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!

variously not verifiably

We went in June specifically as it is somewhere of historic interest - although we did a mixture of pool and sightseeing. Plenty to see of historic interest in Valletta. We also enjoyed wandering the streets and visiting a museum in Birgu (3 cities, ferry from Valletta). Mdina was definitely worth a visit. We had a day trip to Gozo which I would also recommend on the fast ferry.

As others have said, it really must be one of the most marmite places ever!

I lived there for 8 years.

I certainly don't think it's a boring but depends what you like?

So true. When we landed there first time, I thought there had been a mistake and we were re-routed to a warzone. There are things to do, of an historical nature, if you've never been. Beyond that and sunshine, I haven't seen any reason to go back.

Just spent 5 days there and loved it. Not too expensive, nice restaurants, close to the sea, nice beaches, lovely architecture, warm weather, clean, safe. What's not to like?

A warzone? What a nonsense exaggeration

I loved it when I went, but if you dig a bit deeper (rights of women/ wildlife and conservation) it’s a bit… hairy.

Pros - great food, lovely old town and lots of history.

Cons - see previous.

A similar place we enjoyed was Madeira - also worth consideration.

Is your contribution denigrating others opinions based on your own? Not enough chores around the home to keep you occupied today?

😂
Yes, you're definitely coming across as reasonable in your opinions

Again, low effort contribution. You must have this thread confused with 'AIBU' where this type of low IQ communication is encouraged. OP - have a lovely time whatever you decide to do! I don't have patience or time for juvenile interactions!

Why is it such a building site? Whats going on?

There are quite a lot of new hotels being built along the front at Gzira/Sliema and also in other areas too. I think they were building a new bit of road between Valletta and Ta Xbiex too.
But I didn't see much building work in the old part of Valletta or the other historic areas.

I have never been. Everyone I know who has, loved it.

We were there last week and had a fab time
Stayed in Sliema , which has a lot of building work going on ( a lot )
Took the ferry ( €3 per person each way on a little boat ) fun ! to Valetta , which was lovely to walk round , so much to see , we went back one late afternoon to mooch around and have dinner
Went on the vintage bus to Mdina ( much too crowded )
Lovely weather , lots to see , just walking around in Tshirt and shorts , eating outside
Not boring , just very busy and crowded

Valletta is amazing if you like museums, galleries, cathedrals and architecture.

Malta is tiny. If you want a beach holiday it's great but if you want to see other things go to Sicily or Sardinia instead.

It’s not a beach holiday , the “beaches “ are mostly rock

Beach ( rock )

South east coast yes, north west coast beaches are lovely. I went to the first one, less than an hour from sliema by bus and very close to another gorgeous beach

I found it interesting historically
but will not go back until they stop the bird shooting

Madiera, Crete and Sicily and Sardinia have more to offer

We went to Malta in July. The weather was great (very hot). Our hotel was awful (do not stay in the Qawra Palace!) We both got ill (suspected covid - took three weeks to recover), but we dosed ourselves up (it was worse when we got home!) and went out to explore as we didn’t want to stay in our hotel. We went to Valletta and Mdina. We also did a lovely boat trip to the Blue Lagoon with some other swim stops. Mdina was breathtaking. Valetta was okay, lots of shops so you could easily spend the day sightseeing and shopping.
If you don’t want to lie around a pool then I think a week may be too long. Four/five nights would be sufficient. We were in St Paul’s Bay and got Bolt taxis to Mdina and Valetta. Reasonable prices and much quicker than the bus (there is no rail network in Malta!) I enjoyed our holiday (besides the hotel) but wouldn’t go back.

I feel old now.

It was a relatively new hotel when I first started going to Malta. It does look a bit tired now, though!

We really liked it went for 9 nights over Easter 2024. The hypogeum is just fabulous, very restricted number of visitors per day though, so pre-booking months in advance essential. We had 4 nights in Valetta, 4 nights in Victoria in Gozo and a night in Mdina. Someone else mentioned ferries getting cancelled, didn't happen to us but it is a risk out of the summer season hence we were booked to come back to the main island the day before our flight. We had a heritage Malta pass and went to loads of sites covered by that. There are still some sites, like the cathedral, that are not part of the heritage Malta scheme and that you have to pay for. We did do a little bit of beach time on Gozo, and there were big parades Good Friday and Easter Sunday, normally 1.5 days or a really long day would be enough to see most of the sites on Gozo.

They keep building more and more rooms and only have two small pools and one buffet restaurant. It was like being at Butlins. Overrun with people. View from the rooms was like being in prison. Queues everywhere. Hideous! Malta is lovely, though!

We got home from a week in Malta last week OP. The weather was beautiful - 27 degrees every day. Valetta is stunning. Lots of history, great food and music. The surrounding 3 old towns are also beautiful and worth a look along with Mdina. Outside of that, I thought the island was pretty rundown with a lot of construction going on. Gozo and the Blue lagoon and Comino are also worth a trip. I would go back and do 2 nights in Valetta on arrival, then 3 nights Gozo and then back to Valetta for 2 nights.