Anyone been to Malta?

[Icystars]

whats it like? Looking at going with teens.

thanks

I’ve been and although we did have a great holiday, we were rather underwhelmed. Valletta was lovely and Mdina was well worth a visit but a lot of areas looked like they’d been bombed. There seemed to be no ruling around tearing buildings down and leaving them in piles of rubble in the middle of rows of other houses. It looked a mess. I’m pleased we went but I’ve no desire to go back. The holiday was great because we stayed in a lovely hotel with a fabulous rooftop pool.

This sums it up perfectly. We had a really nice holiday, but the food was average and it’s not pretty outside of parts of Valletta and Mdina.

Enjoyed but wouldn’t go back.

I found Malta v boring tbh. For a hot holiday it’s fine and the Valletta was nice but there’s not loads to do. Tbf I went when younger and stayed in a v cheap hotel if you stayed in a lovely hotel and just wanted to chill would be lovely. Locals are v friendly.

If you are interested in pre-historic sites Malta and Gozo are great places to visit. We went 20 odd years ago but absolutely loved it. Book the Hypogeum well before you leave the UK.

We had a great time. It was seriously hot though, obv you know it will be hot but we hadn’t really taken into account that it would be 27 degrees at 5am and well over 30 before 7am til gone midnight.

Teens will love popeye village.

we found plenty to do, we followed a pattern of do something fun/cultural in the morning, relax in the air con or sunbathe on the roof terrace in the afternoons. Out for dinner.

We went 3 years ago (during COVID) and totally loved it. 1 week in Valetta and 1 week on goza. Both were beautiful and had such great beaches. Food really great and good value.

Went last year. Got to 42oc. Stayed just outside Valetta and walked in for dinner. Went to Mdina, did the catacombs, boat trip to Gozo etc. Would go back to Valetta for a few days but otherwise was meh - likely the heat.

We stayed at a VB hotel, all inclusive buffets with pool and beach, the kids loved it. About 5k for a week, going back next year. Malta as a place is dull but for weather it's great.

We went to Malta purely because it was on the green list in 2021, remember that ? Really liked Valletta but from what I'd read about the rest of the island I didn't think it would be for us so we took the ferry to Gozo and stayed in a hotel at the far end of the island. I

Whilst I haven't been for 20 years I loved it as I used to go with my parents.
Rich with history, locals are very friendly and food was great. It can get very hot in the summer so we would usually do sightseeing first thing and be by the pool in the afternoon.

When they do polls of most crap holidays, Malta and Egypt (admittedly not in that order) usually top them.

I'd never bother

As PPs have stated, Malta looks like a scruffy builders yard. Gozo is quite different, much more rural and less crowded/commercialised.

I’m also in the don’t go to Malta camp. Yes to looking like a builders site (it’s amazing Valletta is a world heritage site - buildings with doors and windows breezblocked up all over the place). Getting in any kind of vehicle feels like taking your life in your hands (standing on a bus is a dreadful experience).

And the food was SO disappointing. It was like being transported back to the 1980s with really stodgy ‘Italian’ dishes in many places. I kept remarking that Malta is so close to Italy, so why did the pizza in any restaurant resemble the wee pizzas they use to deep fry in Scottish chippies more than something you’d want to eat. It didn’t seem to matter where you went either - the food was just disappointing.

Out hotel was shit too. They kept shutting off the pools for functions so you couldn’t even sit on a sun lounger and do holiday relaxing when you wanted to.

There’s also not that much to do, unless your teenagers really enjoy looking at churches.

Loved Valletta and would go back there but the rest of it was a bit crap.

I've been going to Malta and Gozo regularly for 20 years. I am a scuba diver, so my perspective leans a little towards that, however here are some things you may like to know:-

1. There are historic sites that predate the pyramids by over a thousand years

1. It has one of, if not the largest natural harbour in the world
2. One of the Milk Tray adverts was filmed there (man in black dives off cliff to swim out to boat "all because the lady loves Milk Tray)
3. One of the world's largest unsupported domes is there
4. There is a great air museum there
5. It's a great place to learn to dive (PM me if you want to know more, I can recommend a great scuba school there)
6. Weather is fab although July and August very hot.
7. It is very friendly, people are great
8. There is nightlife, or quiet depending on what you fancy

10. It's a short flight away

Boring. Lots of construction everywhere and loud 'cheap shots' bars. I will not be going back.

Its not the most attractive place. Not a beach holiday. However if like us you go for one of the bigger nicer hotels you will have a lovely time.
Good weather.
Maltease people are really lovely and friendly.
Its very inexpensive
They drive on the same side of the road as us and car hire is reasonably priced.
Veletta is nice enough for a visit. Nice cafes and some museums.
I enjoyed the food there too. It is very italian in style.
Personally i found it a very easy and stress free holiday so whilst its not my favourite place i would return for a bit of sun for say 4 nights.

I would recommend you look at Porto. Loads and loads to do. Beautiful. Very cheap. Portuguese people lovely.
Amazing shopping.
Boat trips.
Tonnes of walks.
Parks, museums, markets.
Dancing in the square of an evening.
Really brilliant place and you wont get bored. Public transport very easy and inexpensive too.

We went for 2 weeks. 1st week was OK, did everything we wanted to see & do.
Bored by the second.

we went early october as the rest of the summer would have been too hot. apparently that can be stormy which it was. rains, floods, tornadoes. even ignoring those i wouldnt go back. the apartment was nice, the pool complex amazing when the weather allowed (though i must have missed the bit online about paying extra each day) and valletta was good.

dont hire a car. the drivers are mad. its like london but with drivers on speed.

Thanks all. I think I may have been put off.

really struggling to find a holiday this year.

Have you looked at mainland spain? With teenagers you could do a 2 resort holiday?

Funnily enough I was looking a bit last night. Not been to mainland Spain before but it does seem cheaper than the islands. Hadn’t thought I’d 2 resorts either.

m where would you recommend? We want a really nice pool and close to a Sandy beach. A few trips suitable for teens would be good too.

If you like "seeing and doing" holidays other than just lounging on a beach getting pissed, then it's fine for a week, but any longer than that and you'll run out of things to do. There are a few big attractions, but you really need to go out of your way to find more esoteric stuff, and most of the things I appreciated were things like run-down tiny churches in the villages etc, probably not the sort of thing that most "tourists" want to see.

It's an odd place, not particularly "touristy" and it doesn't really do stunning beauty either, but it has a charm of it's own and you just need to look a bit harder to find it than you do in bigger cities and tourist haunts. Some of the backstreets in Valletta are really interesting, Marsaxlokk is worth a wander around, Mdina/Rabat is like being in a Tomb Raider game. There used to be an interesting crafts village in Ta' Qali. You do get absolutely biblical electrical storms at certain points in the year.

I too am exploring spain more, so no expert. there are quite a few threads on here that might help. i'd also work around which airports you fly to.

I've always fancied estapona, but havent been. Malaga city was good for a short winter city break - you could combine that with estapona.

again, alicante city sounds appealing for a short time and then onwards to a more beach type resort. Javea, moraira, llafranc all appeal to me from reading stuff online, but havent actually been yet.

verona is supposed to be nice.