Is it easy to make Maltese friends? It is easy to make friendly Maltese acquaintances and much slower to make close Maltese friends. Most newcomers find people warm, chatty and helpful from the first week, yet many say it took a year or more before a Maltese colleague or neighbour became a real friend. The reason is not hostility: Maltese social life often revolves around family, village and friendships formed at school. The good news is that the door opens with time, repetition and a little local effort.
If you want practical places to meet locals, our list of 12 ways to meet Maltese people beyond the expat bubble is the companion to this article. Here we look at the honest answer: why it can feel hard, what changes it, and how to know you are on the right track.
Is it easy to make Maltese friends? The short answer
| Stage | How easy? | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Small talk and help | Very easy | Neighbours chat, shopkeepers remember you, strangers give directions |
| Friendly acquaintances | Easy | Colleagues invite you for coffee or after-work drinks |
| Regular plans | Moderate | Being included in a group outing or a birthday |
| Close friendship | Slow | Invited to a family lunch, a wedding or the village festa |
Most expats get stuck between the second and third stage. The rest of this guide is about getting past it.
Why it can feel hard
Full calendars, not closed hearts
Malta is small and families tend to live close together. Sunday lunch with parents and grandparents, christenings, weddings, confirmations and village feasts fill many weekends. A Maltese colleague may like you a lot and still have no free Saturday for weeks.
Friendships that started at school
On an island this size, many people still socialise with the friends they made at school or in their parish youth group. Those groups have years of shared history, nicknames and in-jokes, so a newcomer needs time to find a place in them.
The expat bubble
Many newcomers work in iGaming, finance or tech companies where most colleagues are also foreigners, live in Sliema or St Julian’s and socialise in English-speaking expat circles. It is comfortable, but it means you rarely meet Maltese people outside work.
Language switching
Almost everyone speaks English, but groups of Maltese friends often drift into Maltese, or a mix of both, once they relax. If you never understand the jokes, you stay slightly outside the circle. Our guide to Malta culture shock covers this and other surprises newcomers notice.
Expats who leave
Some Maltese people say they are cautious about investing in friendships with foreigners because so many leave after a year or two. Showing that you plan to stay, or at least that you care about the place, makes a difference.
What actually opens the door
Expats who build real Maltese friendships tend to do the same few things:
- Repeat, do not sample. Join one local activity and go every week: a sports club, a choir, a band club, a running group, a dance class or a volunteering team. Friendship grows from seeing the same people again and again. Our guide to volunteering in Malta for expats lists teams with a strong local mix.
- Learn some Maltese. Greetings, a few phrases and the effort to try them are noticed and appreciated. A Maltese class is also a place to meet people who care about the island, and our guide to learning Maltese as an expat lists courses and apps to start with. Even ordering coffee or greeting a neighbour in Maltese changes the tone of a conversation.
- Show up for local life. Go to your village festa, a local football match or a parish event. Ask questions about traditions, food and history; people enjoy explaining them.
- Accept invitations, even awkward ones. If a colleague invites you to a christening party or a family barbecue, go. These are the moments that move you into the circle.
- Invite back. Offer a small, easy plan: a coffee, a walk, a dinner where everyone pays their own. Many friendships stall because the newcomer waits to be invited.
- Live a little outside the bubble. Even if you live in Sliema, spend some weekends in the villages, in Gozo or in towns where most people around you are Maltese.
A realistic timeline
Every story is different, but many expats describe a similar arc:
- Months 1 to 3: lots of friendly conversations, mostly with other newcomers. Maltese contacts are colleagues and neighbours.
- Months 3 to 6: the novelty fades; some people feel lonelier here than at the start. Regular activities begin to produce familiar faces.
- Months 6 to 12: the first invitations to group plans with Maltese friends of friends. You start to recognise people around your area.
- Year 2: for many, the first close Maltese friendship: being invited to a family event or relied on for help.
If you are in the hard middle stretch right now, you are not doing it wrong. Our pillar guide to loneliness after moving to Malta covers how to get through it.
Signs you are getting there
Progress is easy to miss. These are good signs that a Maltese friendship is forming:
- Someone gives you a nickname or teaches you a Maltese phrase to use on their friends.
- You are added to a group chat for a weekend plan.
- You are invited to a family event, even a small one.
- People start asking for your opinion or your help, not just offering theirs.
- Someone checks on you when you are ill or away.
When two or three of these happen with the same person, you have a friend, even if it took longer than you hoped. Notice them, and say thank you: Maltese friendships are built on small acts of loyalty, and returning them is what keeps you inside the circle once you are there.
What to do in the meantime
Waiting for Maltese friendships while having no social life at all is a recipe for loneliness. Build a mixed circle instead:
- Keep your international friends. They understand what you are going through, and many expats meet Maltese people through other expats’ partners and colleagues.
- Give your weekends a shape: our plan for weekends alone in Malta shows how to fill them without waiting for invitations.
- Make one local habit: the same café, the same bakery, the same morning swim spot. Familiarity builds the small connections that lead to bigger ones.
- Plan small, specific meet-ups: a dinner for four, a walk, a match. Small groups are easier for busy Maltese friends to join than big nights out.
- Be patient with yourself. Malta is welcoming, and our honest answer to whether Malta is friendly to foreigners explains why; depth just takes time.
One practical tip: when you suggest a plan, say who pays up front, whether that is “my treat” or “we split”. It removes a common moment of awkwardness and makes it easier for people to say yes.
Want to turn this into an actual plan? Open MeetNow and see the plans posted in Malta. It is free and works in your browser: a host posts a plan at a public place, says who pays (host pays, split, pay your own or free) and picks who joins, starting in Malta.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Are Maltese people friendly to foreigners?
Generally, yes. Most newcomers find Maltese people warm, chatty and helpful in everyday life. The harder part is moving from friendly acquaintance to close friend, because many Maltese social lives revolve around family and friendships formed at school.
How long does it take to make Maltese friends?
For many expats, the first real Maltese friendship takes somewhere between six months and two years. It happens faster if you join a regular local activity, live outside the main expat areas or learn some Maltese, and slower if your work and social life stay inside the international bubble.
Do I need to speak Maltese to make Maltese friends?
No, because almost everyone speaks English. But learning even basic Maltese shows commitment, helps in group conversations that drift into Maltese and is often the step that turns a friendly colleague into a friend.
Why do Maltese people mostly socialise with family?
Malta is small, families often live close together and Sunday lunches, weddings, christenings and village feasts fill many weekends. Friendship groups also often date back to school. It is not a rejection of foreigners; their calendars are simply full of long-standing commitments.
Where is the best place to meet Maltese people?
Places with regular, repeated contact work best: local sports clubs, band clubs and festa committees, choirs, volunteering, Maltese language classes, parish activities and your own workplace if it has many Maltese staff.
