Gozo car hire: ferry a car across, or rent locally?

Gozo does not require its own car. A Malta rental can cross the Cirkewwa–Mġarr ferry with you. Or you can leave the Malta car behind and book directly from a Gozo family garage. Both are normal. The right one depends on how your trip is shaped, not on which option is "better."

This guide covers the ferry mechanics and what the crossing costs, what our own operator data does and doesn't confirm about who permits the crossing, every Gozo-based garage in our roster, and a decision framework by trip type.

How the Cirkewwa–Mġarr ferry works

The crossing runs between Ċirkewwa on Malta's northern tip and Mġarr on Gozo, and takes about 25 minutes. Starting from Malta, you drive on at Ċirkewwa without showing a ticket: Gozo Channel, which runs the ferry, checks car tickets only at Mġarr, before the crossing back. There is no booking system for vehicles — Gozo Channel does not operate reservations, so you drive up, join the queue, and board on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Mġarr terminal itself was rebuilt between 2001 and 2008, with capacity for roughly 600 passengers and 200 cars per crossing.

One car ticket covers the round trip, and it is checked at Mġarr — not at Ċirkewwa on the way out.

What the Gozo ferry costs with a car

Gozo Channel's standard fare for a car and its driver is €15.70, and that one ticket covers the round trip. Every passenger in the car needs a ticket of their own: €4.65 each at the standard passenger fare, or €1.15 for a child aged 3 to 12. You can buy tickets online before you travel or at the vehicle ticket booths in Mġarr, where they are checked before the crossing back to Malta.

Ticket (covers the round trip)	Gozo Channel fare
Car and driver, vehicle up to 5.3 m	€15.70
Car and driver, winter night fare	€12.80
Each passenger	€4.65
Each passenger, winter night fare	€4.05
Child aged 3 to 12	€1.15
Infant aged 0 to 2	Free, but needs a free ticket

The winter night fares apply when you leave Mġarr after 8pm and before the first morning trip, between November and March. A vehicle longer than 5.3 m and no longer than 5.5 m pays €20.70 with its driver. Gozo Channel's cheaper resident and senior fares are for permanent residents with a valid identity card.

These are Gozo Channel's own published fares, as we checked them on 21 September 2026 — they are not RentIsle prices and are not part of any rental quote. Check Gozo Channel's fares page for the current figures before you travel. Its ticket terms and FAQs add three practical points: a standard ticket is not tied to a date or a sailing and can be used within six months of purchase, online tickets are paid by debit or credit card and can be shown on a phone, and child tickets are sold only at the Mġarr booths.

Which operators let you take their car across

Most Malta-based rental companies permit their cars to cross to Gozo, but the policy is set by each company individually and our own data does not carry a per-operator "ferry allowed: yes/no" field — we would be guessing if we published a checklist here. The one thing every source agrees on: confirm it directly with your rental company before you book, not at the ferry queue.

If ferry permission matters to your plan, ask two questions when you book: does the policy allow a Gozo crossing at all, and does your insurance/excess cover still apply once you're on the island.

Renting straight from a Gozo family garage

The alternative sidesteps the ferry-permission question entirely: book with a garage already based on Gozo. Every long-established name in our roster that serves the island is below — "Since" is only shown where a company publicly states its founding year; everywhere else we show "Not published" rather than guess.

Garage	Since	What we know about delivery
Mayjo Car Rentals	1964	Free delivery and collection anywhere on Gozo; airport transfers offered
Gozo Garage	Not published (50+ years, per its own site)	Meets renters at Mġarr Ferry Terminal; free delivery anywhere in Gozo
Princess Garage	1945	Malta-based, in St Julian's; takes its own cars across on the ferry
Dolmen Car Rental	Not published	Free delivery island-wide
Imperial Car Rental	Not published	Serves Gozo and Malta; delivery model not published

Three of the five publish deposit, excess or fuel terms of their own, and each profile shows them with the source (captured 16 August 2026):

• Mayjo pre-authorises a deposit up to the excess you choose, with a minimum of €100 on a credit card or €200 on a debit card. Its excess on standard cars can be as low as €400, and its fuel policy is full-to-full.
• Dolmen says it takes no security deposit, and its fuel policy is full-to-full.
• Gozo Garage publishes an excess of €550 on cars and €750 on jeeps, rising to €850 for drivers aged 21 to 24 or 71 to 75, and a prepaid fuel policy: at least €20 of fuel, paid when you sign, with the car returned empty and no refund.

One entry on that table is not a Gozo garage at all, and we would rather say so than leave it looking like one. We corrected Princess Garage's record on 23 September 2026 after re-reading the company's own site: "St Julian's is where Princess Garage is based", and its Gozo page says "There is no separate Gozo rental to book and no swapping cars at the harbour". Read it as the first option on this page — a Malta hire taken over on the ferry — not the second.

Princess Garage publishes its age and licence rules but no deposit, excess or fuel terms we could verify, and Imperial publishes none of the three. For those fields their profiles show "Not published" — that means undocumented, not that the term is unfavorable.

An honest way to decide

There is no universal answer, but the shape of your trip points at one option more than the other.

A short Gozo day trip, and you already have a Malta rental. Crossing the ferry is usually the simpler choice — one car for the whole holiday, one fuel tank, one contract. Confirm the crossing is permitted before you drive to Ċirkewwa, and budget queue time at the terminal since there's no boarding reservation.

Most of your trip is on Gozo, or you're flying in without a Malta leg. Renting directly from a Gozo garage removes the ferry question altogether. Several deliver free anywhere on the island, including to the ferry terminal itself, so you're not without a car for the crossing.

Your Malta rental company's ferry policy is unclear or restrictive. Don't gamble on being turned away at the queue with a full car of luggage. A second, Gozo-based rental costs planning time, not necessarily more money, and it supports a business that's been on the island for decades in some cases.

Before you cross

• Confirm your rental company permits a Gozo crossing, in writing if possible — not just a verbal yes at pickup.
• Ask whether your excess or collision cover still applies on Gozo, or whether it's Malta-only.
• Budget for the ferry: €15.70 for the car and driver plus €4.65 per passenger, round trip, at Gozo Channel's standard fares (checked 21 September 2026). Car tickets are not sold or checked at Ċirkewwa on the way out.
• If you're renting on Gozo instead, ask your garage whether it meets renters at the Mġarr terminal, since several do.

Sources: princesscarhire.com — hire car to Gozo ferry; Mġarr, Gozo — Wikipedia; Gozo Channel's car and driver fares, passenger fares, fares notice, FAQs and ticket terms (fares, ticket validation, reservations and child tickets — all checked 21 September 2026).