Malta Travel Guide: Explore the Island

Malta is a tiny Mediterranean island and one of the best beach destinations in Europe. Here’s our Malta Travel Guide! Here are our tips on where to stay, what to see and our favorite restaurants recommendations.

Our trip got off on a good start, or better to say; not at all. Amsterdam Schiphol is understaffed due to COVID-19 and the huge layoffs of personal. This causes long lines at the airport and hours of waiting time. With a positive attitude, keeping in mind that we would be waiting for a long time, we arrived 4 hours in advance. In hindsight we are lucky that we came so early. Boarding took over a hour and a half and the line for security took two.

Comfortable in our seats, we waited another 45 minutes for all the people stuck in the queue and those who where just to late. After a two and a half our flight we finally arrived at our destination. Malta here we come!

Need to know about Malta

Malta is a island in the Mediterranean Sea. The official languages are Maltese and English. Malta has a Mediterranean climate with mild winters (average of 16°C) and hot summers (average of 32°C). The landscapes of Malta are wild and rugged, so no surprise it has been used for movies as Gladiator (2000) and Popey (1980). The currency in Malta is the Euro.

Getting around in Malta

Malta does not have a big airport and with our luggage in hand we set out to pick up the rental car. Highly rated companies in Malta are Sixt, Aquarius Rent A Car or R & R Car Hire Malta. The average prices for a small car is between €250 – €300 for a week. The car rental pick up and drop off is outside of the airport. Find the location here: Parking lot, Luqa, Malta. Please keep in mind that the queue to pick up the car can be long in peak season. It took us an hour and a half of waiting in total.

If you are not comfortable driving (on the left!) or the plan is to stay in the area of your accomodation you can get around the island with public transport. Malta has a pretty good bus system that stops at all the mayor tourist spots and beaches. Tickets can be bought per trip from the bus driver (tickets in winter are €1.50, summer €2.00 and a night tickets is €3.00). Another option is to buy a bus card that allows you to exlore the island for a set price starting from €6.00 up to €15.00. Check the Malta Public Transport website for more information.

Where to stay?

Malta knows many different kinds of accomodations. From appartements in the hills to resorts right on the beach. However, it depends on the type of trip you are looking for.

• Saint Julian’s: We stayed at Salini Resort. Salini is located in the Buggiba district. It has three restaurants, two pools and a spa. We splurged a bit on a Suite and the view on the bay was worth it.
• Valletta: The capital is a great place to stay for a city trip, with a buzzing atmosphere and plenty of bars, restaurants, and culture. Prices are often higher in Valletta.
• Sliema: With a lot of bars, restaurants and on average affordable accomodations Sliema a great place to stay.

Where to eat?

With so many restaurants on the island I did not know where to start. A website that really helped me is: [website]. You can filter by cuisine and area which makes picking a restaurant so much more manageable. These are the restaurants we tried, tested and recommend:

• Restaurant LOA (South American Cuisine)
• Restaurant Amami: Amami was inspired by the godess of creation Amamikju. The restaurant offers a taste of Asia.
• Singita Miracle Beach: Right on the beach this restaurants offer summer dishes such as poké bowls, pasta’s and burgers.
• Beef Bar: Started in Monte – Carlo this chain of restaurant serves food in the concept of street food (to share) and comfort food and focuses on serving exceptional meat.
• Nine lives: Directly located on the beach with different cuisines and a laid back vibe a perfect spot for lunch or dinner. Inspired by the life of a cat, you can lay down and rest on the sun beds and enjoy a meal in their high-quality restaurant.
• Vecchia Napoli: A trattoria and pizzaria that bring the very best of Neapolitan and indeed Italian Pizza to Malta.
• Broadside Terrace: A tast of Mediterranean food, combined with cocktails.

Malta Things To Do

With influence out of Italy, Spain, France and England, Malta is a melting pot of culture. You can see the influences of this in the food and the architecture all over the island. Here are the best places to visit in Malta.

1. Beaches

Malta has great beaches for sunbathing and cooling-down. On some of the beaches you can easaly spend the whole day. The island’s beaches are mostly rocks and there a handful of sand beaches.

• Mellieha Bay
• Golden Bay
• Riviera Beach (Għajn Tuffieħa)
• Fond Għadir Beach
• St. Peter’s Pool
• The Blue Lagoon
• Paradise Bay
• Ġnejna Bay
• Armier Bay
• Ta’ Fra Ben (Qawra Point)

2. St. Peter’s Pool

St. Peter’s Pool is a popular swimming and cliff jumping spot. The U shaped formation of the pool makes that the waters are calm and perfect to swim in. Walk down the path to the pool and climb down the ladders into the refreshing turquoise water to cool off from the hot sun or snorkel and see marine life. At the start of the path that lead to the pool is a food truck, try their Slush Puppies!

St. Peter’s Pool is hard to visit by bus, so take a taxi or book a tour where St. Peter’s Pool is one of the stops. If you are in for a walk the neirest bus stop is Abdosir, Marsaxlokk, Malta.

3. Għajn Tuffieħa

Għajn Tuffieħa is a beach where you can sook up the sun the whole day on one of the sun-beds or on your own towel. Another option is to visit the viewpoint above the beach at the end of the day to enjoy an epic sunsets. Or combine the two and make a whole day of it and throw in lunch or dinner at Singita Miracle Beach.

4. Comino

Malta is made up out of three islands. The two other islands are: Comino and Gozo. Comino is the smallest of the three and incredibly remote. It is a beautiful island, with wild nature and only a permanent population of two residents. Comino is known because of the Blue Lagoon, Cristal Lagoon and Santa Maria Caves.

How to get to Comino

Visiting Gozo and Comino is easy. Take the ferry, book a boat tour or rent a private boat for the day.

• Some ferries take you between the islands or from Malta mainland to Comino. The most popular boat leaves from the harbor at Marfa Bay. It only takes 10 minutes and is €13 for a return ticket.
• The alternative is to join a Blue Lagoon boat tour. These are a bit more expensive but gives you the benefit of jumping from the boat instead of looking for a spot on the shore.
• To visit Comino and the famous lagoons we rented a privet boat for a day. This option allowed us to explore populair spots from the water and at our own leisure. We booked with Aquamarine. Aquamarine offers boats for privet use or tours that take you to Gozo and Comino. They staff is amazing and knows the best spots.

5. Gozo island

The second biggest island is Gozo, which isthe farthest north from Malta mainland. Gozo is a bit more relaxed, quieter, and more natural than the main island of Malta. We spend a day exploring Gozo by going over with the ferry and driving around the island. There is enough to do and see in Gozo.

• Victoria
• Tal-Mixta Cave
• The Ggantija Temples
• Ta’ Kola Windmill
• Salt Pans
• Mġarr ix-Xini
• Dwerja Bay
• Wied il-Għasri

6. Blue Grotto

Blue Grotto is a complex of sea caves along the Southeastern part of Malta. The caves can be visited by boat or navigate to the viewpoint to take a look from above at the arch that goes from land in to the water.

7. Roman Baths

Carved out by the sea these mini swimming pools located in the St. George Bay area a fun place to swim and take pictures.

8. Valletta

The capital of Malta is Valleta. A bigger city where you will find restaurants, museums, viewpoints and many more things to see and do. Most populair places to visit are the city gate, St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Lower and Upper Barrakka Gardens, the Old Walls and Strait St.

There is much more to see en do in Malta, but we could not fit everything in one week even if we wanted to, especially with the heatwave we had during our stay. Exploring with 35 °C + is no joke. I hope this Malta Travel Guide was helpful in helping you plan your trip. It’s such a beautiful island and has much to offer.

Also interested in other Island Guids? Than read the ones about Ibiza or Formentera.