MALTA.

Malta. Where do we even begin. We had heard great things about the country before arriving but nothing prepared us for the sheer beauty of it. We were unsure of which area to stay in initially, because each one seemed to offer something different. Valletta seeming to be a more historical city, Sliema more modern and touristy with shopping mall and variety of restaurants, Mellhieha, close to a few beaches and less touristy, just to name a few. We finally settled on staying in St Julian’s (or San Giljan in Maltese) as it seemed pretty quiet and very central between the other options. We were very happy with our choice. Our hostel ‘Inhawi Boutique Hostel’ was a beautiful accommodation with pool, free breakfast and balcony with a view of the sea. We spent most of our time relaxing after being on the move for the past month however made sure we explored the area and took a day trip to Gozo. Check out our tips below!

St Julian’s Bay

To get here from the airport, there are a few options, either the X1, TD2 or TD3 is direct to San Giljan and from here you can catch other buses or take a short walk to your accommodation.

The bay itself has a small beach which can get pretty crowded. The water is a stunning shade of blue and is very inviting- take a walk along the coastline, there are large rock flats which you can stroll along and steps into the sea at various points. Following the road rather than rock flats, there is an outside gym and restaurants which overlook the blue waters.

There are plenty of restaurants along the front which offer great value for money. At most you can expect to see a spaghetti bolognaise for €8 and pizza for a similar price. We cooked most nights, opting to buy our food from Park Towers Supermarket, a large supermarket with Western brands.

We also decided to walk to the mall at Bay Street. This offers most of the bars and clubs as well as fast food chains such as McDonald’s. There are larger hotels here too. The shopping itself didn’t seem to offer much but we appreciated a change of scenery.

A day trip to Gozo.

We were very prepared when arranging our trip to Gozo, we wanted to see the island but knew that it would be a busy time to see this in one day. We had breakfast as soon as it opened and headed to the bus stop to grab the 7:56am bus. The 222 is direct to the port and makes many, many stops along the way. We drove past numerous bus stops because it was too full to let people on- thankfully our stop was one of the first!

We arrived to the port and having just missed the ferry, we had to wait until the 9:45am one – they come every 45 minutes approximately. This takes around 30 minutes which is ample time to take photos of the nature on route. When we disembarked, we were offered the hop on, hop off bus for half price (€10 per person). We looked at the bus queue for the local buses and opted for the easier option. We were very glad of this by the end of the day. We looked at the 13 stops that the tour offered and planned our route.

We first stopped at Dwejra, an area famous for being one of the filming destinations for Game of Thrones. The stunning blue waters are almost hidden until you reach the edge of the cliff. There are diving opportunities and you are able to swim also; check out our photos below!

As we carried on the route, we had a 10 minute break at Ta’pinu- enough to take a few photographs.

We then continued past the next few stops, opting to next disembark at Marsalforn, a seaside town with seafront restaurants and a small beach. We enjoyed some lunch before walking along the coastline to Xwejni Bay. We will let the pictures do the talking here but the entire coastline was filled with different shades of blue; a stunning walk.

After spending a few hours in this area, we continued to Ramla- a larger beach which is more family orientated. The sand is a more reddish colour and there are lifeguards on the beach as well as shops on the road down. While it was nice to relax on the beach, it was a bit too crowded for us with hundreds of other tourists also visiting. The water did not seem as magical here either.

After leaving at around 6, we made our way back to the port- the ferries running every 30 minutes at peak times and then onto the 222 bus back to the hostel. A wholesome but very draining day!

To conclude, our time in Malta was wonderful and we truly wish we had more than 4 days to enjoy it. Given more time, we would have moved around the country more and stayed in a few different areas. We will definitely be planning a trip back in the future! The two main sights that we would have liked to see are the blue lagoon on Comino Island and to spend an evening at Cafe Del Mar on the west coast. The sunset looks beautiful and there is a DJ every Sunday.

Tips and costs..

• We stayed in Inhawi Boutique Hostel in an 8 bed dorm. We would highly recommend this hostel.
• The buses around the island cost €2 per trip. You can buy a travel card which have multiple options- a weekly unlimited rider for €21pp or 12 trips for €15 (this can be shared between friends).
• The ferry to Gozo cost €4.65pp for a return.
• As previously mentioned, restaurants are relatively reasonable for eating out though there are more expensive options if you wanted.