Malta travel health guide

The data behind Malta's score 64.0/100 · #22 of 30

Eight metrics, scored 0–100 and weighted per the index methodology. Evidence and sources shown per metric.

Can you drink the tap water in Malta? Generally safe

Here’s where Malta needs a little explaining. The tap water is safe — it meets EU drinking-water standards and is perfectly fine for brushing teeth, making tea and cooking — but very few residents actually drink it, and the reason is taste rather than safety. Malta has almost no natural fresh water, so roughly half the supply is produced by reverse-osmosis desalination of seawater, with the rest drawn from a heavily-used underground aquifer that runs slightly brackish.

The result is water that can taste faintly salty, chlorinated or ‘hard’, which is why most Maltese households and virtually every restaurant serve bottled water by default. It’s a preference, not a warning — you won’t come to harm drinking from the tap in Valletta, Sliema or St Julian’s — but you’ll probably find the flavour off-putting, and so will your cup of tea. The same goes for Gozo, which runs on the same kind of supply.

For most visitors the path of least resistance is bottled water, which is cheap and sold on every corner, or a refillable bottle with a carbon filter to take the edge off the taste. For infant formula, stick to bottled low-mineral water. If you do drink the tap, rest assured it’s entirely safe — it simply won’t win any prizes for flavour.

Mosquitoes and insect risk in Malta Moderate

Malta’s biting-insect rating is Moderate, and the picture is refreshingly simple: the one mosquito to know is the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), which has been established on the islands for over a decade. It’s an aggressive daytime biter that breeds in the smallest pockets of standing water — roof cisterns, plant-pot saucers, blocked gutters — of which a dense, built-up island has no shortage.

The good news is that here the tiger mosquito is overwhelmingly a nuisance rather than a health threat. Malta has no established West Nile virus and no malaria, and while Aedes albopictus is technically capable of carrying dengue and chikungunya, the islands have not seen meaningful local transmission of either. There are also no tick-and-TBE forests to worry about — this simply isn’t that kind of landscape. In practice, the mosquito question in Malta is about itchy ankles, not disease.

Keep the bites down with a DEET or icaridin repellent, especially around dusk on terraces and by the water, and make use of the plug-in repellents or window screens most accommodation provides. If you’re self-catering, tip out any standing water around your place — it’s the single most effective thing you can do to shrink the local mosquito population.

How hot does Malta get in summer? High

Heat is the variable to take most seriously in Malta. Peak-summer highs in Valletta sit around 32°C, but the humidity coming off the surrounding sea makes it feel considerably hotter, and the islands’ dense stone-and-concrete townscape soaks up warmth so that nights stay uncomfortably warm. During the extraordinary European heat event of August 2021, Malta recorded a high of 43.8°C.

The catch is that Malta is small, flat and largely urban, so there are few natural cool escapes — no mountains, and precious little shade. Your relief comes from the sea (swimming is the national coping strategy), from air-conditioned interiors, and from timing: mornings and evenings are far kinder than the middle of the day. Gozo is a touch greener and quieter, while Buskett Gardens — Malta’s only real woodland — and the breezy Dingli Cliffs offer a few shady degrees of respite.

Plan the day around the heat: tour the exposed bastions of Mdina and Valletta early or late, carry water everywhere, wear a hat and light clothing, and simply slow down. The Malta Meteorological Office at the airport issues heat warnings worth watching in a hot spell. As always, older visitors, young children and anyone with a heart or respiratory condition are the most vulnerable and should be especially careful.

Food and stomach bugs in Malta Moderate

Malta’s food-safety risk is moderate — restaurants are well regulated and the standard is good, but the islands record a relatively high rate of salmonella notifications, so a little care in the heat is sensible. The usual traveller’s upset is mild and short-lived, more a product of sun, rich food and a change of routine than of anything wrong with the kitchen.

The sensible summer habits apply: be a little wary of egg-based sauces and mayonnaise, of buffet dishes left standing in warm dining rooms, and of raw or lightly-cooked shellfish. Freshly-cooked Maltese staples — fenkata (slow-cooked rabbit), grilled fish and hearty stews — are low-risk when served piping hot. Keep a few oral rehydration sachets handy just in case.

Do you need vaccinations for Malta? Routine only

Malta is the simplest of destinations on this front: no special vaccinations are needed. Because it’s an EU island with modern sanitation, neither hepatitis A nor typhoid is routinely advised, and — with no forests full of ticks — there’s no TBE to think about either.

What matters is simply being up to date on your routine vaccines: MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), tetanus-diphtheria-polio and COVID-19 as applicable. Measles flares up across Europe periodically, so MMR is the one worth confirming before you fly. Rabies isn’t a concern on the islands. For a normal Maltese holiday, your standard jabs are genuinely all you need.

Healthcare in Malta: doctors, pharmacies & the EHIC/GHIC Good access

Malta’s healthcare punches well above the islands’ size. There are around 4.5 doctors per 1,000 people and an exceptionally dense network of pharmacies — roughly 46 per 100,000, among the highest in Europe — so you’re rarely far from help. The Maltese pharmacy, the spiżerija, carries the green cross, and a rota keeps some open on Sundays and public holidays; crucially, staff speak English, which removes the language barrier entirely.

That English-speaking advantage runs right through the system — English is an official language of Malta — so describing symptoms and following advice is effortless. The main public hospital is the modern Mater Dei in Msida, with Gozo General Hospital serving the smaller island. Malta has been an EU and Schengen member since 2004 and 2007 and uses the euro, so EU visitors should bring the EHIC and UK visitors the GHIC to access state care on the same basis as residents.

As everywhere, that card doesn’t replace travel insurance, which you’ll want for private clinics or repatriation. And for the minor things that interrupt a holiday — a UTI, a chest infection, an infected bite, a prescription you’ve run out of — an online doctor consultation can save you a clinic visit and get you back to the beach.

Emergency numbers in Malta 112

The emergency number in Malta is 112 — free, reachable from any phone, and answered in English, covering ambulance, police and fire alike. It replaced the old separate service numbers, so 112 is the only one you need to remember; it will bring an ambulance to Mater Dei or, on the smaller island, to Gozo General Hospital.

Save it before you travel and note the address or landmark of where you’re staying. Malta is small and easy for responders to reach, but if you’re out on the water — around Comino’s Blue Lagoon, say — a clear location or set of coordinates still helps them find you quickly.

Malta travel health: FAQs

Compare nearby destinations