Where to go in Malta?

Blue Grotto boat trip amazing.

I'm so glad you've asked this LyndaW as I shall be eagerly looking at the answers too. It was a toss up as to whether I booked a short trip to Malta or Cyprus for a March holiday and this time Cyprus won, but Malta is on my bucket list. I shall be travelling alone and getting about by bus.

Don't miss going to Mdina, The Silent City. If you are near the airport bus route, it stops there. Also Valetta itself is beautiful. We stayed in the San Antonio Hotel & Spa which was excellent and it's beside the bus station. Also the Qwara Palace Hotel is good. both have nightly entertainment.

My friend at work comes from Malta so I shall ask her, OH also knows Malta we’ll do will ask him yoo and report back. I’ve never been myself so have no ideas.

We enjoyed it when we went years ago. It was very easy to get about by the old red buses, but you did have to hold on tight. Some of them didn't have closing doors. I would have loved to be able to buy one of the old romantic looking, neglected properties and restore it, and I would love to go again. You could try a trip to Gozo.

Valetta is a lovely city with plenty to see and an ideal place to be based as the local buses for all over the island go from there. Don't miss Mdina, it's really interesting and you may be tempted by the glass!

Oh, the glass. I'm not showing you my collection, it's so addictive.

We had a holiday there years ago, with our 2 girls.
The thing I remember enjoying most was hiring a boat, going out into the Med., and going for a swim ( hanging onto a rope from the boat.)
If I went again I would like to find out more about Malta's experiences in WW2. They had a hard time, my Dad was in the navy and spent some time there.

ps there's a National War Museum at Valetta.

Lovely little island easy to get round. If you can hire a car, there’s lots of little coastal villages and inlets to explore. Although not much sand! And, of course a trip across to Gozo. The roads are a bit bumpy, but don’t let that put you off!

Reids for afternoon tea if you feel like really spoiling yourself. Quite pricey and slightly pretentious but nice for a spoiling treat

I loved Malta . If I still went on foreign holidays Malta would be on the list to do again.
We stayed in St.Paul's Bay. I think the hotel was called St Paul's Hotel but I would not recommend it from our experience of it.
Just down the road was a nice area that was full of local life and very vibrant with lovely bars and beach boulles going on , think it was called petangue or something like that . Great to watch . Also dancing .
My Favourite place Was Gozo and Mdina .
When we got off the boat at Gozo we were met with a selection of taxi drivers offering tours around Gozo and we took one up after agreeing a fee. It turned out to be really good as we learned lots about gozo and saw a few little bits of history too . He would stop at places and tell us tales of the place and if we asked him to he left us for a while to wander around and met us at an agreed time.
We took up about 2 hours of his time and think we paid about £20 .
Also all of the local shops sold lots of beige coloured knitted woollens and my friend and I both bought a zip up cardigan / jacket and both of us had them for years before wearing into holes and having to throw them away . Wish I had another one .a
Mdina is A beautiful place but do take A Hat or brolly for Shade As It Is So Hot Up There.
Valetta is vibrant I Loved It . We went In Search Of A Church For Sailors That Got Bombed And The Bomb Is Still In The Wall .They Were Holding A Mass For german Visitors While We Were There And Let Us Stay In While THhey did it .

Please ignore all these capital letters ..some problem I don't know how to resolve . Seems to have stopped now ..very wierd.

Some beautiful beaches in Malta and tons of history and beautiful buildings.

GrannyA you'll find it easy to get about by bus, boat and taxi. Everyone is very friendly so you won't be lonely if travelling alone.
Our best stay was when we rented an apartment online, the owner was very helpful.
There is loads to see and do or you can just relax on a boat trip.

If you love history you will love Malta. Lots and f things have been mentioned already but I don’t think these have. There are lots of ancient sites to see, I remember visiting a vast network of underground tunnels that had been carved out by hand as living quarters. Also if it is still open, there is a house down the Main Street of Valette that is open to the public that is still lived in by the family. As well as all the interesting artefacts above stairs, there is an enormous subterranean area that was a water storage place but was opened to the townspeople as a bomb shelter in the war, I am afraid I can’t remember the name of the house,

My husband of 50 years is Maltese, a proud island nation. I'm currently struggling with my only sister (a racist) who describes him as nearly English! How on earth do I get through to her that I find it impossible to think how she does. She just told me her only granddaughter is having her first holiday in Majorca...it's actually Tenerife...same difference she says..no idea! How do you cope with such ignorance?

I shall print this thread out eventually so thanks everyone for the tips.
Leah50 - some people are entrenched in their ignorance it seems, but hopefully it won't be passed down through subsequent generations. Good for you for challenging your sister's nasty notions though.

My husband was Maltese, too, Leah50. I have lived in Malta for 36 years and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, even now my beloved H has passed away.

I’m always reluctant to give advice as ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’.

Valletta is European Capital of Culture this year and they have done a lot of lovely embellishing of the entrance to the city, plus restoring the Triton fountain. The buses are no longer the old ones and the bus terminus has moved further down the road from the old one.

There is a lot of history in Malta, if you are interested. There are the oldest free-standing structures in existence in the form of ruined temples both in Malta and Gozo, which pre-date Stonehenge.

The house in Valletta is owned by a noble family and is called ‘Casa Rocca Piccola’, Nandalot.

There are not many sandy beaches and these can get pretty packed in the high season.

It is possible to go around by bus, but it is time consuming and hot standing around waiting for one to show up. I would recommend hiring a car.

Bugibba in St Paul’s Bay is a popular resort, but is a bit like a Blackpool in some ways. Lots of cheap souvenir shops and food outlets doing fast food.

It really depends on what time of year you come as the summer months are too hot for sightseeing, but winter can be cold and wet with many places closing for the season.

People seem either to love Malta or hate it. It depends on what you like to do really.

Hope you do come and have a lovely time. Let me know if you do and we could meet for a coffee. ?

By the way, KatyK where is Reid’s? In all my years in Malta I have never come across a place of this name.

Reid’s is in Madeira
Never been there but have heard its very nice.

We visited Malta whilst in a cruise. It was only a day but we saw a lot of interesting places, grand harbour was very grand, Medina really interesting, and we saw the blue grotto from above as no time to take a boat. I was told by other passengers to be up early as we arrived in Malta as the sunrise is spectacular as it lights up the golden rocks of the island as we arrived in Valetta. Yes I would like to go again.

I'm not a beach person so Bugibba is not for me Bellasnana. I do love meeting local people and going where the locals hang out to eat or shop. In our usual holiday spots we have locals who have become friends and so we get to have a more authentic experience of places and I really enjoy getting to know people from different cultures. I won't have the nerve to hire a car by myself and I don't mind travelling on public transport - I won't be in any hurry so I can take the time to wait for buses.
I think maybe March next year is when I will be travelling to Malta.

Sorry to spoil the glow of Malta but I would never, ever go there on principle. They mass-slaughter birds for fun.

Malta drives on the left like us & uses the same plugs as us so very easy. Buses are very good and cheap and criss cross the island. The people are very friendly. Sept is a good time to go. Would say Silema is a good place to stay. Malta doesn't have beaches other than at Golden Bay. Trip to Gozo but the Azure Window is no more as it collapsed in 2016

We've been to Malta for several holidays which we've really enjoyed. We've stayed in Sliema & Bugibba and on all occasions we've hired a car to go exploring this fascinating island. Like many others, I'd recommend Mdina, Valetta and a trip over to Gozo. I worked in travel for a long time & always found it to be like Marmite - people love it or hate it, there's no in between. DD & SIL did a 2 centre holiday there a couple of years ago, booking good quality b&bs they found online. They used buses to get around & had the most wonderful holiday. Definitely recommend it - people are lovely too