h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My wife and I are just about to go on holiday to Malta (in fact, it's our slightly delayed honeymoon...)

Does anyone have any suggestions as to places we shouldn't miss, things we should do, foods we should eat (or avoid ) or any other recommendations?

We're staying in a hotel in St. Julian but we're planning to travel around for the two weeks that we're there.

Definitley visit Valletta the city has so much history, as it is a honeymoon take a trip to the Blue Grotto on the south of the island. And get yo Mdina and Rabat. Also the Dome at Mosta is quite a sight to be seen.

Best beach is at Mellieha the next bay west from St. Pauls Bay where the beach shelves gently into the sea and is nice and sandy as opposed to the rocky beaches out nearer St. Julian's.

Food find a local restauarnt and you should be able to eat cheaply and well. Fish is good and there is a strong Italian nad Norht African influence so you should be Ok.

In Valletta do a boat trip around the Grand harbour to get an idea of where the historic buildings are located from the sea before going exploring if possible.

Cool! Thanks for the tips!

What's so special about the Blue Grotto?

It's an amazing series of caves and a wonderfully blue sea there as well.

Sounds good! Any idea what the water temperature is like in late Nov/early Dec?

No sorry I've never been there that late so no idea.

Hi Adam,
I just got back last week, so here's the latest scoop!

Things to do: the megalithic temples at Hagar Qim on the SW coast are worth a visit.

Of the churches, I wasn't so taken by St. John's in Valletta (too full of guided tourist groups who push you out of the way), but St. Paul's in Mdina and the cathedral (I think it's Our Lady's) in Victoria on Gozo is by the same architect and also very nice.

The Inland Sea on the western edge of Gozo has a cave tunnel through the cliffs to a similar area to the Blue Grotto (called the Blue Hole) which is also pleasant.

The street market in Valletta was a bit cheesy and expensive, I wouldn't recommend it. Actually, I'd disagree with DD completely - we didn't find much in Valletta at all. Better to go to Sliema across the bay and sip a cool drink while looking at the walled city.

The beach in Mellieha is great, but the deckchairs are quite pricey and you have to leave them at 4pm. The weather was great in the last week of October, daily highs around 24C, nightly lows around 17C, pretty much sunny every day. The sea was warmer than round England in summer, but still not exactly balmy.

The Crafts village is worth a visit, if only to see what can be made of an old RAF base.

Have fun!

GVI

Go over to Gozo, it's the much nicer place! I would recommend to rent a car anyway because although you can reach the most popular places easily by bus, some of the nicer ones are hard to find without a car. Apart from the interesting cultural sights, there are some places that are just lovely. On Malta, don't miss the cliff coast in the south. There's a lovely cave (legend has it as a romantic pirate's refuge), sorry can't remember the name, but it should be in your guide book. If it is still warm enough for swimming, go to St. Peter's Pool, a rather hidden beautiful small bay at the SW tip, near Marsaxlokk. You can take the ferry to Gozo (1/2 h) and have a look at Victoria. The most beautiful place we came across is the Xlendi Bay in the south of Gozo. Plan a romantic dinner there and walk around on the cliffs. We really loved it and the food was very good, too! If you enjoy nice restaurants with decent prices, here's what I recommend on Malta. There's a very nice place in St. Paul's right at the old fishing harbour (I forgot the name but it's on the side towards Buggiba) and another one in Mistra Bay (right next to St. Paul's Bay) called Santa Rosa Something. Perfect for honeymooners. The food is spectacular. Don't even bother to go to Buggiba, Sliema or St. Julians if you're not interested in partying with the tourists.

Cheers, have fun!

Wow! Thanks for that, dbucher and GVI! Lots of really useful info.

Looks like we'll have to rent a car and drive around Gozo for a day or two. And nice to know that the weather's not too bad - we'll certainly appreciate it after the last few weeks here...

Anyway I have to eat lunch now, so I shall log off before I start gnawing at the keyboard.

Thanks once again!

Adam

Oh, talking of weather...
If you're staying somewhere with cable TV, there's a channel which carries weather and travel information all morning (possibly all day), in a vision-only format. Even better, it has BBC World Service on the audio channel, so you can keep up with the news from home at the same time.