Things to see and do Ramla Bay

This is one of the obligatory passages for anyone travelling to Malta and, a fortiori, to Gozo. Ramla Bay known in Maltese as "Ramla I-Hamra", i.e. the red sandy beach and is one of the most beautiful unspoilt beaches on the island. It is reproduced on many postcards and is also the regular setting for many fashion magazine photos. Reddish sand and very soft, very wide beach allowing crowds to gather there in summer. Roman ruins are buried under the sand, and the Calypso Cave overlooks the west side of the beach. One has to go back to the Roman Empire to find traces of a marble and stucco decorated villa built on this site. Surrounded by hills on both sides, the sandy path on the east side of the hill leads to Calypso Cave, a natural cave that tradition associates with the capture of Ulysses during seven years in theOdyssey. Also visible is a statue of the Virgin Mary erected in 1881 in the middle of the bay.

Advice. It's best to wear special non-slip shoes if you want to enter the water because a good series of stones cover the first few meters. Toilets and showers are at your disposal, to the right of the cafés where you can have a drink and a bite to eat when you leave the beach.

During the summer, many musical events are organized on the wasteland overlooking the beach, even allowing festival-goers to camp there. An experience to be tried.

Access via Xaghra: cross Il-Pergla above Ramla Bay, lost on a moor where acanthus, oleander and acacia blossom. From the small parking lot, go to the viewpoint at the entrance to the cave: the view over Ramla Bay and the valley is superb. The terraced crops, separated by low walls, form an immense mosaic with pieces of different patterns and colors. A 20-metre walk leads to the small, low, cold cavern, which is a real disappointment: a ten-metre gut that ends in a dead end. But it was here, in the bay of Ramla in the north of the island, that the poet Homer stranded Ulysses, who fell in love with the nymph Calypso, mistress of Ogygie (the name Homer gave to the island of Gozo). Calypso held her prisoner for many years, until Athena, moved by the hero's plight, dispatched Hermes to the island to convey Zeus' order to let Ulysses go. With a heavy heart, Calypso must comply. There are underwater remains of an ancient fort built by the knights in the ^18th century. By scanning the sea from the shore, you can make out the shape of the fort. The purpose of this strange construction was to block the progress of enemy ships, making it easier to attack them with mortars dug into the rock.

Little sister of Ramla Bay, this magnificent wild beach of red ochre sand enjoys a strategic position. At the northern tip of the island of Gozo, the waters are transparent and the landscape of rare beauty. Much less frequented by tourists because of the 400 m difference in altitude to be made on foot. It is dominated by the Ta'Sopu Tower erected in 1667 to watch over the bay, which did not prevent French troops from approaching the island nearby in 1798. Ideal for a picnic or to rent kayaks to explore the surrounding caves.