Cyprus or Malta? These two sun filled Mediterranean islands offer so much to all travellers. But which one would be better suited to you? Which one offers the weather you want and the things you want to do? When you’re sat there about to book flights, how do you pick between them? Let’s have a think about that.
Weather
Both being Mediterranean, the islands are quite similar in the weather you can expect. The average annual temperate along the coast of Cyprus is around 24 Degrees Celsius during the day, and a lovely and mild 13 degrees during the night. Malta averages about the same as Cyprus, reaching peak heat in July and August with a blistering 31 degrees. If you’re after a way out of the heat while there though, Cyprus has the better options. Being the mountainous island it is, taking a slow hike up the Troodos mountains can quickly cool you down and offer a fantastic contrast to the sun and sand elsewhere on the island. Plus, Cyprus is famous for allowing you ski and swim in the sea at the same time of year. So, once you climb to the top, you can just ski back down.
Rainy days are nearly twice as common in Malta compared to Cyprus so if you’re not a fan of remembering the umbrella, maybe Cyprus is better for you this time around. The rain does come with upsides though, this means Malta has far more to offer you in terms of gorgeous greenery and a wider selection of local fruits and vegetables.
Cost while you’re there
Overall, the cost of daily life in Malta tends to be slightly lower. You can, for the most part, find cheaper places to eat out and drink here than in Cyprus. Plus, coffee shops, bars, restaurants and nightclubs in Malta tend to cheaper. Cyprus isn’t super expensive but it’s definitely not as cheap for the day to day. Cyprus does offer you far more choice though but again, if you take into account the cost of the extra travel this can add up to a more expensive trip.
The cost of actually flying to either island is pretty similar and both flights will, on average take about 4 and a bit hours. Once you’re there, hotels in Cyprus tend to sit on the more expensive side. A lovely beach hotel in Cyprus can set you back between £70 to £120 per night. In Malta though, you’re only looking at between £20 and £40 per night.
Things to do
Both of these places are tourist hot-spots so realistically, you’ll never be left short of things to do on either island. Saying that, you want to know where is best and that’s what we’re here for.
Where Malta takes the crown, is travel time. You can get from one side of the island to the other is less than an hour in moderate traffic. This means that whatever you want to do in Malta, you can be sure it won’t take you long to get there, this is a huge bonus and makes those family days out so much easier not to mention lighter on the wallet. Malta also has a good selection of museums to visit and beaches to lounge around on, but the small size of the island can mean you’ll sometimes run out of things to do if you visit frequently or for longer periods.
Cyprus is almost the opposite here. It offers a huge array of things to see and do, the only issue being that Cyprus is a bigger island so any commuting will take considerably longer and the travel is another extra cost. This is a trade-off, if you want more options, Cyprus is the way to go, if you want quick commutes with less variety, it’s Malta.
Beaches
Cyprus, being the larger island has more beach real estate in general. The beaches in and around Paphos offer a stunning experience just on their own. From Faros beach to escape the crowds to Coral Bay, which has often been called the most beautiful beach in the area and is only a 20 minute drive from Paphos Airport.
Malta, while having far less space, holds it’s own when it comes to beaches. The sunsets, sunbathing and swimming opportunities are not lacking at all. From the Golden Bay to the Blue Lagoon, there’s so much crammed into these Maltese beaches we don’t think you’ll be left wanting.
Overall, for beaches we have to call this one a tie. We don’t think you’d be left disappointed by either island in this regard.
Our conclusion
Honestly, we don’t think you’ll be disappointed whichever island you visit. Malta and Cyprus offer so much to every kind of traveller we wouldn’t want to pick them apart. They both offer their pros and cons but there’s not much to the cons side on either island. We’d highly recommend them both.
