# Anyone been to Malta lately?



## bhshmh (Aug 7, 2013)

Most of the reviews are older. Which city is the best for general sightseeing and resorting?


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## Jim Bryan (Aug 7, 2013)

I was there while in the Navy. We escorted the USS Liberty there after she was attacked. Stayed there a long while and really liked it.


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## Carolinian (Aug 7, 2013)

Valetta has most of the sights, restaurants, etc.  There is also a former capital in the interior, which has lots of old buildings, and few people, consequently being known as the Silent City.  It is worth part of a day to see, but not a place to stay.  Many of the resort areas and timeshares are on the north coast, which has a good tourist infrastructure.


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## persia (Aug 8, 2013)

If you are looking for cheap airfare, a co-worker's son got a really good deal on Turkish Airways, with a free stopover in Istanbul.  And who could resist a stop in Istanbul?

The food is great, the culture is an interesting mix of North Africa and Europe.  It gets a huge number of tourists, especially in Winter.   Be sure to check out the megaliths.


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## dmharris (Aug 23, 2013)

Malta also interests me because Saint Paul was there on his missionary trips.  I understand it is rich in history.  But is this a place you could spend a week at?


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## Laurie (Aug 25, 2013)

If you like prehistory, yes this is a place you could spend a week at. There are several ancient temples, most famously the underground Hypogeum which predates the pyramids, as I recall. You have to book your tours there in advance, only a very limited # of entries daily.

We visited about 5 years ago and enjoyed it - different from everywhere else we've been so far. We rented a car, but there's an inexpensive bus system which uses a hub system in Valetta and for that reason, I'd recommend staying as close as possible to the capital for convenience.


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## dmharris (Aug 26, 2013)

Thanks Laurie!  Did you stay at a timeshare?  If so, which one?


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## Laurie (Aug 27, 2013)

Diane, we did stay at a timeshare - actually took this exchange because I'd made a deposit into DAE and had trouble finding an interesting/suitable exchange. Was almost at the 3-yr expiration date, and Malta had always intrigued me, so... exchanged into Pergola Club, since DAE had lots of deposits. It was nice enough, and had my ever-sought after sea view, but location too far from Valetta to be ideal. (Pretty close to the Gozo ferry though, which was a wonderful day trip.)

We're RCI members, and after our trip, I looked back over possibilities and decided Fortina Spa would have been the best choice in RCI for location + quality.  I don't know what II has assuming that's your exchange co.

Also fyi: cheapest flights out of Malta were to Sicily (another bucket list destination of mine).  So, took the opportunity to hop over, and traveled to gorgeous Taormina where we spent a few nites in a b&b. Then EasyJetted for low cost to Milan, and then flew home using our ff miles. Milan's an easy-to-use ff hub for AA and probably other airlines. 

Also btw, we got a long and memorable lesson about St. Paul (and other things) from a priest in one of the churches we'd popped into, in Valetta. That's a long story for another day! (Maybe I can go back and figure out the name of the church if you're interested.)


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## dmharris (Aug 27, 2013)

Laurie, all very interesting and helpful!!  I'd love to hear the story sometime!


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## Laurie (Sep 4, 2013)

dmharris said:


> Laurie, all very interesting and helpful!!  I'd love to hear the story sometime!


Diane, I looked back at some photos, and the priest I referenced was at St. Paul's Shipwreck Church. 

Let me know if you book a trip to Malta, and I'll tell you the whole story - it would be so worth trying to find him! (Or sometime I might post back here, when I have more time.)


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## dmharris (Sep 5, 2013)

Thanks Laurie, will do!


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## Christie (Sep 16, 2013)

I agree with Laurie about location of Fortina Spa.  We stayed at a Radisson that was a timeshare in RCI at the time and right on the ocean. It was November and we had windy, warm weather and the ocean was full of breakers and great to look at from the balcony. Nice place but smoking was (at that time) allowed. Close cab ride to all. In fact, we hired our cab driver from the airport to take us to all the highlights of the island the next day. Small island but full of history and nightlife! so glad we went.  Add Gozo and dining and just chilling...definitely a week's worth of fun! Laurie had other good day trip ideas, too. (PS.-Ever hear of Aspinwall? I grew up there!)


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## dmharris (Sep 16, 2013)

Christie said:


> (PS.-Ever hear of Aspinwall? I grew up there!)



Yes!  My children went to the Montessori Centre Academy in Shaler and one had a good friend who lived in Aspinwall and we would join her family for Trick or Treat night every year since it's a perfect neighborhood for that!  Houses close = lots of loot!


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## WalnutBaron (Sep 22, 2013)

dmharris said:


> Yes!  My children went to the Montessori Centre Academy in Shaler and one had a good friend who lived in Aspinwall and we would join her family for Trick or Treat night every year since it's a perfect neighborhood for that!  Houses close = lots of loot!



Sorry to take this thread on a slight detour, but many moons ago, our family lived in Wexford when I was working for Heinz. Our most memorable Halloween was spent tromping through about eight inches of heavy, wet snow that had fallen that day. My seven year old's tennis ball costume (yes, my wife made our kids' costumes)--which had been pretty round when we set out that night--became soggier and soggier as the night went on. By the time we got home, he looked a lot more like a bright yellow pear.


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## dmharris (Sep 22, 2013)

WalnutBaron said:


> Sorry to take this thread on a slight detour, but many moons ago, our family lived in Wexford when I was working for Heinz. Our most memorable Halloween was spent tromping through about eight inches of heavy, wet snow that had fallen that day. My seven year old's tennis ball costume (yes, my wife made our kids' costumes)--which had been pretty round when we set out that night--became soggier and soggier as the night went on. By the time we got home, he looked a lot more like a bright yellow pear.



That probably was 1992 or 1993 when we had to Trick or Treat in the mall because there was so much snow!  We didn't see the ground that year until April!  Thank goodness it hasn't been that bad since then.


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## optimist (Sep 25, 2013)

Malta was never on our radar but I just  booked a stay at the Radisson for the first week of January!

We are also at the other end of the island, but that is what was available and it was well rated so I just took it.  
Any advise as to what we should see and do? How best to get there (via London or via Italy?)


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## lvhmbh (Sep 26, 2013)

We will be on a cruise ship going to Valletta in early October.  We are with a small gourmet group (our leaders are the Taste and Traditions Director for Regent and her husband Destinations and Adventures owner).  That is one of the stops where they take us touring and do lunch.  Will report back!


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## dmharris (Sep 27, 2013)

Looking forward to your report!  Enjoy your time abroad.


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## Christie (Sep 28, 2013)

We stayed at the Radisson and really liked it due to location. It is oceanfront and I believe all units face the ocean. It's a short taxi ride to the eating, shopping, night life area called Paceville. It is also at the end of the bus line (a few minute walk from front of hotel) and therefore easy to get a bus and make connections. The driving in Vallarta is the worst I have seen in Europe but there appear to be some unwritten rules of the road only the locals have figured out!  Very interesting island. Trip Advisor has some good stuff about it.


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## Laurie (Sep 30, 2013)

We also found driving in Malta the worst and most stressful of any country we've been to, and that includes Italy, by a long shot. In fact it's the only place we've ever been where we parked the car and didn't even want to take it out again for a few days - so we left it in the garage of the resort (and found it scratched when we came back to it - which had me worried, but the rental company never said boo about it, must be par for the course).  We almost always love renting cars for the freedom they afford us, Malta was one of the few exceptions. 

Additionally, navigation was a challenge, because lots of streets didn't have many visible signs, so it was hard to figure out where the heck on the map we were. (Add to that driving on the left, confusing traffic circles, blowing sideways rain and pitch darkness the night we arrived - what fun!) 

That's why I mentioned proximity to the cheap bus system which uses Valetta as its hub. I also liked using their public transportation, because a few sites were hard to find, and the bus drivers helped us get to them.   

There were a few days we were glad to have the car, but a whole week rental wasn't necessary as it turned out - for us, anyway.


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## optimist (Sep 30, 2013)

I called Interval to see if I could switch my week to another and it turned out my exchange never went through
Lucky I did not buy plane tickets!  It was probably for the best since the dates were not ideal but now I feel like I need to see Malta at some point...

We ended up booking a getaway to the Marriott in Marbella for the week we wanted in January.  A three bedroom for $600!


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