The Maltese Three Peaks

Malta is the EU’s smallest country by both size and population. It’s also fairly flat and has great transport connections making it easy to bag its high points.

The country high point is on Dingli Cliffs on the main island. There’s 2 other large islands in the Maltese Archipelago, Gozo and Comino. Both have high points worth visiting for great views of their respective islands.

Dingli Cliffs

Also known as: Ta'Dmejrek (in Maltese)
Significance: High point of the island of Malta and country of Malta
Elevation: 253m
Date climbed: 9th May 2024
Coordinates: 35° 51' 11'' N, 14° 23' 3'' E

Start & Finish: Parking Dingli Cliffs, Triq Panoramica, Maddalena, Dingli
Distance: 1km (0.6 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 12m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Mdina Walk
Guidebook: Europe's High Points: Reaching the Summit of Every Country in Europe
Links: Malta (Country), Malta (Island), Dingli, Peakbagger

For Dingli start at the Dingli Cliffs Viewpoint. There’s parking for a few cars and it’s a popular stop for sightseeing coach tours. From the parking spot check out the views across the sea to Filfla island from the back of St Mary Magdalene Chapel.

From the parking spot walk along the pavement in a westerly direction towards the radar station (the big white golf ball). About half way to the radar station there’s an obvious high point on the cliff top rocks. While not quite the high point, it felt like it should be so we took the banner phone above there.

To reach the actual high point you’ll need to cross the main cliff top road and walk up a private track to the radio transmitters.

Ta' Dbiegi

Significance: High point of the island of Gozo, Malta
Elevation: 194m
Date climbed: 7th May 2024
Coordinates: 36° 3' 6'' N, 14° 12' 49'' E

Start & Finish: Free Parking outside Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz, Triq ir-Rokon, St Lawrence, Gozo
Distance: 1.5km (0.9 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 58m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): None
Links: Gozo, San Lawrenz, Peakbagger

The Gozo high point is a more interesting walk as it’s more challenging to get to. Note that the hill is in private farmland. There’s a well marked path to the top and, at the time we visited, no-one around to ask permission from. When scanning through previous logs on Peakbagger I saw that other walkers had a similar experience of either no-one around or farmers not being bothered by visitors walking to the summit.

We parked at the free parking spots outside the Kempinski Hotel on Triq ir-Rokon, San Lawrenz. From the parking spot continue along the road for 120m the take the first farm track on the left. Pass the houses on the right and continue to a bend in the track at 400m into the route from the parking spot.

Take the path on the right that ascends the hill to the summit. You’ll need to cross over a metal pole and a couple of signs saying “no entry, private farmers lane”. The summit is makes by a small cairn of white stones. From the top you can see across the whole island and to Comino and Malta islands.

Return via the same route.

Comino High Point

Significance: High point of the island of Comino, Malta
Elevation: 74m
Date climbed: 10th May 2024
Coordinates: 36° 0' 44'' N, 14° 20' 44'' E

Start & Finish: Ferry berths, Blue Lagoon, Comino
Distance: 7.7km km (4.8 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 125m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): None
Links: Comino, Peakbagger

The first task in reaching the Comino high point is finding a boat to get you to the island. There’s a lot of options, from the ferry at Cirkewwa or the numerous tourist boats that go from many places on the main island. We arranged for seats on a small boat that picked us up from our hotel and took us back a few hours later. Whichever option you take make you that you have at least 3 hours on the island to do the circular tour and enjoy the views.

Unless you have a private charter, most boats will drop you off at the moorings at the Blue Lagoon. This is a beautiful bay that’s worth visiting in it’s own right. The vast majority of visitors to the island don’t stray far from this bay and it can be very over crowded. There’s several food and drink kiosks by the boat moorings. Make sure that you either take food and drink with you or buy it from the kiosks when you arrive as there’s no other shops on the island.

From the Blue Lagoon we took the coastal path in a clockwise direction. The path is well maintained and has a few metal signs along the route. You can’t really get lost but there’s a few different options so we were glad to have the GPX route on the phone. There were a few places where we could have taken a path closer to the coast but kept inland being mindful of the departure time of our boat.

It is possible to take a shorter out-and-back route through the centre of the island to the high point. It only saves around 3km though, and the coastal route is such a nice walk that it doesn’t make sense to rush this one.

When we visited in May 2024 both the Comino Hotel in Saint Nicolas Bay and the Hotel Bungalows in Santa Maria Bay were shut and fenced off. I read that they were being redeveloped to re-open in 2025 but that felt optimistic as they were derelict and there was no sign of any work being done.

The actual high point is just off the main coastal path but hard to miss as there’s a small cairn at the top.

On the route back to the Blue Lagoon you’ll pass the remains of the old pig farm, the 19th century isolation hospital and Santa Maria Tower. The cliffs between the Tower and the Blue Lagoon are the most spectacular part of the walk.

We loved this walk and it was, for us, the highlight of our week in Malta. Dingli may be the highest point, but this was our favourite.