Malta

December 2021 – 4 nights with family

Malta had been on our list for a while. We had always imagined we would go there during the summer months when we would experience warm weather. That way we could enjoy the beautiful beaches and water, but frankly, we couldn’t pass up the €30 flights that were available during Christmas break! So we decided to get out of cold Torino for a few days and take in the beauty of this ancient country.

Known for its long and rich history, Malta is a super interesting place to visit. Over the centuries, it has been occupied and ruled by the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Sicilians, the Spanish, the French, the British, and then finally in 1964, it became an independent state. It really is a crossroads of many different cultures as is evidenced in its architecture, food, and language (an Arabic language that uses the Latin alphabet with many Italian and English words mixed in). At times we felt like we were in Oman or Morocco rather than Europe.

Like the rest of our travel guides, this is not an all-encompassing account of everything we did. We do not want to make a list of ‘Best’ or ‘Must-do’ experiences since we know it depends on your personal preferences. These are only our personal favorites, and they are divided into two groups: “Avventura Favves” and “Other Things We Liked.”

The Avventura’s Malta Map

Overview

Many people are surprised to learn that Malta is its own country in the center of the Mediterranean, just 100 km south of Sicily. It is a popular European vacation destination, but not as popular with Americans. It is easy to arrive by plane as many of the low-cost airlines serving Europe fly there. It’s comprised of the big island, called Malta, and two main smaller islands, Gozo and Comino. There are many other tiny islands that are largely uninhabited.

Our choices for this trip were largely based on the fact that it was winter (although it was still a beautiful 65F/18C degrees) and that we only had four nights to get the most out of this island. We elected to move hotels just once so that we could better experience two parts of the main island. We spent two nights in the main historical port city of Valletta (the world’s smallest capital) and two nights more inland near the medieval walled city of Mdina.

Avventura Favves

Food Tour and exploration of Valletta (Airbnb experience with Christian) – This tour was the perfect example of why we have found that food tours are a terrific way to get to know a new place in a short time. We loved this tour with Chris, who is an experienced and excellent guide. He was funny and entertaining, and we left understanding so much about the history of Malta, while also enjoying a wide variety of delicious and interesting food along the way. Come hungry. It was a ridiculous amount of food. Highlights included pastizzi (we preferred the curried pea filling) and drinking a Kinnie spritz (like an Aperol spritz but using the locally made Kinnie soda). On this tour, we also enjoyed the artillery display (they fire a cannon twice daily with a short ceremony) that takes place within the beautiful Upper Barrakka Gardens.

Gozo Island – We took the car ferry from the northwest corner of the main island and spent the day hiking on Gozo Island. It’s a rustic and beautiful place – we felt like we were in a climate much like a very warm Ireland and it was a highlight of our time in Malta. We did a combination of hiking and driving to four interesting spots:

Salt pans where they still use an old method of collecting sea salt. You can drive along the water and get out to see them up close.

Wied il-Għasri near the salt pans is a gorge with beautiful views where you can reach a tiny beach after a short walk down.

Wied Il-Mielah is the gorge at the starting point for a great hike that goes along the northern coast of Gozo. It’s a flat and easy walk across a combination of rock and dirt paths at the top of the cliffs with gorgeous vistas. We walked for about an hour and then turned around.

The Blue Hole is supposed to be a great scuba dive site that we’ll plan on returning to during the summer season. Nonetheless, it was still a beautiful spot for coastal views. Apparently, it was even more scenic before the Azure Window natural arch collapsed.

St John’s Cathedral – Sadly, we don’t have any pictures of this Favve. But, this elaborately decorated cathedral from the 1500s was beautiful to see. An added bonus is that it houses some of Caravaggio’s best works. The entrance fee includes an audio guide that tells the story of all the troubles he got into along the way.

St. Peter’s Pool is another delightful natural spot along the coast that is perfect for sunbathing and beautiful Mediterranean views.

Mdina is an ancient walled city that served as the capital of Malta before Valletta. It’s an interesting spot for a short stroll where you can see such a well-preserved old city. While there, be sure to stop at the Fontanella Tea Garden for tea and massive slices of cake (or lots of other kinds of food) at any time of the day. It was a cold, windy day when we went, but we sat on the enclosed roof and enjoyed the panoramic view anyway. It’s very crowded, so be prepared to wait a bit (like we did even though it was 3 pm).

Root 81 – Just outside the gate to Mdina we were pleasantly surprised to have such a quality meal in a classy setting in this small village during the off-season. We always get excited about a well-done cocktail menu since they are not as big a deal in Torino as it is in Chicago where we are accustomed to restaurants and bars serving unique cocktail drinks. We enjoyed the fact that their bartender has put together a great selection of creative and delicious drinks. The food is an elevated version of traditional Maltese dishes.

Other Restaurants (no pictures):

Beati Paoli Restaurant (Valleta) – This tiny restaurant has a chef cooking some really good food. The focus is definitely on the seafood and pasta, but there are many other good choices as well. A word of warning – you definitely need to reserve in advance. Unfortunately, they could only take us around 6:30 pm, and being used to later Italian dinners and having eaten more than we should have at the food market, we weren’t hungry enough for the large portions. But everything was very tasty. If you sit downstairs, you can watch them working in the kitchen.
Roots Restaurant in the cute little fishing village of Marsaxlokk. We had a nice seafood meal and enjoyed a walk after dinner checking out all the fishing boats.

Hotels:

Ursulino Valletta – This is a really beautiful boutique hotel in an excellent location in the heart of Valletta. The rooms were a bit on the small side (as expected for the location), but the breakfast on the roof was great and we enjoyed our stay.

Lulu Boutique Hotel – This charming, boutique hotel not too far from Mdina is run by a super friendly couple. We stayed in the coolest suite with a hot tub inside of it. The breakfast was delicious and the drinks at the end of the day were great. Next time we’ll go back when we can enjoy the pool.

Other Things We Did and Ate

The Food Market in Valletta is an indoor modern food hall with lots of food and drinking options. You can go for a Maltese ftira sandwich or try some flavorful Napalese or Filipino food.

Blue Grotto and Ħaġar Qim on the southwest coast are two well-visited sites that capture the essence of Malta with their natural beauty and ancient history. We opted to only do the overlook of the Blue Grotto rather than taking the boat ride for a closer look since we’ve done something similar on other islands and haven’t felt it was worth it. But the color of the water is probably incredible up close on a sunny day. Just down the road is the Ħaġar Qim archaeological site with the remains of 5000-year-old temples.

Sliema – We hopped the ferry from Valletta across to Sliema where we walked around this much more modern area and did some shopping. The ferry was a fun way to see Valletta from the water.

Miscellaneous Notes

We had a really good car rental experience in Malta going with a local company called JS Car Hire. Don’t forget that you have to drive on the left side of the road! It was somewhat tricky on the island with the narrow roads and generalized chaos of a southern European country. We’ve heard the bus system is decent, but we prefer the convenience of the car.

Next Time We Go

We’ll go when it’s warm so we can swim and snorkel/scuba at the Blue Hole on Gozo and the Crystal Lagoon on Comino Island.
In Valletta, we went for rooftop drinks at one of the hotels, but it would have been better to go to the Alchemy Cocktail Bar on Strait Street or have a beer at 67 Kapitali.
On Gozo, an ATV tour sounds fun. And on a warm day, a cold beer from the Lord Chambray Brewery would hit the spot.
Plus there are many more restaurants to try, like Legligin Wine Bar in Valletta and in Mdina, there is Step 15 or The Fork and Cork.
We did have some good chocolate as part of our food tour but never got to try the hot chocolate at Sunday in Scotland because they were all out by the time we showed up.
For some reason, we never made it to Popeye Village – a theme park using the leftover set from that classic 1980s movie with Robin Williams, but we probably won’t go next time either.