Malta Travel Guide

Ah Malta, you dreamy island...

So a little while back, we decided to go to Malta (instead of Mallorca because it started getting expensive!) and we invited our friends to come along with us. 

We had the most amazing time on this trip, I miss it!

So, on our first day we picked up Jerry the jeep (we decided to name him Jerry, he really suited the name) and headed to check in to our hotel. 

After we checked into the Sunflower Hotel, we head down to Buggiba Square to grab a bite at Fat Harry's. While roaming around, it all looked very British - even in our hotel there are British plugs (no need for adapters which was amazing!).

It was quite late so we grabbed some sleep and awoke the next morning ready for the day ahead of us!

Day 1

Mellieha & Popeye Village

After a large buffet breakfast (the best types of hotel breakfasts!), we chilled by the pool for a couple of hours and then head off to Mellieha to the Sea View Café bar for some food.

It had the most gorgeous views and lovely and budget food! We ended up having a bottle of water (tip, DON'T drink tap water here! That's the quickest way to get sick in another country as your body isn't used to the bacteria, and supposedly Malta's tap water isn't really great - only grab bottled water!), a half pint of beer, and two toasted sandwiches with side crisps and salads for 15 euros which was great!

After snacking on some yummy lunch, we decided to head to Popeye Village. Popeye Village is where they filmed Popeye back in the 70's with Robin Williams and they actually kept it and made it into a sort-of theme park. You can go inside for about 16 eur per adult, but we decided we just wanted the view of Popeye Village and a swim down Anchor Bay. If you park in Popeye Village, turn to the left and walk about 100m and you'll get a great view of it! Walk down and you'll find the bay. It makes more sense when you get there - super easy to go down. 

We did some swimming and underwater photos and had so much fun before heading back to the hotel & head out for dinner!

Day 1 Evening

Mdina

In the evening, we head out to the gorgeous Silent City of Mdina, where they filmed Game of Thrones. It really was one of my favourite parts of the trip so I definitely recommend a visit here!

You can't park in Mdina though, but you can park nearby. If you type in Crystal Palace bar on Google Maps or Waze, there's a car park right in front of it. Apparently it's a car park where you're not required to pay, but they do appreciate a tip. However, we went in the evening and there wasn't anyone around. Supposedly, Crystal Palace bar serves the best cheese pastizzi - Malta's cheese pastry delicacy. We never ended up trying it though!

As we went along Mdina, we got lost in little streets full of beauty and Malta's charm. I had to stop a few times to pause for pictures of this gorgeous town. We eventually made it down to Fontanella Tea Garden for dinner, and oh my what a dinner it was! I believe it was probably everyone's favourite dinner. It was a bit pricier than the normal other restaurants (just a few euros more expensive so not by much, but we got SO much more for what we spent than we would ever get in London. I ordered water, Nathan ordered a beer, a couple of pizzas, coffee, and cake for what's equivalent to £30!), but it was so delicious! I had the most amazing cake, which was basically the softest and crunchy meringue on top with strawberries and cream underneath. It was AMAZING and I literally want a second one of it. If Fontanella did anything really well, it was their cakes. If you go, you'll see their gorgeous display and immediately you'll start drooling.

Day 2

The Blue Lagoon at Comino Island

Ah, the blue lagoon. Probably my favorite part of the trip. Malta is made up of three islands - Island of Malta, Comino, and Gozo (unfortunately we didn't make it to Gozo as we didn't get the time - but I hear the salt pans, Wied-il-Ghasri, Blue hole, Xlendi Beach, and Tal Mixta caves are the best parts of the island!). Comino is so small that there aren't any cars on the island. It also only has one hotel and 3 residents on the island. People mainly go to enjoy the gorgeous blue lagoon. 

So we took a Hornblower cruise to Comino. You can either get a ferry or a cruise and I definitely recommend a cruise for 10 eur more per person! Our cruise had top, middle and bottom decking. On the top deck, you get free deck chairs and a slide! You can also jump out of the top which is very exhilerating and worth it. I was so scared to jump off but it was SO much fun! And you can also see the bottom because it's crystal clear which really helps. The slide was my absolute favourite part as I'm a big fan of waterparks and it was just what I needed! Down below on bottom deck, you can grab snorkeling equipment for free (although there's a deposit of 10eur in case you lose it!) and snorkel around. It's crystal clear water so you can see well. Buying food on the island is actually quite expensive though, so bringing snacks or buying on the cruise is cheaper. I did, however, have to buy the pineapple cocktail from one of the vendors! They make you a cocktail for 10 euros or 8 euros for a mocktail. They also do refills at 5 euros and do discounts for groups. I got a passionfruit and mango mocktail and it was delicious and I felt so tropical. They also take you around a few sights to see which are really beautiful!

It was one of my fave parts of our whole trip!

Day 2 Evening

Buggiba 

We got back from the cruise and showered and wandered down Buggiba for some dinner. I can't actually remember what this restaurant was called, but it's the only one with the tiki hut. I had the most AMAZING octopus risotto - 100% recommend! I don't normally eat way too much seafood but I do love and enjoy it and hadn't tried octopus much. The good thing was that there wasn't any tentacles that you could see (I'm a little squeamish with seeing eyes/tentacles etc still intact when eating haha!). We also had such a beautiful sunset and it was just a gorgeous night!

Day 3

Golden Bay & Valletta

So this day was actually so windy that you weren't allowed in the beach water! So we stayed at the beach for an hour or so and grabbed some food at the Apple's Eye but we head back to our pool for the rest of the afternoon so we could get some swimming in. 

After we showered, we decided to check out Valletta as it was the capital - it's also the European Capital of Culture 2018 which is pretty awesome! We parked across Upper Barakka Gardens at Central Bank. Again, this is one that you actually have to pay but I think you kinda get to choose how much - we ended up paying about 4 euros. We made our way to Upper Barakka Gardens and it was such a gorgeous view! Someone was also having a wedding just below and it would've been such a gorgeous view for a wedding! We then wandered around down towards Merchants Street which is where all the main restaurants are, but we also went down little side roads to see them and take pictures as they're mega cute! We settled at a restaurant for dinner and then back to our hotel to sleep for our last day!

Day 4

St Peter's Pool and Marsaxlokk Bay

So we took Jerry for a ride down to St. Peter's pool for some fun swimming. I do recommend parking there as it'd be really awkward to get to otherwise. No buses come near the entrance so you'd have to walk for a good 20 min or so to get to St. Peter's pool. I also recommend hiring a car if you don't want to be tied down to bus times and want to be free to explore. 

So we parked at St Peter's Pool and it was such a gorgeous spot! We did a bit of jumping off the cliffs and swimming which was amazing! It's a rocky bay but I would definitely recommend bringing more than 1 towel as it gets so dusty! Jumping off the cliffs is actually the most fun part of St Peter's Pool and it's got some gorgeous water. 

We then head off to Marsaxlokk Bay for some lunch and it was one of our favourite places. It's the most gorgeous marina with so many restaurants. There's even a restaurant where on the board it mentions that the owner's husband catches the fish she cooks at the restaurant! How cute is that! It's also got an adorable little market where I got beeswax lip balm (there's also creams too and other amazing little bits and pieces) made locally! This was definitely a place I'd recommend going to as well.

After we did a bit of exploring, it was time to grab some gelato and say bye to Malta. I'd recommend Malta for at least a week of holiday as there were so many other places we didn't get to see such as Gozo, Birgu (aka Vittoriosa) and Haz-Zabaar. 

All in all, this was definitely one of my fave trips. I totally recommend going with friends - especially when you're married, to go with married friends! We had literally the best time and made memories I'll never forget. 

Now that we're back to London, I've got plenty of places coming up for you. 

Love,

Nat xx

Psalms 33:4-5, "For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything He does. He loves whatever is just and good; the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth."