Marsalforn is Gozo’s biggest resort, a bay on the north coast with a promenade, a small beach, a fishing harbour and more restaurants than anywhere else on the island. It is not the prettiest village on Gozo, but it is a real one, with a working boat harbour and locals who swim here every morning. And it sits at the start of the most beautiful stretch of coast on the island: the salt pans of Xwejni and the gorge at Wied il-Għasri.
By Gozo Activities Team 1 September 2026 3 min read
Marsalforn itself
The bay has a strip of sand at its head, rock platforms along both sides for swimming, and a promenade that runs the whole way round. The water is clean, the swimming is easy in calm weather and the whole place is set up for families, with lidos, cafés and a slow evening passeggiata. The harbour on the eastern side is where the fishing boats come in, and the restaurants along the front serve the results. Nearby, a large statue of Christ stands on a conical hill above the valley, a local landmark visible from the ferry.
Marsalforn is the other obvious base on Gozo alongside Xlendi: more choice of everything, a little less charm.
The Xwejni salt pans
Head west along the coast road from Marsalforn and within a few minutes the shoreline turns into a chequerboard. The salt pans at Xwejni are shallow rectangular pools cut into the soft rock along the shore, filled with sea water in summer and left to evaporate. They have been worked since Roman times and are still harvested by hand every summer by a few Gozitan families, who sell the salt from a hut cut into the cliff. The pans stretch for more than a kilometre along the coast, and in the low light of morning or evening they are the most photographed thing in Gozo after the Citadel.
Stop at the hut for a bag of salt, then walk on. The rock formations along here are extraordinary: layered cliffs, mushroom-shaped stacks and a small bay at Xwejni itself where the swimming is good.
Wied il-Għasri
Keep going west and the coast road climbs to the top of Wied il-Għasri, a narrow gorge that runs from the fields down to the sea between two cliffs. A long flight of steps leads down to a tiny pebble beach at the bottom, where the gorge opens into a slit of blue water. On a calm day, swimming out through the gorge to the open sea is the best swim on Gozo. On a rough day it is dangerous; the swell funnels in. There are no facilities and no shade, so bring water. Divers use the gorge as the entry point for a cave system in the cliffs.
Where to eat
Marsalforn has the widest choice on the island: fish restaurants on the front, pizza and pasta places for families, and a couple of good bakeries behind the promenade. For the best lunch on this coast, though, drive up to Żebbuġ or Għasri, the villages on the ridge above, where the restaurants are quieter and cheaper.
Practical notes
- Getting there. Ten minutes from Victoria by car or bus. The coast road to the salt pans is narrow with parking in laybys.
- By bike. The north coast is the flattest ride on Gozo and our favourite evening eBike route.
- Best light. Late afternoon for the salt pans, sunset from the cliff above Wied il-Għasri.
- Winter. The salt pans fill with winter sea and the whole coast turns green. Marsalforn half closes but the walks are at their best; see our guide to Malta and Gozo in winter.
For the whole island, read our guide to things to do in Gozo.
