The Malta Pass is the island’s official tourist sightseeing pass — a single QR-code ticket that gets you into 30+ attractions, includes the hop-on hop-off buses, and aims to do for Malta what the London Pass does for London. Like every “city pass” ever invented, it’s a great deal for some travellers and a quiet money-pit for others, and the marketing copy doesn’t help you tell which one you are.
This guide does the honest maths. We’ll walk through what’s included, what isn’t, the four traveller profiles where the pass actually pays off, the common mistakes, and the alternative (which is “just don’t buy it”) that’s right for most people.
For wider planning see Malta travel costs, 3 days in Malta, and best Malta tours.
This article links out to the official Malta Pass site (no affiliate at this time of writing). Some other links on the site are affiliate; they don’t change your price.
What is the Malta Pass?#
A pre-paid sightseeing pass that bundles entry to 30+ Maltese attractions and a few transport extras into a single QR code on your phone. Issued by the Malta Heritage agencies (Heritage Malta runs many of the included sites) and sold via the official Malta Pass website and resellers.
Three main durations:
| Duration | 2026 price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 1-day pass | ~€39 | Cruise stop, single intense day |
| 2-day pass | ~€59 | Long weekend |
| 3-day pass | ~€69 | Standard 3–4 day trip |
| 5-day pass | ~€89 | Long stay with heavy sightseeing |
(2026 prices; verify on the official site as they shift annually.)
Format: digital pass on your phone via the Malta Pass app or PDF. Activates on first use, then runs for the chosen duration of consecutive days.
What’s actually included#
Heritage Malta sites (the bulk of the value):
- St John’s Co-Cathedral (Valletta) — €15 walk-up
- The Hypogeum at Hal Saflieni (via the pass you skip the lottery; otherwise book 8 weeks ahead at €40)
- Hagar Qim & Mnajdra Temples — €10 walk-up
- Tarxien Temples — €6
- The Inquisitor’s Palace, Birgu — €6
- Fort St Angelo, Birgu — €10
- The National War Museum, Fort St Elmo — €10
- The Lascaris War Rooms — €15
- The Grand Master’s Palace State Rooms, Valletta — €12
- Mdina Cathedral and Cathedral Museum — €10
- St Paul’s Catacombs, Rabat — €8
- Gozo’s Citadel museums (Archaeology, Folklore, Old Prison, Cathedral) — €10 combined
- The Ggantija Temples, Gozo — €10
- Fort Rinella Saluting Battery — €15
Plus extras (vary by year):
- Hop-on hop-off bus pass (24h, normally €25)
- Selected guided walking tours in Valletta and Mdina
- A few boat-tour discounts (typically 10–20% off, not free)
- Sliema–Valletta ferry pass for the duration of the pass
What’s NOT included:
- The Comino / Blue Lagoon boat tours (this is the big one)
- Most private operator tours (sunset cruises, food tours, jeep tours)
- Restaurants, food experiences
- Public Tallinja buses (separate from the hop-on bus)
- The Malta–Gozo Channel ferry (separate operator)
- Some private museums (the Mdina Dungeons, Casa Rocca Piccola — small ones)
The maths: when does it pay off?#
The break-even calculation is straightforward — add up what you’d pay individually, compare to the pass price.
Profile A: the “do it all” first-timer (3 days, sightseeing-heavy)#
If you’re knocking out the major paid sites in 3 days:
| Site | Walk-up cost |
|---|---|
| St John’s Co-Cathedral | €15 |
| Lascaris War Rooms | €15 |
| Grand Master’s Palace | €12 |
| Hagar Qim & Mnajdra | €10 |
| Mdina Cathedral | €10 |
| St Paul’s Catacombs | €8 |
| Inquisitor’s Palace | €6 |
| Fort St Angelo | €10 |
| Subtotal | €86 |
| Hop-on bus 24h | €25 |
| All-in walk-up | €111 |
vs 3-day Malta Pass: €69 → save ~€42.
Verdict: pass wins by ~€40.
Profile B: the “Valletta + Comino + relax” traveller (3 days)#
If you’re doing Valletta highlights, the Comino boat tour, and easy beach time:
| Site | Walk-up cost |
|---|---|
| St John’s Co-Cathedral | €15 |
| Lascaris War Rooms | €15 |
| Comino Blue Lagoon cruise | NOT INCLUDED in pass — €30–45 either way |
| Maybe Three Cities (Fort St Angelo) | €10 |
| Total walk-up | €40 + Comino |
vs 3-day Malta Pass: €69 → lose ~€29.
Verdict: skip the pass. You’re not hitting enough included sites to break even.
Profile C: the family with kids 6–11 (4 days)#
Mostly outdoor / playground-and-beach time, with one or two big sights:
| Site | Walk-up cost |
|---|---|
| Maybe Hagar Qim | €10 (kids under 11 free or half) |
| Maybe Fort St Elmo (kids love the cannons) | €10 |
| Hop-on bus (1 day, kids love this) | €25 |
| Total walk-up adult | €45 |
vs 2-day Malta Pass: €59 → lose ~€14.
Verdict: skip the pass for adults; kids’ walk-up tickets are heavily discounted anyway.
Profile D: the museum-heavy splurge couple (3 days)#
Doing every Heritage Malta site they can:
| Site | Walk-up cost |
|---|---|
| St John’s | €15 |
| Hypogeum (via pass, no booking lottery) | €40 |
| Lascaris | €15 |
| Grand Master’s Palace | €12 |
| Hagar Qim & Mnajdra | €10 |
| Mdina Cathedral | €10 |
| Catacombs | €8 |
| Fort St Angelo | €10 |
| Tarxien | €6 |
| Inquisitor’s Palace | €6 |
| Hop-on bus | €25 |
| All-in walk-up | €157 |
vs 3-day Malta Pass: €69 → save ~€88.
Verdict: pass wins by a wide margin — but only if you actually hit 9+ sites in 3 days, which is a brisk pace.
When the pass actually pays off#
In one sentence: when your Malta plan is sightseeing-heavy and Heritage-Malta-focused, and your trip is 2–4 days long.
The three traveller profiles where it makes sense:
- Fast first-timers, 2–4 days, “do everything” mode. Profile A above. €30–50 saved is real.
- History buffs, museum-heavy plans. Profile D. The Hypogeum line alone (no booking lottery) is worth a chunk of the pass.
- Cruise-port visitors with one intense day. A 1-day pass at €39 covers St John’s + Lascaris + a hop-on bus + a quick Three Cities trip with margin to spare.
When the pass is a bad deal#
In one sentence: when your trip is mostly beaches, boats, food, or slow walking around looking at architecture you don’t pay to enter.
- Beach-focused trips — beaches are free; the pass adds nothing
- Comino-day trips — the Comino cruise isn’t included; you’re paying €30–45 for that separately anyway
- Foodie itineraries — restaurants and food tours aren’t covered
- Slow travel, 7+ days — you spread the same sights over more time, the daily-rate value collapses
- Off-season visitors — many included sites have shorter winter hours, you can’t fit as many in
- Travellers staying on Gozo only — most pass value is on the Malta side; only a few Gozo Heritage Malta sites count
- Anyone with mobility or stroller issues — the catacombs, Fort St Angelo, and Mdina back streets aren’t accessible
What about the “Multi-Site Pass” Heritage Malta sells?#
Heritage Malta itself sells a separate “Multi-Site Pass” that’s not the same product as the Malta Pass. It covers only Heritage Malta sites (so no hop-on bus, no St John’s Co-Cathedral, no Lascaris) and runs €50 for 30 days.
If you’re a museum-only traveller and you don’t care about the hop-on bus or St John’s, the Multi-Site Pass can be a better deal than the Malta Pass — particularly for travellers spreading 8–10 Heritage Malta sites over a longer trip.
A direct comparison:
| Need | Better pick |
|---|---|
| Hop-on bus + St John’s + 6+ sites in 3 days | Malta Pass |
| 8+ Heritage Malta-only sites over 5–10 days | Heritage Multi-Site |
| Just a few sites, casually | Walk-up tickets, no pass |
Step-by-step: how the pass works on the ground#
- Buy online at the official Malta Pass site or the Heritage Malta site (depending on which pass).
- Receive a QR code by email and via the app.
- First use activates — the duration starts on the day of first scan.
- At each site, scan the QR at the entry desk. Most sites are walk-up; the Hypogeum requires a separate timed booking via the pass (book it the moment you have the pass — slots fill within hours during peak season).
- For the hop-on bus, show the QR at any boarding stop.
Maximum-value 3-day plan:
- Day 1: St John’s, Grand Master’s Palace, Lascaris, Fort St Elmo, hop-on bus loop (Valletta + Sliema)
- Day 2: Mdina Cathedral, Catacombs, Hagar Qim & Mnajdra, Tarxien on the way back
- Day 3: Three Cities — Inquisitor’s Palace, Fort St Angelo, plus a Gozo day-trip if pass covers it
That’s 8–10 sites + hop-on, which gets you firmly into “pass pays” territory.
What does the hop-on hop-off bus add?#
The Malta Pass includes the City Sightseeing Malta hop-on hop-off bus pass for 24 hours. Two routes — a North loop (Sliema, Mdina, Mosta, Mellieħa) and a South loop (Valletta, Three Cities, Marsaxlokk, Hagar Qim) — open-top double-deckers, audio commentary in 8 languages.
Honest take: the hop-on bus is fine but slow, and on most routes the Tallinja public bus is genuinely faster (since the hop-on stops at every photo-op). Where the hop-on wins is the audio commentary on the South loop — it’s a competent intro to the south coast and Marsaxlokk if you don’t have a guide.
If you’d buy the hop-on bus separately for €25, the Malta Pass adds it for free. If you wouldn’t, that “free” bus isn’t actually saving you anything.
Our verdict#
For most first-timers on a 3–5 day Malta trip, we’d skip the Malta Pass and buy tickets individually. The pass marketing leans on the “do everything” use case, but most travellers don’t actually do 6+ paid sites — they do 3–4, plus a Comino boat tour (not included), plus food and beach time.
We’d buy the pass for:
- A focused 2–3 day “do all the museums” trip — especially if the Hypogeum is on the list and you didn’t book it 8 weeks ahead.
- A cruise-day visitor with one intense day in Valletta hitting 4+ paid sites.
- A history-museum couple who genuinely will hit 8+ Heritage Malta sites.
We’d skip the pass for:
- Beach + boat + food trips
- 7-day slow trips
- Anyone whose itinerary already has paid GYG/Viator tours (the tours bundle their own entries)
- Off-season trips with reduced opening hours
Insider tips#
- Book the Hypogeum slot the moment you buy the pass. Slots are released in batches and fill within hours in summer. The pass guarantees access if you can get a slot — there’s no guaranteed walk-in.
- The pass clock starts at first scan. Don’t activate it until your first sight-heavy day — if you arrive on a Sunday and your first museum day is Monday, scan on Monday.
- St John’s Co-Cathedral is closed Sundays for tourists. Plan around it.
- Many Heritage Malta sites close at 16:30 or 17:00 in winter. A 3-day pass in February gets you fewer sites than a 3-day pass in July.
- Children 5 and under are free at almost all Heritage Malta sites anyway. Don’t buy a kids’ pass.
- The hop-on bus 24-hour clock starts at first boarding. Don’t board on Day 1 morning if you only plan to use it on Day 2.
Common mistakes#
- Buying the pass and then booking a Comino cruise. The Comino boat is the single biggest paid attraction on most Malta trips and it’s not in the pass. The pass works despite the cruise, not because of it.
- Buying a 5-day pass for a 7-day trip. You’ll fit fewer sites per day across a longer trip; the daily-rate value drops fast. Better to buy a 3-day pass and use it intensively across days 2–4.
- Using the pass on Sundays in winter. Many sites close earlier or shutter on Sunday in low season — you’ll burn a pass day on 2–3 sites.
- Ignoring the Heritage Malta Multi-Site Pass. If your trip is museum-only and you don’t need the hop-on bus, it’s often a better deal.
- Not booking the Hypogeum. The pass gives you priority access if you book a slot. Most travellers forget and find no slots available.
- Buying tickets at the door even though you have the pass. The QR scan at each site is free; reception desks sometimes default to selling tickets if you don’t lead with the pass.
How the pass fits a Malta trip#
For most travellers, the decision is binary at the planning stage. If you’re in any of our 3-day, 5-day, or 7-day itineraries, here’s the quick reckoner:
- 3-day fast itinerary: pass is borderline-worth-it; depends on whether you do Hypogeum
- 5-day Malta + Gozo: pass is rarely worth-it (Gozo dilutes the Heritage Malta value, Comino isn’t covered)
- 7-day full trip: pass is almost never worth-it (sites spread too thin)
- Cruise / 1-day visit: 1-day pass is worth-it if you’re sightseeing-heavy
For a wider cost picture see Malta travel costs.
FAQ#
Is the Malta Pass worth it?#
It depends on your itinerary. Yes, if you’re a sightseer doing 6+ paid attractions in 2–3 days, including museum-heavy plans. No, if your trip is beach + boat + food-focused, or longer than 4 days.
How much is the Malta Pass?#
Roughly €39 (1-day), €59 (2-day), €69 (3-day), €89 (5-day) in 2026, sold via the official Malta Pass site. Prices shift annually — verify on the official site.
Does the Malta Pass include Comino or the Blue Lagoon?#
No. The Comino / Blue Lagoon boat tours are operated by separate private companies and are not included. You’ll pay €30–45 separately for any Comino cruise.
Does the Malta Pass include Gozo?#
Partially. Some Heritage Malta Gozo sites (Citadel museums, Ggantija Temples) are included. The Gozo Channel ferry to Gozo is not — that’s a separate operator (€4.65 return).
What’s better, the Malta Pass or the Heritage Malta Multi-Site Pass?#
Malta Pass if you want the hop-on bus, St John’s Co-Cathedral, and Lascaris included. Heritage Malta Multi-Site Pass (€50, 30 days) if you’re museum-only and visiting 8+ Heritage sites over a longer trip.
Can I use the Malta Pass on the public bus?#
No. The Malta Pass includes the City Sightseeing hop-on hop-off bus, not the Tallinja public buses. For Tallinja you need a separate ticket or the 7-day Explore card (€21).
How long does the Malta Pass last?#
It runs for consecutive days from first activation — your duration (1, 2, 3 or 5 days) starts at first scan. Don’t activate on a travel day if you can avoid it.
Can I share a Malta Pass with my partner?#
No. Each pass is single-traveller, QR-coded, and scanned per entry. You’d need one pass each.
Is there a Malta Pass for kids?#
Yes, with reduced pricing. But kids 5 and under are usually free at Heritage Malta sites anyway, and 6–17 are often half-price walk-up — so the pass rarely saves money for kids. Calculate the walk-up costs first.
What’s the alternative to the Malta Pass?#
Just buy walk-up tickets as you go. For most travellers this works out to within €5–15 of the pass total — sometimes cheaper, sometimes slightly more, with the upside of total flexibility. Pay-as-you-go is the right pick for most first-timers.
Last verified: April 2026. Pass prices, included sites, and operating hours change — confirm on the official Malta Pass and Heritage Malta sites before booking.
