Heading to Malta late Sep and will have 11 nights. Here is my tentative itinerary:

Day 1 (Thu): Arrive MLA 1pm, staying in Valletta 7 nights, no car
Day 2 – 7 (Fri – Thu): Visit sights on Island of Malta, 6 full days
Day 8 (Thu): Travel to Gozo, will rent a car
Day 9 – 10 (Fri – Sat): Visit sights on Gozo, 2 full days
Day 11 (Sun): Travel back to Malta
Day 12 (Mon): 6:25am flight back to US

This involves 3 lodging check-ins, not ideal. Would be 1 less if I go straight to Gozo first. But from my research, Gozo is easier with a car and coming from US, I don’t want to immediately deal with driving on the LHS after a long flight. Plus I think I’d enjoy Gozo more after spending some time in Malta first.

I have total of 8 nights on Malta itself, so I could have broken it up to 5+3 or 6+2. But I found a nice rental with minimum stay of 7 nights. So that’s the reason for 7+1, which makes the last day in Malta a bit rush and less fun. Maybe I have to give up the 7 days rental ...

Questions and concerns:

1. Is coming back from Gozo the day before a 6am international flight too tight? This will be on a Sunday in Oct. I’ve read that ferry from Gozo back to Malta can be twice as busy on a Sunday.
2. It doesn’t look like there is any airport hotel in MLA. For a 6:25a departure, I’d have to be at the airport at 4a? This will mean a less than 24 hours stay at a hotel. What area is best for this short stay?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for any insight.

I general your 7+2+1 plan sounds great.

You don't need to be at the airport at 4am. Your flight is not international, but rather "domestic/schengen" I'm guessing on Air France or Air Malta to Paris. If you got to the airport any time 5 to 5:20 you'd be early, and since it's a Sunday, traffic from nearly anywhere on the small island will be very light.

And you don't need to have a hotel right near the airport. To enjoy your last day in Malta I'd book the last night somewhere in between the Gozo ferry and the airport, eg one of the beach areas like Golden beach, St. Pauls bay (if you want some beach time), or along the waterfront by St. Julians, which might be fun for a last Saturday night with the restaurants and night life. You could get a 4:30am taxi from your hotel and you'd be early at the airport. It's only 6mi from St. Julians to the airport so at that hour it won't take long at all

If you stay in St. Julians, Barracuda is an excellent restaurant right on the water. Reservations recommended/required.

Thanks for the feedback.
Actually my flight home will be on Mon at 6:25a, so heading back from Gozo on a Sunday, my last day in Malta.
And yes, flight home is Air Malta to CDG, then Delta from CDG to US.

Your itinerary looks good. I agree with your decision on the car. It would be easier to drive on Gozo, although we settled for the hop on/hop off bus for a day visit. J62's advice on hotels for Sunday night makes sense. We found the airport security to be a fairly quick experience. If interested, here is our trip report from may: Malta, 7 Days in May

Thanks whitehall. I have read your delightful trip report as part of my research. Very helpful since information on Malta is a little hard to come by so it's great to hear recent experience.