has known Malta since 1978. Good for short trips. (Amazon.de)
Reise Know-How InselTrip Malta (4th edition, 2025) — A focused island guide with a fold-out map and free web app. Reise Know-How is a reliable mid-range German publisher. (Amazon.de)
Michael Müller Verlag: Malta, Gozo & Comino (Michael Bussmann, 2024) — The best German-language guide for independent travellers who want depth. Michael Müller guides are known for being more detailed and more opinionated than Marco Polo. Closest thing to the Bradt in German. (Amazon.de)
DuMont direkt Reiseführer Malta (Hans E. Latzke, 3rd edition, 2024) — Compact DuMont format with a fold-out map. Decent but thinner than the Müller. (Amazon.de)
Lonely Planet Malta & Gozo (German edition, Brett Atkinson, 10th edition, 2025) — The same LP content translated into German. If you use Lonely Planet at home, this keeps the familiar format. (Amazon.de)
French / Français
France is Malta’s third-largest source market. The French guidebook scene is strong — several publishers compete seriously for Mediterranean destinations.
Le Guide du Routard — Malte (Hachette, 2025/26 edition) — The Routard is France’s equivalent of Lonely Planet. Practical, address-heavy, regularly updated, and trusted by French independent travellers. (Amazon.fr)
Lonely Planet — Malte et Gozo (French edition, 2025, 208 pages) — French translation of the new LP. Clear maps, diving coverage, thematic itineraries. (Amazon.fr)
Petit Futé — Malte, Gozo et Comino (2025 edition) — Another solid French option. Petit Futé guides tend to have a wider selection of addresses and practical tips than the Routard. (Amazon.fr)
Michelin Guide Vert Week-End — Malte — Compact Michelin format aimed at short breaks. Clear layout, good maps, well-chosen address selection. (Amazon.fr)
Gallimard Cartoville — Malte — A clever folding map-guide format. Better for cities than for whole islands, so treat it as a supplement rather than a standalone guide. (Amazon.fr)
Italian / Italiano
Italy is Malta’s second-largest source market. The guidebook options are narrower than you might expect for a destination 90 minutes from Sicily.
Lonely Planet Malta e Gozo (Italian edition) — The most widely available Italian-language Malta guide. Not the freshest edition, but still the main reference for Italian travellers. (Amazon.it)
Routard — Malta (Italian edition) — The Routard also publishes an Italian translation. Worth checking if you prefer the Routard format. (Amazon.it)
DK Eyewitness Top 10 Malta e Gozo (Italian edition) — DK publishes visual pocket guides in Italian. Same format as the English version. (Amazon.it)
For Italian readers who are comfortable with some English, the Midsea and BDL history books are worth considering. Malta’s connection to Sicily and Italy runs deep, and a lot of the Knights-era documentation was originally in Italian anyway.
Spanish / Español
Spain is Malta’s fifth-largest source market, but the guidebook selection in Spanish is thin.
Lonely Planet Malta y Gozo (Spanish edition) — Available via Lonely Planet’s Spanish-language catalogue. (Amazon.es)
Guía Visual Top 10 Malta y Gozo (DK, Spanish edition) — The DK pocket guide translated into Spanish. Solid for a quick trip. (Amazon.es)
Beyond those two, options in Spanish are limited. Most Spanish visitors to Malta either use the English guides or rely on online resources.
Swedish, Dutch, Polish & Other Languages
There are no dedicated Malta guidebooks in Swedish, Dutch, Polish, or most other European languages. Visitors from Scandinavia, the Netherlands, and Poland — all growing Malta markets — are best served by the English-language guides listed above. For walking guides specifically, the Sunflower and Cicerone route maps and GPS tracks work regardless of language.
The Full Comparison Table
All the main picks in one place.
| Book | Author / Publisher | Edition / Year | Best For | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradt Malta & Gozo | Juliet Rix | 5th ed, 2025 | Best deep mainstream guide | Amazon |
| Lonely Planet Malta & Gozo | Brett Atkinson | 2025 | Best all-rounder | Amazon |
| DK Top 10 Malta & Gozo | DK Travel | Latest ed | Short-break pocket guide | Amazon |
| Sunflower Malta, Gozo & Comino | Douglas Lockhart | 8th ed, 2022 | Walking and car tours | Amazon |
| Walking on Malta | Paddy Dillon | 2016 | Serious walkers | Amazon |
| Malta in WWII: Wartime Drawings | Albert Ganado / Midsea | 2018 | WWII atmosphere | Midsea |
| History of the Knights of Malta | Abbé de Vertot / Midsea | Facsimile 1989 | Knights and Great Siege | Midsea |
| Bizarre Malta | Vella & Gatt / BDL | 2018 | Weird Malta | BDL |
| Malta Sotterranea | Midsea | 2009 | Underground Malta | Midsea |
| Malta: Phoenician, Punic, and Roman | Anthony Bonanno / Midsea | 2005 | Ancient Malta | Midsea |
| Hidden Malta | Vincent Zammit / BDL | Current | Offbeat exploring | BDL |
| Traditional Taste of Malta | Dougall family / BDL | Current | Food and culture | BDL |
| Flora of the Maltese Islands | BDL | Field guide | Spring walkers | BDL |
| Birds of the Maltese Islands | BDL | Natural history | Migration season | BDL |
| Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum Guide | Heritage Malta / BDL | Official guide | Site-specific prehistory | BDL |
| Inside Malta and Gozo | BDL | Illustrated | Visual overview | BDL |
| Uncommon Malta & Gozo | BDL | Travelogue | Literary travel | BDL |
| Underground Valletta | Heritage Malta / BDL | Paperback | Site-specific Valletta | BDL |
| Scuba Diving Malta Gozo Comino | Peter & Sue Lemon | 5th/final, 2024 | Diving | Amazon |
| Malta Rock Climbing | Abela, Codling, Warrington | 2007 | Climbing | Site |
The Self-Published Problem
I need to be fairly direct here. Amazon’s Malta section is full of self-published books that sound current, look tidy enough, and promise insider tips, but often add very little. A lot of them feel broad, interchangeable, and thin.
The usual signs are easy to spot after a while: the author has no obvious link to Malta, the writing sounds generic, and the title leans heavily on a fresh date as if that proves quality. Quite a few of these books seem to have been produced to fit a market gap rather than because the writer knows the islands well.
That does not mean the answer is always another big general guide. Often the better alternative is a more focused book with a real point of view — food, underground sites, nature, diving, or a serious piece of local history.
What About Online Guides and Paid PDFs?
Online guides do have one clear advantage: they can be updated faster. In Malta, that matters. Restaurants change, practical details shift, and timing can matter more than in a big guidebook that was printed a while ago.
Where online guides usually fall short is depth. They can tell you where to go and when to book. They are less good at giving places weight. So the combination that works best is simple: use online resources for planning, and one solid book for context.
For logistics and broad planning, this site can help. For depth, books still do a better job.
Where to Buy Malta Books (On the Island)
Some of the best Malta books are still easier to buy here than abroad.
Midsea Books, Valletta — Best for serious Malta history and local publishing. If you already know you want the deeper side of the island, this is the obvious stop.
BDL Books, San Ġwann — Stronger for range: Heritage Malta guides, cookery books, natural history, visual books, and the more unusual niche titles. If you want something beyond yet another fort-and-siege book, BDL is often where that opens up.
Agenda Bookshop, Republic Street, Valletta — Good for mainstream guides and whatever local titles are circulating widely.
Merlin Library — Useful if you want a broader commercial spread or want to order from Malta before arrival.
Malta International Airport — Fine if you forgot to plan, but limited and usually overpriced.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a guidebook for Malta?
Not strictly for getting around. Malta is small and English-speaking. But if you care about context, a good book changes the trip. One travel guide plus one niche book is a sensible combination.
Bradt or Lonely Planet — which should I buy?
Bradt if you want more depth and background. Lonely Planet if you want something easier and more practical. Both are useful, but they suit slightly different readers.
Which Malta guidebook is best for WWII history?
For atmosphere and visual impact, Malta in World War II: Wartime Drawings by Alfred Gerada. For something tied more closely to a site visit, the National War Museum official guide is useful. For broader WWII coverage inside a normal guidebook, Bradt is strongest.
Is there a good walking guide for Malta?
Yes. Sunflower is the most useful all-round option for most visitors. Cicerone is better if you want fewer routes with more detail.
Are the self-published Amazon Malta guides any good?
Most are not worth much. The better alternatives are usually more focused books: food, underground Valletta, Malta nature, site guides, diving, or strong local history.
Can I buy these books locally in Malta?
Yes. Midsea is strongest for history. BDL is strongest for range. Agenda is useful for mainstream picks. The airport works if you left it late.
What are the best niche Malta books beyond the standard history titles?
Underground Valletta for a site guide, Hidden Malta for a more offbeat angle, Traditional Taste of Malta for food, and Flora of the Maltese Islands or Birds of the Maltese Islands if you are here in spring or like walking outdoors.
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