Mellieha rewards a slow visit. The hilltop centre has the pilgrimage church and the carved rock-cut sanctuary below it, plus an extensive Second World War air-raid shelter system tunnelled into the limestone under the parish church. Around the town the coast unfolds in a chain of small bays — Ghadira, Mgiebah, Armier, Anchor Bay — most reached by a winding road through garrigue and old olive groves.
For walking, the Majjistral Park covers the high cliffs on the western coast, and the Red Tower above L-Aħrax watches over the strait to Comino. Boat trips to the Blue Lagoon, Comino, and Gozo all leave from Cirkewwa, a few minutes up the coast road.