Gibraltar
Seeking Mediterranean sun in the…U.K.?
Visited August 2021
Looking for some sunshine in the midst of a gloomy British winter, we started scouring Google Flights for warm options close enough to home when we came across £30 flights to the Mediterranean island of Malta in January. We had always wanted to go, and with flights that cheap, there was no way we could turn it down. While peak season is the summer months, it turns out that Malta is absolutely worth a visit in the winter – although not beach weather, there was still plenty of sunshine, comfortable temperatures and smaller crowds.
Itinerary
City Center
Exploring the colorful main streets
Top of the Rock
Hiking and monkeys at the namesake
Catalan Bay
Good food and views at the hotel
Europa Point
Visiting the very south end of the rock
Transportation
How we got there and how we got around
City Center
Sunset dining at the Ocean Village
We chose the capital city of Valletta as our home base for the weekend. Not only was it central and an easy 20 minute drive from the airport, it also had all the conveniences of a city like plenty of hotel options, tons of restaurants and cute wine bars, shopping streets, and churches – all within walking distance. On top of that, Valletta also had the quintessential elements you see in every Maltese postcard: charming wooden balconies, stunning coastline views, and hilly cobblestone streets (make sure to wear comfy shoes that don’t slip!).
Valletta is a very manageable size, and you can walk to all the main sites in a day. In fact, if you just wander the streets for a couple of hours, you’d probably hit all the things a guidebook would tell you to see anyway. We spent our whole first day here.
Sunborn hotel and casino
Ocean Village
A stroll down Main Street
We chose the capital city of Valletta as our home base for the weekend. Not only was it central and an easy 20 minute drive from the airport, it also had all the conveniences of a city like plenty of hotel options, tons of restaurants and cute wine bars, shopping streets, and churches – all within walking distance. On top of that, Valletta also had the quintessential elements you see in every Maltese postcard: charming wooden balconies, stunning coastline views, and hilly cobblestone streets (make sure to wear comfy shoes that don’t slip!).
Valletta is a very manageable size, and you can walk to all the main sites in a day. In fact, if you just wander the streets for a couple of hours, you’d probably hit all the things a guidebook would tell you to see anyway. We spent our whole first day here.
Colorful streets
Familiar British sight
Lots of flags
Drinks & dinner on the waterfront
We chose the capital city of Valletta as our home base for the weekend. Not only was it central and an easy 20 minute drive from the airport, it also had all the conveniences of a city like plenty of hotel options, tons of restaurants and cute wine bars, shopping streets, and churches – all within walking distance. On top of that, Valletta also had the quintessential elements you see in every Maltese postcard: charming wooden balconies, stunning coastline views, and hilly cobblestone streets (make sure to wear comfy shoes that don’t slip!).
Valletta is a very manageable size, and you can walk to all the main sites in a day. In fact, if you just wander the streets for a couple of hours, you’d probably hit all the things a guidebook would tell you to see anyway. We spent our whole first day here.
Queensway Quay
Strolling along the quay
Fresh seafood
Pre dinner drinks
Entering Queensway Quay
Top of The Rock
Exploring the namesake Rock
Our last stop of the day was Dingli Cliffs, a less than 15 minute drive from Mdina, located on the western edge of the island. The Dingli Cliffs mark the highest point in Malta and are a must-see, especially during sunset – be prepared for spectacular views out over the open sea and lots of wind! A tiny, old chapel sits at the top of the cliffs – you can’t go in the church, but is very photogenic and adds to the beautiful scenery. There are also several benches to sit and enjoy the sunset – a great way to end the day!
Top of the Cable Car station
A native macacque hanging out
Our last stop of the day was Dingli Cliffs, a less than 15 minute drive from Mdina, located on the western edge of the island. The Dingli Cliffs mark the highest point in Malta and are a must-see, especially during sunset – be prepared for spectacular views out over the open sea and lots of wind! A tiny, old chapel sits at the top of the cliffs – you can’t go in the church, but is very photogenic and adds to the beautiful scenery. There are also several benches to sit and enjoy the sunset – a great way to end the day!
View from Skywalk
Windsor Bridge
St. Michael’s Cave
Catalan Bay
Hanging out at La Caleta
Drinks on the terrace
Dinner at Nuno’s
Overlooking the beach
Europa Point
Seafood with a view (of Africa)
Europa Point Lighthouse
Harding’s Battery
Views towards Africa
Nearby mosque
Bistro Point lunch
Transportation
Getting around the peninsula
Since we wanted to visit multiple cities across Malta, our first inclination was to just rent a car. However, we were turned off by the extremely negative reviews (we’re talking 2 stars or below, with pages full of horror stories) of nearly every rental agency. Some of our friends had rented cars when they went to Malta and had no issues, and we usually go for a car rental in other European cities we have visited, but we decided against it.
Instead, to get around, we used a combination of Bolt and eCabs, both ride-hailing Apps similar to Uber, which worked out great. We would recommend downloading one or both of the Apps prior to arriving in Malta as this was our method of transport to and from the airport and between all cities. As prices were roughly the same, we just picked whichever had the closest vehicle to us when we needed it. Because Malta is not that densely populated, there were times when a vehicle was not immediately nearby and we had to wait a bit (for example, when we visited Dingli Cliffs), but we never ran into an issue where there were no cars available. All of the drivers were very friendly and Bolt/eCabs were both cheaper than a regular taxi – even for trips of a half hour or so, we never paid more than €20. From Valletta, we caught most cars right outside of Castille Palace, not far from the picture shown above.