5 days in Malta - tips?

[Puffykins]

I’ve just booked 5 days in Malta in the Easter holidays with 2DC, both teens, staying in a very budget hotel in St. Julian’s Bay which looks easy for Valletta. We love swimming in the sea, visiting churches, palaces (Casa Rocca Piccola is firmly on our list), other places of historic interest, markets, etc. I think we’ll probably go to Mdina one day - should we try and do a day on Gozo too? Any specific tips beyond Valletta/ Mdina? And any good markets? Thank you!

Try to visit the church in Mosta where an unexploded bomb fell through the dome. Malta is small you can pretty much drive round it in a day.
Marsaxlokk Harbour is very pretty

@MidtoLonthank you!

Was colder than we expected when we visited Malta at Easter a few years ago, maybe just unlucky but I suggest taking some warm clothes just in case.

The cathedral in Valletta had a great interesting audio guide around 15 years ago. The whole family took over an hour going round listening to it.

Get bus passes and pack a jumper as evenings might be a little chilly. Yes to Mdina, have a good wander around Valleta, visit Mosta and look where the bus stops and just hop on and off.

The cathedral’s fantastic, and the Caravaggios in the cathedral are incredible. There’s a little exhibition in the room behind them which is good, and has a short film about his erratic and violent life. Loads of hooks there for teens.

The forts at Valletta, especially St Angelo across the eastern harbour, are fascinating. And the Grand Master’s palace has a huge armoury if they like weaponry and so on. There’s so much history there. It’s a brilliant place.

Have literally just flown back. It is my second time on Malta. I have made some comments below and hope they will help:

• There is a ride hailing area for Uber and Bolt at the airport (clearly signposted), it is about half the price of the proper taxis, Bolt is more common than Uber, so download both apps. It is about 15E to St J. You can also get a bus (hourly I think), but I would not bother, it is 20 mins.
• The buses. YES, they are cheap, you can get an unlimited 4 day pass for 21e and a 7 day for 28e, physical card, touch in on bus BUT they are massively crowded and go right round the houses (the bays) on occasion. So something that is 6km away takes you an hour, and they sometimes only go every half an hour or hour, and they will go past if they are full. If going to Valletta. It is fine if you are all fit as a fiddle, don't mind standing etc.and not in a rush. You can get the ferry from Sliema (nice enough), but it is not included on the bus pass, 3e one way 4.5 e both ways.
• Valletta is a must, especially the area near the gardens (lower Barraka Gardens was shut, but upper was open). Mdina and Mosta (esp the Basilica) both good (go and see the bomb at the back, a replica but still a great story). Didn't go to Gozo this time, been before and the bus / ferry combo timewise was giving me the shivers. There is a direct ferry from Valletta (45 mins) and if I was attempting again, I would probably do this.
• Whereas I would not call it cold. it was windy again, and we needed a fleece on occasions. If you go on the Hop on Hop off buses, it is well windy.
• Malta is not full of insta beaches, or in fact beaches, mainly rocky, but plenty of nice places to swim
• St J is lively at night, as are some other places too.
• Overall, prices are brit prices I would say, maybe 10% below
• I found the Maltese people lovely, and talked for ages to a lady who was 85 who saw me coming up the steps of air raid shelter under Mosta Basilica (huffing and puffing) she married a British soldier and used to go in the shelter as a child, they had bad times in WW2, and the entire country was awarded the George Cross for bravery. There are quite a lot of commonwealth war cemeteries on the Island. Quiet, beautiful places, but also sad.

We went last March, the wild flowers were lovely, though I should think it's bare and arid in the summer.
We didn't like it, too much development, though if you are interested in history and archeology there's plenty to see.

Thank you all so much for all of this - I really appreciate it.

Second the Mosta Dome recommendation, there's also an underground WW2 shelter in the street next to it that you can go in on the same ticket for a couple of euros extra, both fascinating.

A day on Gozo is worthwhile. Apart from Valetta I don't really like the built up areas of the south, the north is nicer.

Comino is nice but the sea is quite cold at this time of year. Although sadly its overrun by the Inst crowd these days so you'll be tripping up over people posing for photos like they're the first to visit the place.

Agree with @avignon1234 about the buses, they take forever. So perhaps look into taxis or hire a car for a couple of days?

If you are considering hiring a car, only do so if you are a confident driver. The Maltese don't seem to follow road rules as much as we do, navigating roundabouts is literally a case of spotting a gap and going for it! Bolt is a ride app and pretty reasonable.

Gozo is beautiful and you can pop on ferry as is comino, Popeye village is also fun, Valetta is a full day out loads to see and do. Busses are good and regular and reasonable, sea world worth a visit if open

We went to a lovely coffee shop called the fontanella tea garden in Mdina, the views were stunning!

We did 9 nights in Malta at Easter 2024, we really enjoyed it. We had 4 nights in Valetta and went to Hypogeum, Tarxien temples, Hagar Qim and 3 cities using Valetta as a base. Plus did did the sights in Valetta as well. We used Uber/Bolt to get around, there was 4 of us and price that many people was much the same as the bus. We then went on to Gozo for 4 nights over the Easter weekend, direct ferry from Valetta. Everything shut Good Friday, as in all the Heritage Malta sites, so we did stations of the cross walk, salt flats and some beach time on Ramla beach. The Easter parades on Good Friday and Easter Sunday were fascinating, we saw the ones in Victoria. We finished with one night in a converted cinema in Rabat, just outside Mdina. The tea garden in Mdina has good cake options! It was warm but windy when we arrived, jumper on/jumper-off type weather, by Easter Sunday it was 25 degrees. This was last week of March, first few days of April. We found we got value out of the family heritage Malta pass, but we were there for more than a week, you would need to add up cost for all many of the places you will visit. It doesn't include the cathedral or casa Ricco piccolo.