Recap of 2018: Ideal Malta 7 day Itinerary
- Sophie Uden
- Nov 15, 2018
- 6 min read
Since 2018 is sort-of coming to a close, I thought I’d recap a year with a trip down (short-term) memory lane. My first trip of the year was in March, to Malta! Malta is described as an archipelago and is made up of 3 main islands: Malta (the largest), Gozo (second largest) and Comino (tiny!). Even Malta is a mere 316km², which according to Google is around the size of Riga in Latvia or Krakow in Poland. In this sense, visitors should think of a trip to Malta as a city trip – all of the main sites of the country are possible to visit even on a small trip!
I visited Malta with my boyfriend and we went at the end of March (17th – 25th). My rationale when planning was that as one of the southernmost European destinations, we would have more chance of nice weather! This was true in many ways, although for such a small island it was pretty windy. Most days we wore just a light jacket and could get away with bare sleeves in the sunshine.
In this post I will run through our itinerary for a week-long trip in which we visited all/most of the sights of the islands!
Logistics
· We bagged flights from London Gatwick to Malta for £65 return per person
· I would recommend choosing an Airbnb/guesthouse if you would like your own space – we found one for £35 a night
· Since Malta is so small, you can stay in the same accommodation for your whole stay – we rented a car to take day trips to see everything, it was £50 for the week
· Malta use euros, but you don’t need to take exchange cash before getting there – there are plenty of banks/options to pay by card
· English is widely spoken/written in Malta and therefore I’m rather ashamed to say I don’t even know how to say thank you in the local language!
Day 1
Our outgoing flight was 16 hours delayed (a long story for another day!) arriving late morning on Sunday instead of Saturday evening so our first day in Malta didn’t start particularly successfully! We prioritised sleeping off the awful night before and familiarizing ourselves with the town.
We chose to base ourselves in Bugibba (on the northeast coast of Malta), but any town within walking distance to restaurants/amenities/the beach would have been just as suitable.
Day 2 – Mdina and Dingli Cliffs
Mdina is a small, walled city that’s incredibly under provided with car parking! Before going I tried to research ‘sites’ to see here but I would really recommend just going to the main gate (Mdina Gate) and wandering around – you will naturally come across all of the points of interest. One part we did especially enjoy was the view from the city walls.
For anyone making their way by car, just bear in mind that Mdina is traffic-free so you have to park outside of the main gate. This seems to just be a matter of luck as to whether there will be a space when you arrive!
Since the Dingli cliffs are so close to Mdina, they are worth visiting also – but don’t wear a hat! It’s super windy here (no surprise) and since it’s on the west coast, is also a good place to watch the sunset.
Day 3 – Comino (Blue Lagoon)
To visit the smaller island of Comino, you will need to head to the very north of Malta to Cirkewwa. From here you can take a passenger ferry (very reasonably priced) that will take you to the Blue Lagoon via some of the caves and return you later in the day. In March, the Blue Lagoon is the stunning beautiful water pictured MINUS the umbrellas and tourists. Only downside is the water may not be warm enough to get some of those Go-Pro underwater shots!
We admired the AMAZING blue waters until the wind overcame us, before then braving the also-windy walk to St. Mary’s Tower. The trip to Comino and Blue Lagoon is definitely one of the day trips that is a must do.
Day 4 – Valletta and The Three Cities
Valletta is the capital city of Malta and is also traffic-free like Mdina. We used a park and ride service (just followed parking signs as we approached in our car) and spent our day exploring the city. The Triton Fountain is the edge of the pedestrianised zone and a good starting point – from here you can explore some of the city walls before making your way down one of the main streets. It’s hard to miss any sights since Valletta is so small but make a point of visiting both the Lower and Upper Barrakka Gardens for amazing views from the city. The Upper Barrakka gardens have the livelier vibe of the two, and are also where you can find the Saluting Battery for watching the cannons.
Below the Upper Barrakka gardens (descend via a lift!), you can catch a passenger boat to the opposite side of the harbour to the ‘Three Cities’. Because of the boat times, we actually didn’t rate this too much and sort of wandered aimlessly to avoid missing our boat back! However, it might be worth more exploring if you are staying somewhere closer by.
Day 5 – Marsaxlokk and St. Peter’s Pool
Marsaxlokk is on the southern tip of Malta and is a traditional fishing village. Ideally it would have been nice to visit on a Sunday for the markets but actually our Thursday visit wasn’t market-less! We picked up some souvenirs and it was definitely less crowded than it would be on a Sunday.
Nearby is St. Peter’s Pool (not the easiest to find with our maps app so beware) and the weather was definitely grey when we got there. In summer this is a crowded swimming spot and would be just as gorgeous in March if the sun had been shining for us!
Day 6
So according to locals, it hardly rains in Malta… but rain it did on our penultimate day! Since I was reserving our last day for Gozo, we just ventured out to some smaller sites we hadn’t visited yet such as Ramla Bay (one of the most popular sandy beaches in the summer) and also took some time to relax. We weren’t interested in sites such as Hagar Qim (archaeological) or the Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum but these could both definitely be fitted in to a weeklong trip if desired.
Day 7 – Gozo
Gozo is much smaller than the island of Malta, and you can access it via ferry from Cirkewwa either on foot or in a hire car. Gozo WAS the site of the famous Azure Window but Dwejra, where the remains still stand, is very much still worth a visit to admire the waves and rocks.
We stopped back in the capital city Victoria, where I bagged a glass of wine for 2 euros 50(!). In Victoria you can find the citadella which offers more amazing views of the island.
Next up on our Gozo road trip we went to Zebbug, home of the salt pans which are truly amazing! From the family who run this salt ‘farm’, you can buy various rock salt souvenirs which I would encourage you to take advantage of.
Above from left: Citadella at Victoria, Views approaching Zebbug, Salt Pans at Zebbug
Lastly before heading back to catch the ferry, we stopped at Ramla Beach (not to be confused with Ramla Bay on the mainland of Malta!) which was definitely the most stunning beach we saw during our trip. The sand has a sort of red tinge to it and the waves were quite dramatic, considering it was a late March afternoon!
All in all, Gozo was one of our favourite days and I would say it’s also a must visit if you are visiting Malta even for a short period of time.
Main, Very Important Conclusions
· It’s windy in March!
· Malta is tiny
Overall I would really recommend Malta for a short European trip away and would definitely recommend going in the shoulder season (but possibly a bit later than we did!) to avoid sharing this small country with too many other tourists. Malta has a lot to offer and is super easy and affordable to visit. It’s also cheap to book; we only spent £250 per person (excluding spending while there).
Have you been to Malta or are you planning a trip here? Let me know in the comments and I’d be happy to answer any questions!
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