# Have you been to Malta?



## Laurie (Mar 27, 2008)

We have an exchange coming up, into Pergola Club in Mellieha for 2nd week of May...time to start getting excited, it sounds pretty different from anywhere we've been!

So far we aren't planning to rent a car because bus service looks plentiful, driving sounds a bit on the crazy side, parking in town can be a hassle, and I think Pergola charges for its own parking.  But, we're arriving at 7:30 or 8 pm - I'm poking around now, to see if we can get there by bus or will need a taxi. (We could be open to persuasion about having a car.)

So... any sightseeing tips? (other than the Hypogeum - I just bought tickets online - and Valletta, Mdina and Gozo? We'll probably want to get to some other prehistoric sites although I just read that one of the main ones may be closed for restoration...) Bus tips? Experience in this town or resort? Food tips? Weather? etc. 

Thanks in advance!


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## Carolinian (Mar 27, 2008)

We did a summer exchange to Sunny Coast Resort 2BR a few years ago through DAE, and thoroughly enjoyed Malta.  Mdina is a nice old town and nearby Rabat has some interesting catacombs.  Driving was really not that difficult, and you can park just outside Valleta.  Sunny Coast had free parking.


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## Linda74 (Mar 27, 2008)

We exchanged into the Radisson SAS in St. Julians in 2002.  Malta is a very interesting country.  I have a review in the review section.


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## w879jr1 (Mar 28, 2008)

My sister and her family are in Malta at the moment. It's their first visit, and she asked me for recommendations because I have been there before, but it was more than twenty years ago. I will check on her return what her advice would be to a visitor and post it here then.

A car rental would help you to visit the remoter parts of the islands of Malta and Gozo at your own pace. Around Mellehia driving should not be too difficult so renting from there would allow you to get familiar with the roads and Maltese driving style before venturing further afield.


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## w879jr1 (Apr 6, 2008)

*Update*

My sister has returned from Malta and reported having a wonderful trip. They rented a car throughout. My brother-in-law enjoyed driving around the island, but I must add that he does enjoy challenging conditions. They didn't drive in the Valetta area though, preferring to take the bus when visiting there. Parking isn't too easy in any of the popular places, but will still be possible at this time of the year.

I had hoped to update information about making the trip over to Gozo, but my sister and her family did not do it. There was a national holiday weekend during their stay and lines for the ferry were very long. My experience (many years ago now) leads me to advise anyone going over to Gozo to get back to the return ferry well ahead of departure time. In my case we were unable to get on the last ferry making the short trip, and everyone in that situation is taken on a larger ship which sails to Valetta. If you are staying in the north of the island of Malta, this adds more driving distance to your return trip. This may not be the situation now, but it would probably be worth asking about it.


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## Laurie (Apr 7, 2008)

Thanks for this feedback... I am in fact rethinking the car thing. And tho my preferred car rental co, AutoEurope, had nothing avail, I believe I've found a local car rental co w/avail automatics (really don't want a manual for left-side-of-road driving) for a reasonable price. Pergola Club charges 12 Euros per week to park in its lot, I called to inquire, so parking isn't an issue. 

The buses do sound like fun - when we traveled to Madeira and stayed in town in Funchal, we really enjoyed making our trips by bus rather than car. But we'd already spent our first week on the island with a car to get to the more outlying areas. We only have 1 week in Malta, actually only 6 nights, meaning we'll have to be more time-conscious.


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## 3kids4me (Apr 7, 2008)

Laurie, I want to be you in my next life!


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## dmharris (Feb 22, 2009)

So Laurie, I hope you read this and respond.  How was your trip?  I am looking for a place to go the middle of October.  We're doing the week before in Monaco, so want to try something warm, landscape is beautiful, culture is interesting and food is yummy.  Would that be Malta? 

What other culture might it feel like, i.e. Spanish, Italian, etc?  I don't have any feel for it.

TIA,


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## Laurie (Feb 23, 2009)

Hi Diane,

Thanks for asking!  The trip to Malta was really interesting, but primarily from a historical and prehistoric/anthropological perspective, rather than landscapes, food, etc. We really wanted to see the prehistoric Goddess sites such as the Hypogeum, and they were very interesting to us.  If you're interested in this kind of sightseeing, then yes, Malta is worth it. To answer your question about culturally what it feels like, it has elements of Arabic and Italian (the crazy driving for instance), it looks somewhat like I'd imagine North Africa or the Middle East, and felt quite different than anywhere else we've been. But if you're not highly interested in prehistory and ruins, I wouldn't necessarily choose Malta as a destination. And it's not that scenic, to me anyway - no trees, and not much greenery. Rabbit is a primary ingredient of local cuisine, so...

Otherwise, to fit your whole list of attributes, other places we've been come to mind above Malta: the Ligurian coast of Italy, and Sicily to name 2 - both are scenically incredible and of course the food is outstanding. If you're looking for a timeshare exchange in Liguria, we exchanged into one in Rapallo, Portofino Est Residence - and we drove there from the French Riviera close to Monaco, thru gorgeous scenery, then drove back to France - rental rates in France were lower than Italy. From there you can access the Cinque Terre and many beauty spots.

Hope that helps!

Laurie


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## dmharris (Feb 23, 2009)

Laurie,

You are awesome!  Those were just the answers I needed.  Now you've piqued one more question.  How long did it take you to drive from Monaco to Liguria?  Ok, one more:  where did you fly in and out of for that trip.  

Thank you so much!


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## Laurie (Feb 24, 2009)

Google says 2.5 hours from Monaco to Rapallo (you can see the route if you request directions between these 2 points), but it took us longer than that - we'd flown overnight and had to nap on the way, I'm thinking 4+ hours. Many tunnels on the autostrada around Genoa, but very pretty between them, the land's very steep and lush and terraced, with views to the sea.   

Auto rental was less expensive in France (your credit card covers insurance in France, whereas in Italy it's a mandatory add-on which more than doubled the rates the year we traveled) - but food, both restaurants and groceries, cheaper in Italy except in pricy towns like Portofino. By the way, Liguria is the home of pesto! 

We used Nice airport for both overseas flights, around the corner from Monaco. If not for the auto rental issue, you could probably fly in our out of Genoa, but for us, keeping the same car for 2+ weeks simplified everything and saved noticable $, and the distance to backtrack didn't bother us.

Both these areas deserve more than a week if you have the time - we didn't, but someday we'll just have to go again.


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