Go slow in Gozo

Bicycles, flippers, boats and boots are the ideal means of transport when exploring the tranquil Mediterranean islands of Gozo and Comino, writes Daniel Scott in the Guardian:

..I've often thought of the Med as little more than a lake by comparison with a real ocean like the Atlantic. But viewing the Gozo coastline from under the water, with all its grottoes and fissures gouged out by the sea, leaves me in no doubt about its relentless power.

Back on dry land, that might is just as apparent as we explore the coast further by bicycle. On a four-hour ride, we arrive first at another giant rock arch, at the far end of a steep-sided inlet. With the better-known "Azure Window" in danger of falling down due to the Med's destructive waves, this more resilient slab of rock is being groomed as an alternative attraction.

Moving on, we cycle along a narrow path above a deep fjord-like chasm in the coast. Later, we get right down among the criss-cross patterns of hundreds of man-made salt pans, on a rock ledge jutting into the sea. Local families have been harvesting salt from these hand-dug pools, near the village of Qbaijar, since Roman times. Behind the salt pans, the caves hollowed out of the yellow sandstone go back even further, having been used as tombs by the Phoenicians.

Since Gozo is full of less-than-gentle hills and stony, pot-holed tracks and roads, cycling can be hard work here. But in the cooler months and on summer mornings or evenings it is an excellent way of getting a sense for the soothing pace and un-crowded nature of the island.

In fact, as we stop for a rest at a sleepy inland town, it is like entering a dusty time-warp to 1950s Britain, with its red telephone box in one corner and rarely-open police station, complete with blue lantern and notice for a "Lost Cat", in another. No wonder even the Maltese come here on holiday- you can feel the pace of life plummet the moment you step off the ferry at Mgarr harbour...