When you live in Germany the end of winter can be incredibly hard thanks to several months of snow and little sunshine. When my friend called me up with the idea of seeking some place warm, like Mallorca, I jumped at the chance. We went into this trip with a plan and a budget but after a few recommendations from the German Doctors at our local health clinic (where my friend works) Mallorca quickly became Malta. I am so glad that it did. This place is affordable and beautiful, rich with its own melted history influenced by both Italy and Africa due to the islands location. It boasts more than just breathtaking views but foods only found here (rabbit is a staple here or grab a bag of Tastees as a snack), it’s own language, colorful as well as friendly people, and even special beverages (try Cize and Kinnie). Everyone here speaks fluent english due to the islands being British territory between French rule (hello Napoleon owned this island in the name of France too). If you like a trip off the beaten path, Malta is your hidden gem.

So exactly how many of y’all went?
Just a quick girls trip with a friend and myself. (just the two of us)

What were we looking for?
Warm weather, lots of sunshine, never ending ocean views, and sandy beaches with something to explore incase the weather didn’t hold out.

When did we go?
We spent five days, arrived in Malta at Midnight on Friday, March 1, 2019 and left on the evening of Tuesday, March 5, 2019.

Where did we stay?
My friend did an awesome job finding our apartment on booking.com. The building and our room was clean, boasting a centralized location, a full kitchen, and a balcony. Check out the Blubay Suites with two locations. The main hotel is only a block away with a restaurant, gym, and rooftop pool. We stayed at the second location with strictly apartment style living like an Airbnb. (for the record we never had enough time to even utilize the main location amenities.)

How did we get around?
RyanAir has recently started regular discounted flights from Nuremberg to Malta. It was easy to secure a fairly cheap round trip ticket thru the Ryanair app. Once in Malta we utilized just about every way to get around. Now the wiser my recommendation on getting around is to procure a city bus pass at the large bus open air terminal on your first day, pre-download a ride-share app similar to uber called Bolt (Taxify), scan the QR code from a local bicycle service found across the island to grab two wheels on a whim, and prepare to walk ALOT.

DAY ONE: VALLETTA

Valletta is Malta’s capital, built by the Knights of St. John. It was decreed durning the creation that the city ‘should be built by gentlemen for gentlemen’ and it still retains its 16th century elegance to this day. Valletta happens to be the perfect starting point with the most to see in a concentrated area. Before we took on a self guided walking tour, breakfast was enjoyed at a small cafe, Piadina Caffe, full of local inspired, filling foods. I enjoyed a focaccia panini filled with fresh ingredients like Italian herbs, artichokes, cheese, and prosciutto. This place is definitely worth the stop if you are adventurous enough to enjoy the local cuisine.

Our walking tour was followed from my Lonely Planet travel guide. For two to three hours we were able to see famous sites like the city gate, parliament, opera house, pjazza de valette, palazzo parisio, and 10 other notable places. We stopped in the city center to try the local drink only found in Malta called a Kinnie. Definitely worth trying due to its unique taste; a mix of a bitter orange soda drink with herbs and woodworm extract. Make sure you try it in original form before asking for a signature cocktail.

Before we left Valletta I must point out that we were lucky enough to be a part of a famous Malta holiday, Carnival. No expense was spared on this island, from creative and colorful costumes to choreographed dances in the street, and even over the top floats covered in Disney characters or people from other countries (the german float was a favorite for us boasting lots of beer, traditional dressed characters, and pretzels). Every corner we turned you were greeted with cheers, music, confetti, and full on happiness. Its worth noting that daytime is a celebration with children but when the sun goes down the adults come out to play.

We left the city by bus, heading to an area that my travel companion was adamant about, Popeye Village. Apparently, in the 80’s Popeye was a movie with Robin Williams and Shelly Long. I had never seen this little piece of cinematography but the actual movie set was built and shot in Malta. Disney and the people of Malta turned this little area into a small fun park. You are able to see shows with real actors hourly, walk through the buildings turned into a museum, watch a short movie (with free popcorn), shop, eat, and play in a waterpark overlooking a breathtaking view of the ocean. This place is worth it, like top 10 places to visit. Please don’t miss out.

After arriving back by private bus we rested and cleaned up before heading to dinner at a local restaurant, suggested by my travel book, Badass Cafe. Badass Cafe is a chain only found on Malta that offers gourmet burgers with all the traditional sides. I suggest ordering The Obama which includes bacon, onion relish, and Marie Rose sauce with a side of truffle fries. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to try the local beer, Cisk, created in 1929 at the end of the roaring twenties. With several beer flavors there is something for everyone.

DAY TWO: CENTRAL MALTA

By day two my friend was on a mission to find an English inspired breakfast. With our day all planned out we needed a hearty meal that could stick with us through the miles we knew we would be walking. Funny enough, in our slightly lost walk finding our hotel the night before, we stumbled upon Cafe Jubilee offering not only a full British breakfast of ham, eggs, beans, etc but also american style pancakes with Nutella and bananas on top. This restaurant is so worth it, making it the place we ate breakfast at the rest of the trip.

Central Malta was made most famous by this little tv show named Game of Thrones. You might have heard of it or at least the phrase “Winter is Coming” which was made famous last season. We started in Mdina, a hilltop walled medieval city packed with the historic mansions of Maltese nobility. The places we saw on our personal walking tour was St. Pauls Cathedral, the Palazzo Falson which happens to be one of the most well preserved medieval mansions, the museum of St. Johns Knights, and shopped for fun Malta souvenirs. There is the option of taking a traditional horse drawn carriage ride around the walled city for 35 euro, however you’ll see more on foot.

Lunch was at the famous Fontanella Tea Gardens where we were still full from breakfast so we decided on warm honey tea, and large pieces of rich chocolate cake. The views are incredible overlooking the adjoining town, Rabat and miles of blue ocean. I highly recommend a break for a quick snack.

Sunday’s mean that everything closes early so we hurried into Rabat to see the St. Agatha’s and St. Paul’s Catacombs. These areas date from the 3rd century AD and were used for burial for around 500 years. Worship was here during the middle ages before it later became a complex as an agricultural store. A labyrinth of rock-cut tombs with narrow stairs and passages it was eye opening to see how death was handled many hundreds of years ago. Warning, if you are tall prepare to hunch or bend over most of the exploring until you can stretch out once above ground.

We closed out the day at a cafe named Posh Turkish, located near our apartment where we enjoyed doners, couscous, and other delicious items while looking out over the harbor.

DAY THREE: GOZO + COMINO

The night before we decided that the next day would be strictly reserved for living our best salt life. That meant buying tickets on a private boat offering tours of blue lagoon and the many caves/mini islands between Malta and Gozo. Of course we included a few hours to explore Victoria, the chief town of Gozo. Fun fact, the city of Victoria was named for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. Figured you’d like little tidbits of information, but I’ll get back on track.

That morning we dressed with swimsuits under our clothes and made our way to Cafe Jubilee before grabbing a city bus to the dock where our boat sat. We decided on taking the GOZO & COMINO: CRYSTAL & BLUE LAGOON LAGOONS & CAVES trip for 25 euro each with Sea Adventure and boy was it awesome. Highly recommend their excursions. In total the trip is 7 hours with 2 hours of swimming; 1 hour of swimming at Blue Lagoon, 1 hour of snorkeling at Crystal Lagoon + Caves. It was easy to catch some sunshine on the multiple loungers located on the top deck between places and see a ship wreak through the underwater boat windows.

We were able to explore Victoria and Il-Kastell with the Cathedral of the Assumption and Cathedral Museum followed by a late lunch in the fishing town of Xlendi and a hike to the top of a steep hill overlooking the endless blue ocean.

Too late and tired to bother with a city bus we decided to catch a ride with our Bolt app. However, the day was not even close to done, we had a birthday (my travel friends) to celebrate so we cleaned up, dressed to the nines, and ate around St. Julian’s. We enjoyed a couple of drinks while listening to a lounge singer at an Irish themed bar before we became super restless, wanting to dance. The drinks continued at a dance club playing latin and house music while serving local specialty cocktails.

DAY FOUR: MUSEUMS

Sorry to say good-bye but wanting to maximize our time we decided on checking out of our apartment early and checking our luggage in at the complementary holding room so that we could fill our day with a couple museums and some quick shopping before flying. Definitely the wiser, we decided on learning more about Malta’s history by seeing the National War Museum. The renovated Fort St. Elmo covers everything from the Great Siege to the role Malta played during World War Two, the Cold War, and ending with today’s Europe. The audiovisual displays brought history to life and complemented the many artifacts. The views from the fort walls overlooking the city and ocean views were breathtaking and worth a stop.

My friend happens to be a nurse, so learning more about the history of Malta’s medical scene was on her list. We both bought tickets and toured the Sacra Infermeria + Knights Hospitallers Exhibition. This building was a 16th century hospital of the Order of St. John where the displays present medical achievements from medieval medicine.

Shopping was in downtown Valletta where local shops and vendors are mixed in with big box stores like Zara. Dinner was enjoyed at the Malta Hard Rock Cafe before we jumped on our flight back to Germany.

A Trip to Malta

DAY ONE: VALLETTA

DAY TWO: CENTRAL MALTA

DAY THREE: GOZO + COMINO

DAY FOUR: MUSEUMS