Y'all... it's been 4 months since I got back from my big 2 week/3 country trip, and I still haven't given you any details. Whoops! Life just gets in the way some times. And as I am already booked for my next trip (Iceland-eek!!), I figured why not dust off my keyboard and tell you a bit about Malta.
We started our grand voyage by meeting up with some of our family in London. Malta, once part of the gigantic British empire, is a destination visited by many of the English hoping to enjoy a piece of the Mediterranean with a bit of British flair. That made it easy and relatively cheap to book a flight from London to Malta. However, Malta is still pretty darn tiny and not as big of a tourist grab as other countries like its neighbor Italy. That being said, when my husband couldn't find his passport as we were leaving for the airport, we missed our flight to Malta and had no same-day flight options to go with. Our Malta trip was instantly shortened to a mere 4 nights rather than the 5 I had initially planned. Thank goodness for the super efficient staff at the US Embassy in London making this experience less stressful than it might have been.
Luckily for us, Malta is a pretty tiny country. Malta's land mass covers 122 square miles. For reference, my home city of Houston, TX covers 667 square miles. By planning our days around visiting attractions in the same regions, we were still able see so much of this tiny island country.
Day 1:
We opted to stay in a vacation rental in Valletta, Malta's beautiful capital city. Valetta's antiquated style, unique architecture, and half-scrutable language lend it a storybook feeling. Its city center is built on a steep, rolling set of hills that makes it look like a peninsula that moves with the waves of the Mediterranean. My eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the colorful enclosed balconies dominating the architecture.
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| Maltese Balconies |
When we landed in the afternoon, we decided to not wander too far away and check out central Malta. After checking in and dropping our bags off, we strolled around the corner to the bus station where we hopped on a bus to Mdina "the Silent City," which was Malta's capital from the time of the ancient Phoenicians until the Knights of St. John arrived and moved it. This tiny ancient walled city made for a nice romantic stroll at dusk. For those Game of Thrones geeks out there like my husband and I, Mdina was used as the filming location for Kings Landing in Season 1. The city itself felt like it could have come out of George R. R. Martin's imagination, as no cars were allowed and the architecture retains its medieval charm. We stopped by the Fontanella Tea Gardens for a taste of the best chocolate cake in the country as well as a gorgeous view of the countryside during sunset.
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| Gates of Mdina |
Then we returned to Valletta where we walked around the city to get our bearings and the feel of the city. We ended our night on the lively Strait St. known for its bar scene, then went home to relax and prepare for an early morning out. Strait Street, once regarded as a stop for sailors for a special type of company, is now a happening area with many notable bars, including a really neat gin and tonic bar we happened upon which served gin and tonics of every flavor. Valletta was a really great city to walk around in, whether by night or day. At night, the streets were well lit, and we always felt very safe. Valletta has a great combination of unique history and architecture, combined with a lively night scene and delicious Mediterranean restaurants, with a beautiful view to boot!
Day 2:
After our stressful travel days trying to get out of England, we decided our first full day in Malta needed to be nice and relaxing. Bright and early, we hopped in a shuttle bus that dropped us off at the dock, then set sail for a full day at sea. We were given a tour of the northern coastline, then taken to the incredible Blue Lagoon, a natural turquoise swimming area on Comino, the smallest island in the Maltese archipelago. Turquoise is my favorite color, and the Blue Lagoon was so turquoise, I wouldn't have believed it was real without seeing it with my own eyes. The waters in the lagoon were clear, shallow, and calm; it was almost like one gigantic swimming pool in a natural setting.
After floating around the lagoon for a while, we enjoyed lunch on board the boat, then were taken to another swimming area on the northern edge of Malta where snorkeling gear was provided. Besides some initial trouble finding our shuttle bus, this day was just what we needed. The sail was relaxing, and we got to see Malta from a different perspective. The Mediterranean Sea is always lovely, and I will treasure this experience admiring it among the Maltese islands. My favorite part of this day might have been sailing back into the Grand Harbour and the magnificent view of mighty Valletta. For the evening, we had a nice meal in St. Julians, the biggest resort area in Malta with tons of hotels, restaurants, and bars.
Day 3:
I found that Sundays in Malta need to be planned rather carefully, as many attractions are closed in this devoutly Catholic country. This turned out to be our favorite day in Malta, sticking to the southern part of the country. We started our day by walking to the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta. Although not the most impressive museum in the world, it was a nice intro into Maltese history, especially of the megalithic era when the ancient Maltese built astounding temples that still can be visited today. Once we did a quick round at the museum, we jumped on a bus to take us to an area with two of these amazing ancient temples. The Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temple complexes were one of the attractions I was most looking forward to on this trip. We were able to see temples older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids! Walking among the temples made me feel like I was walking in the past, as I was following the same steps people thousands of years ago had taken as early as 3600 BCE.
Next, we caught a taxi to take us to the weekly Sunday fish market in Marsaxlokk. Our cab driver, discovering
we were tourists, took us first to see the Blue Grotto. If only we had brought our bathing suits, we would have had a great time enjoying a boat ride and a swim. However, we were able to get some good pictures out of this impromptu stop, before continuing to Marsaxlokk. We wandered through the market booths, admired the brightly colored fishing boats, and ended up with a super fresh seafood meal.
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| Blue Grotto |
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| Marsaxlokk Fishing Village |
From there we took a bus over to Zabbar a small town holding its annual Festa, Festa of Our Lady of Graces. Festas occur all summer long all over the country. Each local church has a patron saint with its own Festa day. It reminded us of an Easter celebration, where all the church members come out in their Sunday best. The evening had a magical feeling as the Church lit up with colorful strands of lights, cannons fired in the distance, and the locals, along with a statue of the Saint and much pomp and circumstance, paraded around the streets of the church. As with any good festival, snack carts and decorations were in abundance. We loved getting to be a part of this local event, as unlike other parts of our stay in Malta, we were some of the only tourists in sight! I believe this day meant so much more to me than the other days during our stay, because I was able to see so much about Malta's past and present, its history and its culture.
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| Zabbar Parish Church |
Day 4:
For our last full day in Malta, we took a bus all the way from Valletta to the northwest tip of the island to get on a ferry to Gozo. Gozo, the second largest island in the archipelago that makes up the country, is often described as Malta's sleepy cousin. Unlike the island of Malta with its dense population, Gozo is much more sparse, and everyone seems to be in less of a hurry. Rather than figuring out the bus schedule,we decided to use a hop-on, hop-off bus to take us to Gozo's main attractions. Most of its stops were unimpressive, and it ended up feeling more like a bus route that only stopped at places tourists cared about, but that suited our purposes well. We were able to take a boat ride around the beautiful Azur Window, where Daenerys married Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones, and its neighboring caves. While in the caves, certain types of algae turned the water miraculous shades of blue. We then explored the capital city of Victoria and its Citadel, which was like a smaller version of Mdina from our first day. Lastly, we ended our time on Gozo relaxing on its prettiest sandy beach at Ramla Bay. Rather than a traditional white sandy beach, Ramla bay was filled with an unusual soft red sand which contrasted beautifully with the blue-green water. Although I enjoyed my day in Gozo and would do it again, I preferred the sights of Malta.
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| Azur Window |
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| Victoria |
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| The Citadel |
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| Ramla Bay |
Day 5:
Before leaving this amazing country for good, we had some time to kill in Valletta. We started our day at my favorite cafe located in one of Valletta's many picturesque plazas. Caffe Cordina had tasty pastizzi, a local pastry filled with ricotta or mushy peas, and iced coffee! This was the only place on our trip to Europe where I found my favorite morning beverage, and it was delicious. Also great about the Caffe Cordina was its location smack-dab in the middle of a much-traveled plaza surrounded by the Parliament building and National Library of Malta. It made a great spot to people watch, seeing both locals on their way to work and tourists walking through after disembarking from cruise ships.
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| View from Upper Barrakka Gardens |
Although we missed exploring so much of this city by arriving a day late, we were able to check out the beautiful Upper Barrakka Gardens with a great view of the Mediterranean as well as the Grand Master's Palace, the original seat of the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John. One of my favorite aspects of Malta was its incredible history. You probably recognize the Knights of St. John as the knights of the crusades! After the fall of Jerusalem, they sought refuge in Rhodes. Subsequently ousted from this temporary home by the Ottomans, the Knights were given Malta in 1530 in exchange for an annual fee of one single Maltese falcon. The Knights were very influential in this small island nation. Even today, the country is 98% Roman Catholic! The knights were eventually forced to leave by Napoleon's army. However, Napoleon's forces were not as nice to the local population as their predecessors, so the Maltese saw fit to ask Napoleon's bitter enemy Britain for aid, and eventually they became part of the British empire as a strategic naval stronghold.
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| Grand Master's Palace Armory |
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| Grand Master's Palace |
My time in Malta was brief but unforgettable. I hope you enjoyed my mini-history lesson and learned a bit about my time in Malta. If you ever go, I'd love to see what other wonders you discover in this incredible country!
Where to stay:
I initially booked our stay at the Hotel Phoenicia in Valletta. However, this beautiful 5 star resort was going through remodeling and did not complete construction in time. Excluding those in the resort town of St. Julians, the hotels in Malta are a steal! You can stay at a 5 star resort for the same price as a 3 star hotel back home.
Since my first choice didn't pan out, we ended up staying at a centrally located vacation rental called the
Lloyd House which I found on Trip Advisor. We loved our stay here! The host was extremely helpful and easy to communicate with (a blessing after our rough start), and the apartment was a beautiful restored 18th century palazzo overlooking the Grand Harbor and the Upper Barrakka Gardens in Valletta. I would highly recommend it! It felt like such a luxury after our cramped London airbnb.
How to Get Around:
The cheapest and best way to get around Malta is certainly by bus, given that the attractions can be pretty spread out. The bus lines are well marked, with a large depot in Valletta, and pretty frequent stops throughout the island. Some routes weren't intuitive as a rider, and it was often hard to figure out how far along the route you were from your stop which could be a tad stressful on long trips. They're not as easy as taking the subway in a large city like London or NYC, but still very approachable. Taxis are also around the main attractions, but were more expensive and largely used as a luxury option when we'd had a long day and didn't want to wait on a bus.
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| Traditional Maltese Rabbit |
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| Fresh Seafood in Marsaxlokk |
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| Caffe Cordina |
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| Fontanella |
Where to Eat & Drink:
- Fontanella Tea Garden in Mdina: beautiful view and delicious chocolate cake
- Caffe Cordina in Valletta: centrally located and our favorite breakfast spot for pastizzi (a local pastry filled with ricotta or mushy peas), iced coffee, and people-watching.
- Yard 32 on Strait St. in Valletta: super cool gin and tonic bar with what seemed like 100s of different options
- Raffael in St. Julians: nice dinner with Maltese specialties and a pretty patio setting
- D'office in Valletta: small local haunt with delicious rabbit and risotto
- Pisces in Marsaxlokk: for fresh seafood on the water
- Ta Rikardo in the Citadel on Gozo: cool setting with homemade wine and cheese, plus the Maltese specialty rabbit
- Kantine Cafe in Valletta: good food and open late on weekdays
For more pictures of Malta, check out my previous post
here.
