Malta - any recommendations?

[dementedma]

Thinking about a week early June. Has anyone been? Where to stay/avoid?
We don’t want anywhere v touristy/nightclubs/bars etc. We are boring and quiet. Like history, nice scenery, nice place to eat, pottering about etc

Valletta is very beautiful and historical in a ‘distressed’ way but can be busy As it’s the capital.
Possibly consider Mdina in the north of the island for beauty and history too.
Around the coasts there are either cheap and cheerful areas or more ‘classy’ areas with big hotels but all are very touristy still.
Quieter, greener on the island of Gozo.

Malta is lovely but the wasps are a nightmare!

We stayed in Valletta and it was lovely. Nice hotel with a pool and right on the water.

If you are using the bus (very reasonable weekly passes) then Valetta is best as its the hub where everything meets.
Lots of history in Valetta - the cathedral - great for anyone interested in the Knights Templar, museum is very good. It is not too noisy at night - avoid straight street for hotles though.

Mdina is lovely.

Gozo - fabulous. Much quieter than Malta - the capital, Rabat is lovely.

There are several really interesting archaeological sights on both Malts and Gozo.

Avoid st Julian's - v tacky

^ as pps’ recommendations. Malta is wonderful bar the food!

There are stuff all birds on Malta (they shoot them all)
so bugs will be an issue

book tickets in advance for the Hypogeum - there is nothing else like it in the world

staying in Sliema is OK

the refugee prison camp by Marsaxlokk is probably still depressing

Go to Gozo. It is beautiful and quiet and there are beautiful ruins and markets and restaurants.

Valletta or Gozo.
We are boring, quiet and history loving and it was one of our favourite holidays.

The Phoenicia Hotel in Valletta is lovely.

Thank you all, I will look at Gozo

It's easy to get around. We did 10 days and split it Valletta, Gozo and mdina.

if you dont want touristy or clubs, then avoid Sliema, St Julians and Qawra.

Valletta is touristy obviously as the capital, but beautiful. You might like Marsaskala, Marsaslokk. On the other side of the island, I quite like Xemixija as youve got some lovely walks.

If you want it quiet though and non touristy, then its worth being aware that malta is the most densely populated country in europe. Some parts of it are very built up and also unfinished. I absolutely love it, but ive heard quite a few people say they hated it.
Gozo is a bit quieter and greener

San Gorg Corthinia is my favourite.

Loved Malta used to live there - well my parents lived there I visited often.

Playmobile factor used to be ace.

Third Valletta & Mdina (although not sure you’d find many hotels in Mdina?) - both have lots of history & are really attactive. Malta is a bit marmite, we enjoyed it & had a good time but some of the resort towns we drove through were grim. We had a couple of days in Silema which I wasn’t that keen on then spent the rest of the time at a resort in Ramla Bay in the far north. There wasn’t a great deal to see in Ramla Bay but it was pretty, the resort was nice & it was close to the Gozo ferry for day trips. Getting around the island was pretty easy on the buses.

I would recommend Solana hotel in Mellieha. Lovely hotel, big spacious and modern rooms. Quiet area, not much going on but some lovely restaurants and very quick bus ride the the beach although the beach had seen better days, quite a lot of litter.
We went on a trip to Gozo which was nice, avoid blue lagoon if you’re not keep on crowds and young people partying as that’s all the blue lagoon was plus very rocky and difficult walking conditions to get to once off the boat. Hope that’s of some help

@RuudGullitOnAShed How easy is it to get to the Beach from the phonicia?

It looks ideal for us, but we do like a swim in the sea...

@poshme you can swim in the sea from a couple of rocky outcrops in Valletta but if you want a beach it probably isn’t for you.
The pool and gardens are beautiful though.

@poshme Try the Grand Excelsior if you want to swim in the sea from the hotel. It has its own small beach (alongside the pool) and you can swim from there.

We stayed in the Grand Excelsior. It's a nice hotel and we swam in the sea off the hotel beach (which is tiny!).

malta is mostly rock, so people swim from the rocks. This is why its got such a reputation for great diving and snorkling, but it only has a couple of sandy beaches, which I think are mellieha and golden bay and also a couple on gozo which are a bit of a way out from the main tourist areas and not close to Valletta. Swimming is also great from Comino if you get a ferry over.