Malta Travel Guide

DRIVING

I’m going to be upfront here – driving on Malta can be a somewhat crazy experience! Fading road markings, cities designed long before the invention of cars, crumbling roads and the 9th highest vehicles per 1,000 people* in the world on a very densely populated island contribute to a somewhat manic affair. Keep your wits about you, be assertive and expect the unexpected and you should be ok. Driving is toughest around the heavily populated capital of Valetta. *Malta has 693 vehicle per 1,000 people. To context UK has 519 per 1,000 people. with a much smaller population density.

NUMBER PLATES

Number plates in Malta are pretty cool (well within reason. They’re cool to me so, um, well take it or leave it!) They work on a system that feels a lot better to my super organised mind. Taxis, for example, are TAXI123M, They start with the word taxi, then three numbers then M or G for Malta or Gozo. Simple right! There are so many examples of this, the best one being the President and Archbishop who only have to display their respective emblems! All the examples are below:

• Rental cars: all end with a K or QZ (e.g., XXK 001)
• As from 2017, Vintage and Classic vehicle registration plate characters are printed in silver on a black background
• Cars which are being leased: all end with a QZ (e.g., XQZ 001)
• Taxis: letters TAXI and after three numbers one letter M or G (e.g., TAXI 001M for the island of Malta or TAXI 001G for Gozo)
• Buses/minibuses/coaches: all end with a PY (e.g., XPY’ 001)
• Malta buses (now they are replaced) were formerly registered with DBY, EBY or FBY (e.g., DBY 001, EBY 001 or FBY 001)
• Arriva buses are registered with BUS as their letters (e.g., BUS 001)
• Tax-free cars: all begin with a TF (e.g., TFX 001)
• Mobile post offices of Malta: begin with a POSTA (e.g. POSTA 1)
• Government-owned cars: all begin with a GV (e.g., GVX 001)
  • Police cars are registered using GVP as their letters (e.g., GVP 001)
  • Vehicles of the Armed Forces of Malta are registered using GVA as their letters (e.g., GVA 001)
  • Vehicles belonging to the Department of Health use GVH letters on their plates (e.g., GVH 001)
• Diplomatic/embassy vehicles use CD as their first 2 letters (e.g., CDX 001)
• Chauffeur driven vehicles used by Ministers of Government use the format GM 99 (the letters GMfollowed by two numbers; e.g., GM 01)
• The President, the Prime Minister and Archbishop are exempt from number plates and affix their respective emblems instead