I had a trip planned for over a year, but with less than two months prior I had to cancel. However, I had the time off and my heart was set on going somewhere…. And so I booked a trip to Malta with my husband…
Malta has a long and complicated history that spans thousands of years. It has a pre-historic culture that can still be seen today. They were followed by the Romans, the Arabs, the Templar nights, the French, and the British. History remains alive today. We met a man who spoke about Napolean like he invaded just yesterday. And we were told more than once that Malta was bombed more than London during the war. Today, 60% of the economy comes from tourism. This has mixed feelings by the locals. The island is busy but there is little poverty and jobs for everyone. Malta is a melting pot of history, food and culture and definitely worth exploring.
The Malta airport is small and if coming from Europe, you will process through customs and immigration before arrival. It is 20E for a taxi to downtown from the airport or you can call a BOLT or take the bus.
We opted to stay in the Old Town and that was the right choice for us. I appreciate the character and being able to walk around at night. I really enjoyed 19 Rooms. It is central with a mix of old world character and new world comforts. The hotel offers a great rooftop view with free wine and appetizers every evening. It also has a nice breakfast buffest with yogurt, breads, veggies, meat and cheese.
I would recommend 3 days as a baseline to feel like you’ve seen Malta. Then tack on extra days as appropriate for the beach, diving, water activities, or extra time hanging out on Gozo.
Day 1: The Island of Malta
I booked a full day tour. But in reality, this was a driver who provided information along the way. You could definitely do this on your own but parking will be a huge challenge.
- Gardjolo Gardens provide a wonderful view of Valetta, St Elmo and St Angelo forts from across the harbor.
- Hal Tarxien is a pre-historic complex in the middle of town. A farmer discovered the sight when plowing his fields in the 1940s. The sight is preserved in such a way that you can get close without disturbing it. The sight cost 6E and includes an audio guide. We spent about 40 minutes here. I highly recommend it!!
- Blue Grotto is a quick and busy stop that is filled with tourists and buses. It is a beautiful view and during nice days you can hire a boat.
- Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples are bigger than Hal Traxien and definitely require more mobility. If low on time, you can just visit one of the three. But we disagree which one. I preferred Hal Tarxien but he liked Hagar Qim because you were able to see the temples in context of the surrounding country-side. This complex costs 10E and also comes with an audio guide.
- Mdina is a beautiful old city settled by the Arabs. It is definitely worth a stop but this is preserved for tourists and is not a living city in the same way that Valletta is. Fontanella is a popular café with cakes and a rooftop view of the city.
- Domus Roman is a short walk from Mdina old town. This is an old roman house which we found fascinating. I’ve seen a lot of Roman ruins in my travels but never such a well preserved and laid out home. And since my next stop was Tunis, it was great to link the history of Roman Malta to Carthage and the Punic Wars.
- Wincourt is another short walk away. This stop was an afterthought for us but it is great as it includes St Paul’s grotto where it is believe he established his church on island, the catacombs and World War 2 tunnels. There is also a museum which we didn’t have time to see. This stop also costs 6E.
- Dingl Cliffs was our last stop. They are rightly famous for their beauty, but it is just a photo stop.
Day 2: Valetta.
You can easily fill 1-2 full days in the capitol city.
- St Elmo’s fort dominates the city skyline. It is now a museum where they dedicate 7 rooms to cover history from 2500 BC to 2004 AD. I wish they’d spent more time on the earlier history but it gives you a good overview of Maltese history. I’d set aside 40-60 minutes to explore.
- Lower and Upper Bakkara Gardens are beautiful with lovely views of both gardens and the water.
- The War Rooms were one of my favorite stops. It opens at 1000 and there is a daily 1030 tour in English. I was short on time and spent 40 minutes here but could have easily spent 1 ½ hours. The war rooms focus on World War II with displays about the North African campaign, the battles of Malta, Operation Husky and the invasion of Sicily (which by the way was larger than the invasion of Normandy). The museum also discusses use the continued use of the rooms through the cold war.
- Grand Master’s Palace is the heart of the city and it still carries the spirit of the Templar Knights. The rooms are breathtakingly beautiful. It is a large building. You can breeze through in 30 minutes but probably want at least an hour. No bags are allowed but they do have free lockers.
- St. John’s cathedral. If you only have time for one stop, it should be St. John’s cathedral. While it has the heftiest entrance fee of 15E, the floor is made of beautiful marble knight’s tombs and the famous Caravaggio painting of the beheading of John the Baptist.
- Tea at the Phoenician was fantastic. For 35E a person it was a lot of food but really too much food and if I were to do it again, I’d still go for tea but order ala carte for just scones and tea. But we had left over dessert for the next two nights.
- Make sure to save time just to wander between stops. This is how we found Church of St. Paul’s Shipwreck where they have half of the pillar where he was beheaded.
Gozo:
A day on the Southern Island of Gozo is a must. The high-speed ferry for 15E takes 45 minutes from Valetta and runs roughly every hour or so. There is also a car ferry that runs from the Southern part of Malta. Gozo gets 2.2M visitors a year but less than 200,000 of them stay at least one night. Unfortunately, we were one of these and I can see the appeal to just dig in and relax. If you have a night or two to spare, I think it would be worth the effort. But if you don’t, you can explore the island on a tour, using BOLTs, or on the public bus.
To give you a picture of Gozo – it has 16 villages with 47 churches. It has a different history from the Malta mainland and its citizens have a different identity.
We had a full day tour with Nick from Cambe Gozo. We had the option to meet Nick at 9:30 or 10:30. We choose to meet earlier in order to get a little ahead of the crowds. This was the right call.
- Ggantija Temple is 5600 years old and the oldest in the world. I didn’t like these as much as the temples we’d seen on Malta, but since they are the oldest, they are definitely a must stop.
- The Grotto is an odd stop and frankly I’d just skip it. Decades ago when trying to dig a well, the owner found a cave with stalactites and stalagmites. For 3E you head underneath a house to look at the cave.
- In retrospect I’d use that time for the Citadel. We were there 30 minutes but easily could have spent 60-90 minutes exploring the area and even though it is touristy, we would have liked to have lunch here.
- That said, we had lunch at Il-Kcina Ghawdzija which had amazing ravioli right by the water.
- Ta Pinu National Shrine has beautiful mosaics and a lovely interior.
It hardly seams possible that this was a full day but these stops were interspersed with quaint drives through the villages and scenic stops.
Other Options:
We spent a half day diving with Cresta Dive. The dive master was patient and easy to work with. The Maltese Mediterranean is cold water which required two wet suits and then the extra weights to compensate. While I would highly recommend Cresta Dive I didn’t love Maltese diving. But my husband enjoyed the wreck diving.
I wanted to see the Hypoderm but didn’t look for tickets until a couple of months out when they were booked up. They do save some tickets for same day purchase, but we didn’t have the flexibility in our schedule.
I saw advertisements for the Malta Experience film which I think would have been interesting and perhaps made the complicated history lodge more firmly in my mind.
South of Valetta there are resorts and beaches. There are also plenty of water and adventure activities on island.
Other Notes:
On advice from my mother, I didn’t want to deal with renting a car. This was the right call. Between narrow streets, traffic, hills, and limited parking – this would have been unneeded stress during our short trip. BOLTS were fast and cheap. Additionally, I booked two tours for sightseeing around the islands.
Credit cards are accepted widely and English is widely used.
Like many island destinations, this is a cruise port which can overrun the town and the more popular destinations.
I recommend making dinner reservations at least a week before arrival. I was surprised at how busy it was in the evening. Most establishments take on-line reservations so it easy.
Il-Pirata had great pasta and risotto. It is centrally located but a few blocks off the main drag. It was 77E for two including wine. Our second night, I foolishly canceled our reservation convinced we could just walk around and found somewhere else. We were turned away at least a dozen places but eventually found Naan Bar which had fantastic homecooked Indian food.
This trip was a mix of points and cash. I originally found a flight for 40,000 miles on Turkish airlines that gave me an extra half day in Malta. But, despite calling several times, I couldn’t reserve a seat and so I switched to a flight through Paris. I paid cash for the hotel and tours which made it a more expensive trip for a just a few days.
I enjoyed Malta and found it beautiful. We were there three full days and found that about the right amount of time.
