Which currency does Malta use?
The euro, since 2008. Prices are shown in euros everywhere, and there is no second currency in circulation. Visitors sometimes expect the Maltese lira, which was withdrawn nearly twenty years ago and is no longer legal tender anywhere. If you are coming from France, Germany, Italy, Spain or any other eurozone country, you have nothing to change and nothing to declare.
Cards, contactless and cash
Card works in almost every bar, restaurant, club and shop, and contactless is standard. Where cash still helps: some small kiosks, a few beach vendors, tips, and the occasional taxi that claims the machine is broken. Two or three hundred euros in cash covers a week comfortably for most people. ATMs are everywhere in Sliema, St Julian's and Valletta, though machines branded Euronet charge high fees and offer poor conversion. Use a bank ATM where you can, and always decline conversion into your home currency at the screen.
Changing pounds, and what it costs
If you are arriving with sterling, avoid the airport bureau: the spread is the worst you will see on the island. A card that does not charge foreign transaction fees is the cheapest way to spend, and withdrawing euros from a bank ATM beats changing notes. When a payment terminal offers to charge you in pounds, say no: that is dynamic currency conversion and it always costs you a few percent.
What a night out actually costs
A beer in Paceville runs three to five euros, a cocktail eight to twelve. Club entry is often free before midnight and ten to twenty after, more for a headline night. A boat party with open bar sits between forty and seventy. A pool party with a drink is twenty to thirty five. Add a taxi back at fifteen to twenty five depending on where you are staying. A realistic night out, drinks included, lands between forty and eighty euros per person.
Where the money really goes
Two things quietly eat a Malta budget. The first is taxis: Paceville to Sliema is short but late-night fares climb, and splitting a ride across four people changes the arithmetic completely. The second is buying entry at the door instead of online. Door prices on busy nights are consistently higher than the advance ticket, and the queue is longer. Booking ahead is the single easiest saving on the island.