GOZO – XLENDI

Although we’ve read that Marsalforn is the best-known holiday resort on Gozo, we’ve decided to rather take the scenic road to Xlendi, a delightful little seaside village. We’ve booked a weekend into one of the beautiful sea-view rooms in San Andrea Hotel.

The fjord-like bay of Xlendi
We’ve taken the stairs to our bedroom on the 2nd floor, which had a balcony with a lovely view over Xlendi bay
Views from our room
We’ve spent early mornings (and late evenings) on this balcony, enjoying the calmness of Xlendi

There is only a narrow sandy beach, sheltered by tall cliffs and guarded by the Xlendi Tower (one of many around Malta and Gozo to defend against intruders). This tower was built in 1658.

The bay as seen from the tiny promenade
The hotel’s restaurant (Zafiro Restaurant) is on the water’s edge

We’ve noticed some kind of walking trail on one of the cliffs and wandered towards this one morning to see where it’s leading.

The steps can easily be seen at the bottom of the cliff
Halfway up the cliff we’ve already had a nice view of the bay
A view towards our hotel in the corner of the bay – you can also see the massive bank of tourist apartments at the back

We could still see some steep stairs going up and down towards the end of the bay and walked on to see where it will take us.

Walking further on the cliffs at Xlendi bay
Some narrow and steep steps awaited us on the route
We could see the water through some of the rock openings
Exploring the walking trail
Almost at the end of the cliffs and reaching the end of the bay
The bay is guarded by the Xlendi Tower
At the highest point of the cliffs, we’ve had a beautiful view of the bay
Back at the bottom of the cliffs again

It was quite hot when we’ve visited Gozo and the clear waters of the Mediterranean at Xlendi bay looked quite inviting to cool off after our walk along the high cliffs. We’ve decided to walk to the other side of the bay where we’ve seen some people swimming.

A small boat in the bay

I’ve noticed some jellyfish in the water and was not so sure of even putting my feet in … but Berto was eager to jump in and enjoy swimming around.

The water is crystal clear … that’s how I’ve spotted the jellyfish (can you see it too?)
Berto enjoying the water at Xlendi bay
While sitting on the rocks, I could see small fish in the water

On our way back to our hotel, we’ve enjoyed a cold drink at one of the many open-air café’s. Like I’ve said, this is not the most-lively beach towns you’ll find, but it certainly has a unique character. Our visit to Xlendi was towards the end of our holiday and we just wanted to relax a bit before going back to Malta … and that’s what we’ve found here.

Before we conclude with this post, I just want to show you two more pictures that we’ve taken on our Hop On Hop Off Bus tour in Gozo.

Ta’ Pinu Basilica:

Alone in the fields in Gozo, stands Malta’s national shrine of Ta’ Pinu, a Romanesque centre of pilgrimage. Apparently, miracle cures happened in the area and from thanksgiving offerings, the present sanctuary was built in the 1920’s.

Ta’ Pinu Basilica

Ramla Bay:

Just in case you’ve wondered whether there is a decent beach on Gozo (except for Marsalforn) … yes, Ramla Bay is the main sandy beach in Gozo. It is a particularly golden-reddish sand which makes this beach different from all others in Gozo and Malta. There are even some that say this is not just Gozo, but also Malta’s, best beach!

Ramla beach – less crowded than those in Malta

We have now two more posts waiting to be published about our visits to Malta and Gozo. In our last post, we will have lots of underwater pictures of the wonderful world of scuba diving around Malta and Gozo.

And in our next post, we will show you two magnificent sites on Gozo – a visit to the Azure Window (which unfortunately collapsed in 2017) and the Inland Sea, a sheltered sea-water pool … make sure not to miss these!

We have done these trips in 2011 & 2013