Is Malta boring?

[BarbaraUsher]

I don’t want to offend any Maltese people but I once worked with a woman from Malta who said she’d come to England as Malta was dull.
But as I’m sat here on my sofa wasting my half term off from work I’m wondering if a week in Malta next October half term would be good.
I don’t want to lay at a pool. I like history, nature, exploring. I’d be taking my young adult DC. ( who is vegan)

If you have been to Malta please tell me all about it!

Valletta is great.. not boring at all

unless you are a boring person

I’ve just got back, I went by myself Monday to Friday so had 3 full days there. It was lovely, went to Valletta and Gozo, buses and ferries were easy and cheap. I stayed in Mellieha, the weather was beautiful and I felt safe even at night.

Definitely boring. If you go while there is good weather and you get a good hotel, it's fine for a chill by the pool holiday. But the sight seeing is a let down.

can only comment on Valletta where we stayed - was lovely, lots history wise to see, boat trips, food and people great and had a fabulous hotel - we loved it

I go every year. I'm never bored, go out at night quite a lot and I've certainly never felt unsafe.

Malta is one of my favourite holiday destinations. However, it's a bit like Marmite: you either love it or you hate it!

I wouldn't stay in Valletta, Sliema, or St Julian's. Too busy for me, with a very active nightlife which can make it hard to sleep. The buses are very reliable (plus when they're announcing the next stop, it's announced in both English and Maltese, which I found amazing!), and you can get a bus pass for the week for about 25 euros (and you can use it in Gozo too). The ferries from Cirkewwa run all night; I'm not sure about the routes from Valletta, etc. Mellieha and Paradise Bay have some of the only Sandy beaches, but in all honesty, in October it will be too cold for sea swimming.

Bugibba and Qawra are very British-oriented, but Bugibba has great transport links to the rest of the Island. Historically, there are loads of sites to visit. Gozo is less busy, with not as many hotels and not as built up. Absolutely beautiful scenery, and you can go Quad biking, etc if you want to. There are also Jeep tours.

I've stayed in both Bugibba and near Cirkewwa; I preferred the latter for the quiet at night, but preferred Bugibba for the easy transport links. That said, it wasn't exactly difficult to get around from where we stayed either, and we weren't too far from the Cirkewwa terminal for the ferry, which was a bonus.

Driving-wise, I'd take public transport over hiring a car at least the first time you visit, as Maltese driving can leave a lot to be desired, but on the whole the people are super friendly, and English, along with Maltese, is their first language. It tends to be the older generations who don't speak English as much.

There is a lot of building work and roadworks as they're updating roads that were badly in need of repair and getting rid of the potholes.

As with all things, it depends on why you're visiting! Me? I love the history, the food, the wine, the culture, and I have friends there too and would happily move there if money allowed!

I think if you like history Malta is a great visit! There was loads to see and do last time we went. We went for a week and felt like there was still a lot of we hadn't seen.

So there were various old forts which we went and explored, and then an entire fort city, and then some ancient Neolithic temples. We also went up to Gozo which was jolly lovely.

And that was before we'd even spent any time learning about the knights or its role in WW2. It's been a strategic spot in the Mediterranean for centuries and consequently has a lot of history going on.

We thought the food was excellent as well - a melding of north African, Italian and English.

However, it didn't feel as "foreign" as some places because e.g. everyone spoke English and you could get a cup of tea without difficulty etc.

But yeah, lovely holiday overall.

Neighbours son has just come back from his third visit, he loves it for a long weekend. He's arty, very smart, loves history and learning new things too so I presume that's what he enjoys, as well as some sunshine this time of year!

Tbh, it's not somewhere I ever gave much thought to other than hearing the country mentioned on the eurovision contest, lol, but I'd enjoy a week there exploring.

As someone has said above, malta seems to get a marmite reaction from people. I liked it, I went about 4 years ago and felt perfectly safe there. We stayed in Valletta and there was more than enough to do for 3 or 4 days.

We stayed in Valetta in January for a week a couple of years ago. Enjoyed the history, can't quite remember the itinerary now but it was a day in Valetta, a day in Mdina, a day on Gozo, a day to prehistoric ruins, ages in catacombs (a special interest of ours but even we had enough before the last one and a bit of bumbling round local to Valetta. Tour of the underground passages was really interesting.

We found the buses easy (got a special offer pass) and used the related app for info.
Food was ok, Valetta felt very safe after dark.

I was glad I went, but probably wouldn't go again

We listened in to a few conversations on the bus and there were people staying weeks in the winter and doing a lot of hiking. We didn't check it out but it's there for those who are interested.

Loads of history there, and lots of very good museums and galleries. Best to be based in Valletta. Mdina is also great. You can get a ferry to Gozo also.
The good thing it that it's small and you can get around the island pretty easily by bus.

I'm Maltese, and not offended. The questions you ask are pretty common. I understand why your colleague left; I did too, although when I had a family to raise I went back.

For perspective: Malta has an area like the size of the Isle of Wight, and a population like Manchester. It's small! Malta was claustrophobic for a long time. Joining the EU changed things dramatically.

That does not mean that you cannot enjoy a week in Malta as a foreign tourist! With your needs, I'd probably stay in Valletta especially if you mean to use public transport rather than hiring a car for the duration. But get out and see everything - the three cities, Rabat, Mellieħa. Take at least a full day to visit Gozo, and take a day trip to Comino.

For your vegan DC, if you decide to go - look at Soul Food, Gugar, Naan Bar in Valletta and Balance Bowl in Sliema. If you want fine dining at great value, look at One80, a project by Maltese chefs from a variety of backgrounds - there are about 5 locations around Malta now and they build vegan options into every course.

We had a lovely 5 days there at the very northern point of the island, but we were there for a specific reason; my son and H were doing their open water diving Padi. We all enjoyed the local beach, one night on the town and a fabulous trip to swim in the blue lagoon.

We do love history but it wasn’t the point our visit so swerved it in this occasion.

One element we didn’t enjoy in the hotel was their buffet food, they liked to serve rabbit and veal regularly.

I think I know which hotel you mean; we stayed there too the last time I went (the first time my DH visited the country; can't wait to go again). I found the Rabbit very dry; it's a meat that is super easy to overcook. There are definitely better restaurants around if you like Rabbit. They didn't offer veal when we were there, though; I don't remember, but we didn't eat at the hotel every night because we wanted to explore. But a lot of people don't like either, and I doubt the OP would be looking for that option with a DC who is vegan.

I thought Malta was OK but I wouldn’t rush back (sorry Maltese PP!)

The architecture didnt appeal to me and I’m not that bothered about artefacts. I did like the catacombs. There was not enough greenery and vegetation for me - I dislike most of the canaries for the same reason (exceptions, northern Tenerife and La Gomera)

I found the food in Malta to be a bit underwhelming and lacking in fresh stuff. Which may be unfair, althouhh we did eat in a range of non-touristy locations as had a car.

I found it really dull. Too British for me. It’s a building site. Our favourite Malta pictures are the collection we ended up making of picturesque views with a crane in the background, it became a game a now a holiday tradition. Valetta I really enjoyed tho - really interesting history. Loved the underground war related history in particular. I won’t go again tho.

I love it! It gave me my love of historical places everybody has been though it at one point crusaders,romans the British.

last time I was in here Valletta had had an EU make over and looked stunning. For balance it’s one of those places you love or hate no real indifference. I’d give it a go.

Like anywhere else, it's going to depend on how well you research and plan. I've been a few times and have enjoyed it because I knew what I wanted- a mix of exploring the historical sites like Mdina, and some time on beautiful sandy beaches like Ghajn Tuffieha. I'm going back at some point because I haven't managed to see the Hypogeum yet.

The PP who described it as a party town probably stayed in, er, a party town. St Julian's in particular falls into this category and is best swerved.

And don't go if, like another PP, you're going to be unhappy at finding rabbit on the menu- it is famously their national dish. But the cheese pastizzi? Worth the trip alone!

Stayed in Gozo and loved it, spent a day in Valletta - beautiful.
it’s what you make of it. Incidentally you can catch a ferry to Sicily from Malta.

I’ve stayed in Valetta a few times and I love it. Mdina is also worth a visit … wasn’t that impressed with other parts that we visited

Some fab restaurants in Valetta and all very walkable.

Hands up I went years ago, but it’s my bellwether now if someone ought to be recommending holidays to me, if they recommend Malta then I stop listening. Valletta was lovely but there’s equally nice Mediterranean cities elsewhere, without Malta around them if you see what I mean.

i have a friend who travels regularly in unsavoury parts of the world for work, he says one of the places he’s felt least safe is Malta, especially in the last few years. Muggings, Russian gangster feel…just not nice.

it’s not that bad, but there’s equally are far nicer places to spend your money on, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Crete, Sardinia….

We are just back after our second visit. I would suggest spending half your time on Gozo (the smaller island) as it is beautiful and much calmer than Malta. We had a great time and will definitely go back.

I love Malta but I’m single and spend most of my time hiking so maybe not the kind of holiday you’re looking for. As others have said, it is pretty much a marmite kind of place. I usually stay in Gozo rather than big island Malta but had a couple of nights in Valletta the last time I was there. Loads to do and see - history, galleries, museums etc. It is something of a building site, which I find part of the charm - the Maltese seem to spend a lot of time constructing, deconstructing, reconstructing their homes.

If you are pool and sunbed sort of person then probably not. If you enjoy history then Malta is chock full of excavated sites which are fascinating.

October half term is an amazing time to go anywhere in the Mediterranean. Malta is good for scuba diving, but otherwise I’d choose somewhere different. We have verifiably been to Seville, Pompeii, Rome, Dubrovnik, Arles… so many lovely places. Usually for about 5 days.