The Cliffs

The Cliffs sits right at the edge of the Dingli Cliffs, a plateau that rises to about 250 metres above the Mediterranean and is the highest land in the Maltese islands. It is a family-owned cafeteria and interpretation centre opened in 2011, and it combines a menu built on local produce with an understanding of the landscape beneath your feet.

On VisitMalta.co.uk it appears in our directories of catering companies in Malta and activity centres in Malta. This page explains what to eat, what to explore and how to arrange a visit.

Food, bakes and local produce

Everything is made around fresh baking and seasonal Maltese ingredients. Breakfast can mean a croissant and coffee with a jar of the estate's own marmalade, the afternoon might bring cakes and tarts, and lunch can stretch out over a long, sea-facing meal. In the evening sunset platters of local produce and a glass of wine suit the golden hour. Specials change daily, and the kitchen offers an à la carte menu, set menus and a special functions menu for group events.

The Cliffs also makes and sells jams, marmalades, extra virgin olive oil, savoury deli items and hand-harvested dried herbs, with figs and blood oranges among the fruit. The extra virgin oil honours the oldest olive tree on the estate, with its olives picked by hand in family-run Dingli groves and pressed by mechanical means only. Whatever you see on the shelves can be bought and taken home, which makes the place a handy stop for edible gifts.

The estate, nature and heritage

The estate is managed ecologically. Terraced farming has shaped these slopes for centuries, but land was abandoned in the 1960s as water ran short. The project has since restored fields with rainwater harvesting into an underground reservoir and drip irrigation, and planted quince, pomegranate, fig and hawthorn trees alongside carob, olive and lentisk.

The wider landscape is full of interest: rubble walls whose craft dates back to Arab rule, old stone shelters connected with bird trapping, caves once used as refuges from pirates and as air-raid shelters in the Second World War, cart ruts, Bronze Age silo pits, and a five-layer sequence of rock.

Guided walks and wild food

As an interpretation centre, The Cliffs aims to help visitors understand the ecology of the area as well as enjoy the view. Guided walks cover the cliffs and their surroundings, taking in wild flowers, geology, farming and the traditional stonework along the way. Wild flowers change with the seasons, so the same route looks different in spring and autumn.

The centre also keeps an online database of Dingli's wild food, sorted into plants and greens, herbs and spices, nuts, wild fruit and mushrooms. Two examples are the giant fennel mushroom, in season from November to January, and the pine boletus, in season in November and December. Local traditions such as the edible snail, a long-standing Maltese delicacy, are also written about, and the cafeteria's seasonal menu draws on the same larder.

Planning your visit

Dingli is in the west of Malta, a short drive from Rabat and the walled city, so it combines well with our Mdina guide and with hotels in Mdina and Rabat. To the north-west, Golden Bay is a classic beach stop, and to the south you can reach the Ħaġar Qim temples and the Blue Grotto. See things to do in Malta for more ideas, and our Valletta guide for the capital.

The best time for the cliffs is late afternoon in clear weather, when the sunset lights the coast, though the clifftop can be breezy in winter, so check our Malta weather guide before you go. For a wider introduction to the islands, read about Malta. To ask about a table, a function or a guided walk, send a message through the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass it to The Cliffs.