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I'm heading to Malta for a holiday with my girlfriend, spending a week on the main island and a couple of days on Gozo. I've been looking up stuff to do (obviously, or I wouldn't be going :smile:) but I'd appreciate the tips and tricks of anyone who's been there before me.
Anyone?
It was over ten years ago when I went there but I remember: scorching heat (heat wave at the time), tons of archeological sites and ancient ruins which all looked the same (don't go see each and every one with a guide, you'll hear the same story over and over again), good cocktails (while I wasn't really allowed to drink, they didn't make a problem about it :2thumbsup: ), very good looking women (but you're with your girlfriend...).
Ultimately I got the impression that it's a very good destination of you like a lot of sun and sea (though i don't remember any actual sand beaches), but I seem to have missed pretty much anything else interesting to do there...
The blue lagoons, caves at a smaller Island near Malta which are at the sea might be a nice visit, a bit romantic when you are there with your girlfriend.
And ofcourse they have some nice beaches over there too. The towns are nice but look a bit the same. There are indeed a lot of ancient archeological sites. You could take a look at some of those monolites you find there and perhaps also take a look at them cave-like things people lived in. (I can't really remember that clearly tough, it's a damn long time ago). Something you might also like to do if it isn't too hot is take a bicycle trip. The landcsape can be breathtaking at times. Note that their might be some hill and if it's hot (which it usually is) you might not want to do this or might not want to make the trip to long.
As a frequent cyclist (out of necessity) I think hiring a couple of bikes and getting places that way sounds like a pretty enjoyable option. As you said from what I've read the sun and archeological stuff is good. Apparently there's a lot of Renaisance towns and such.
Is cycling to get to places a realistic idea do you know? Looking at google maps the island doesn't seem that big.
Well, I for one have no idea. It's quite a long time ago, I do remember cycling. But not really for transportation purposes, rather for just for fun. And it was fun, but I have no idea about distances.
Rennaisance, yes. I also remember a picture of rennaisance armour, so there should be a museum or something about that somewhere in malta too.
Now that I think about it I do believe I have still have a book about malta somewhere. I'll see if I can find it.
On the main island, public transport is very well organised. You can reach almost any place by bus. The central bus station is situated in La Valetta, from there you can take the bus to anywhere on the island.
Gozo is a bit more difficult to do by public transport. You can make an arrangement with a taxi driver though: you'll have your personal driver + car for the whole day for about 25 € per person a day. If you do this, you'll manage to visit almost everything worthwhile visiting on Gozo in one day. But if you are going to spend several days on Gozo, a bike might be a better idea. It's a very small island anyway.
As for things to see, allow me to suggest Vittoriosa, La Valetta (obiously) and Mdina/Rabat. Not so well known, but certainly worth a visit, is the Palazzo Parisio. You can get there by bus.
The most popular beach is "Golden beach". Every 15 minutes or so, there's a bus to La Valetta stopping there. If you don't like very crowdy beaches, you might consider Ghajn Tuffieha. From Golden Beach, you can get to Ghajn Tuffieha by foot. Looking over Golden Beach, you'll see a path to your left, going up. Take the path, once your up, don't forget to enjoy the view. Walk further, you'll reach a second beach. This one is calm, but when we were there, it was a bit dirty. Walk further up, to the next bay. This is Ghajn Tuffieha. It's beautiful and much calmer. There's some snackbar over there. Not as much accomodation as in Golden Beach and you have to make a 20 minutes walk, but it's well worth it.
There are also daily boat trips departing from Sliema. We went on a boat trip with the Fernandes. It was very nice, but sometimes the boats are really crowded and then it isn't fun anymore. We were lucky though. We spend the afternoon in the blue lagoon and we made a trip with a speed boat. Very nice.
If you like wine, they have this local wine, La Valette. It's usually not very expensive and it tastes good. The local beer isn't very special though.
A good place to eat, was this restaurant on a boat, "The Black Pearl". Very nice, romantic, a bit expensive though.
Anyway, enjoy your holiday!
I went to Malta last year. I have to say that one week is a good period to go, stay longer and you might get bored.
I wouldn't recommend biking on Malta unless you and your GF are trained bikers. The roads can be very steep, there are no bycicle lanes and the traffic can be very dangerous. You can get around just fine by bus but if you really want to go biking than stay out of the urbanised parts as much as possible.
You can do and see everything you want in that week so you can organise it yourself. Different boat compagnies will all 'beg' to offer your services, keep a cool head and compare!
If you want to be romantic and use the carriages in Valetta you have haggle a lot!!!! Last year I got the price down from 20 pounds to 3, I believe.
Apparantly every Belgian needs to go to Malta one in his life...
Well I've got dual Belgian-British nationality, being half and half by blood. I think that counts.
@Pheasant Phill, we plan to organise it ourselves. We're not officially trained bikers, but both of us cycle for almost all of our local travel. I cycle in town and up a hill (a hill I have grown to resent) regularly. I guess it'll be something to judge when we get there. As Andres says the public transport is quite good.
Thank you all for your tips. :bow:
You MUST - ABSOLUTELY MUST - go to see the Hypogeum. It is not a World Heritage Site for nothing. But you will have to book ahead. There's also a lot of temples, but I don't know if you're really into too much archaeology (but the hypogeum is a MUST, even if you're not.) It's also the coolest, darkest place in the whole island :beam:
Be prepared for the heat, it was pretty much 40C all the while I was there, and with quite a few hills you might need to factor that in if you cycle a lot. And the buses are quite good and regular. It's also in the siesta zone so expect some funny opening hours, and don't try to go shopping in the afternoons.
And try the local delicacy, rabbit. Once :clown: