A guide for a short vacation planned in Malta

How can a relatively busy 2-week period in Malta be made even more fulfilling?

For example, if close friends arrive for 3-4 days, and they inform you just one day before their arrival.

In this post, I will go through the decision points that shaped the dynamics of the weekend and that can serve as a guide for a short vacation planned in Malta.

So their first question was where to book accommodation. I made 3 suggestions based on my experiences, which were:

• Sliema: perhaps the seaside part is my favourite area in all of Malta, bustling, beautiful, great for walking, eating, and drinking. Very frequented, everything is close by, the ferry takes you to Valletta, excellent bus service, close to the party district, restaurants, cafés, a few beaches.
• St. Julian’s: this bay essentially merges with Sliema, recommended for those who want to be in the middle of the hustle and bustle, so it's more for those who want to have fun. Everything is there and easily accessible.
• St. Paul’s Bay: the most beautiful sandy beaches are a short bus ride away, less hyped, so maybe somewhat cheaper, but everything is available locally, seaside promenade, famous pool party venue, restaurants, bars, sunset. I have already detailed this area in this post. I finally recommended this the most to the guys, as it is the closest to Mosta, my place of residence, a 15-minute downhill ride.

So the base was in St. Paul’s Bay, just as during my family’s visit.

What can and should be done?

For example, have a good dinner at a fusion of an Asian restaurant and a British pub?

Yes, this was really great, which surprised all of us.

Check out the Café del Mar pool party?

This can be described as an interesting experience, but it was by no means a bad one.

Dip in the sea after the party at the tip of the island?

This is recommended for everyone, whether they have a swimsuit or not!

Have a good breakfast at one of the nearby brunch places?

The guys chose this place, anyone who wants a good breakfast relatively slowly can do the same.

Find a nice beach nearby?

Golden Bay and Riviera Beach are half an hour by bus without a transfer, and it costs 2.5 euros.

Have a good coffee and a beer with it?

The already often mentioned Coffee Circus between the two beaches can keep a small company entertained for hours.

Diving and then drinking a large bucket of gin and tonic together, watching the sunset from a restaurant terrace? Making a pull-up pyramid and betting on when the sun will dip below the horizon?

Yes, yes, this beach is also good for this, although you need some weird friends for it…😊

Go to Valletta in the evening, walk around, have a drink on the atmospheric steps?

Yes, and suddenly we realize that 24 hours have passed!

And where else were we during the weekend that I would recommend with a clear conscience the next day as well?

Gozo and Blue Lagoon/Comino boat trip. We booked on the GetYourGuide site with my family and now as well. This time the trip was on a brand new, air-conditioned red catamaran, which started from Sliema and picked us up in St. Paul’s Bay. The price was 36 euros, these all-day trips usually start around 20-25 euros, which mostly focus on the Blue Lagoon. The price difference mainly stems from the quality of the boat. It is worth taking cash, as usually, you can only pay with cash on the boat.

I won't talk long about the Blue Lagoon, other than that there are lots of people and 0 trees, it's definitely worth seeing because the white sandbank and the cool, beautiful blue sea are worth a visit.

Gozo has a unique atmosphere, I have only heard good things about it so far, and my two trips confirmed that it is a great place. We traveled around with Joe's tuk-tuk, which really added to the experience, and we managed for the price of 2 bus tickets per person (5 EUR). Look for Joe at the boat dock!

Gozo is otherwise easily and cheaply accessible by ferry, with my bike it cost 5.5 EUR round trip, you pay on the Gozo side. It is worth spending at least a whole day there.

There is also a service called Comino Ferry, also from the departure point of the Gozo Ferry, from Cirkewwa. The round trip ticket is 15 EUR, which is a good alternative to the above boat trip, although getting to the ferry can be more challenging. For us, it was perfect that our boat picked us up in the bay.

After such a long day, it might be worth sitting down for a beer in the harbor and sticking around for hours, until they gently hint that it's better to move on. :)

And what is worth seeing on the last day of the weekend if we have already been to the beach, toured the city, had good food and drinks, laughed, played ball, dived, and cooked in the sun?

If we enjoyed all these, it might be worth repeating.

I almost know my Mdina-Rabat tour by heart, we also checked out Coffee Circus with the guys for a Ftira and a good coffee, a delicious ice cream, a little wandering, then we took a taxi and went down to the Blue Grotto to the boat dock and spent the whole day there.

The way back was less simple, we couldn't find a large taxi, so we took the bus all the way from the Blue Grotto to Buggiba, which included a transfer in Mdina, and before that a sunset view from the bus along the Dingli Cliffs. The journey was almost an hour and a half (and at the same time 18 km, so it would have been half by bike), but we didn't have many other alternatives, so we closed the weekend fairly satisfied.

So what I recommend for a 3-day long weekend:

• Hat
• Lots of sunscreen
• White clothes
• Sunglasses
• Snorkel gear or at least swimming goggles
• Mdina&Rabat sightseeing tour
• Coffee Circus coffees
• Fior di Latte ice cream parlor
• Riviera Beach and Golden Bay
• Valletta in the evening (or daytime)
• Blue Grotto
• Dingli Cliffs
• Boat trip to the Blue Lagoon
• Gozo
• At least one slow breakfast
• Some Maltese restaurant
• Optionally clubs, some gin and tonic
• Mix of taxi and bus usage

One would think that Malta fits into a long weekend, of course, this is not the case, but by selecting from the above, we can get a proper insight into the possibilities of this small island.

All of these can be done expensively or on a tight budget, perhaps the most important thing is to enjoy it in the meantime! I enjoyed it, thank you for coming!