Tuesday, 17 July 2018

Malta: Travel Diary

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Malta has probably been one of the most beautiful places I've been to, with it's unique culture and peculiar familiarity, Malta exceeded my expectations.


How To Get To The Centre From The Airport?


We were very lucky that the people over our accommodation gave us extremely detailed directions to our apartment in Msida. However saying that, it's pretty easy getting around in Malta as naturally everyone speaks English. As I said, we stayed in Msida, so we got bus number X3 to our apartment. The airport bus costs €1.50 like every single bus in Malta and they last 90 minutes. So check with your accommodation as to which bus you need to get as you may be staying in Valletta, Sliema etc. The airport bus is right outside the airport and is very easy to spot. Top tip: Don't hop into a taxi they will rip you off!

Where We Stayed


We stayed in a really nice apartment, allow me to say it was too spacious for us, and no I'm not complaining! There were four of us on the trip. There were three bedrooms, a en suite, a main bathroom, a kitchen and a living area. We also had two balcony's. We booked the apartment through booking.com, the name of the apartment was 5-senses. It was extremely cheap for it's position! They also gave us a free bottle of wine to kick start the weekend away! We stayed in Msida, which is well connected to areas like Sliema and Valletta. I would definitely recommend staying in this apartment, we were all wishing we could live there! 
Side note: If you go to my Instagram you'll get a tour of the apartment in the highlights section labelled 'MALTA'.

Typical Maltese Architecture 
Prime Ministers home


First Day


We heard before coming that there was a Cinnabon in Malta so we were on the hunt for one. We took the bus from Msida to Sliema (a 10 min drive) to get one and to check out the area as it looks stunning as there are boats everywhere and you get an amazing view of Valletta from Sliema. Valletta is the historical centre of Malta, otherwise known as the Capital. 

We knew that on our second day there we would go to the Blue Lagoon in Comino so as we were going to Sliema we were going to book our boat to go there. Along the prom in Sliema there are tonnes of boat companies selling tours so we hunted for the best offer. More on that soon.

After our fill of the best cinnamon buns ever we decided to go the scenic route to Valletta by getting the ferry across from Sliema. It's so cheap to get it, something less than €4 return. 

We wanted a relaxing day for our first day considering we would be going on a boat tour the next day, so we wandered around the old capital, Valletta. The architecture of the houses is so particular. We also wandered into a stunning garden called the Upper Barrakka Gardens, the views from here were incredible and I don't think I've seen so many flowers in my life! So I suggest checking this place out.

For the rest of the day we just explored, ate and drank anything that would cool us down.

Cinnabon, Sliema



Upper Barrakka Gardens




Second Day



We were up bright and early to catch the bus from Msida to Sliema where we were going out on our boat trip to the Blue Lagoon.
We ended up getting a great deal from a lovely English guy who was working for one of the companies where we could get a speed boat to Comino (where the blue lagoon is). It ended up being €30 a head for the day so we were delighted! The trip to Comino took about 45 minutes so we had plenty of time speeding around in the sea. Before we arrived we could also check out the caves in the area, considering our boat was so small we could go directly into them. It was incredible. The water was so blue and crystal clear!

After a while we finally made it to the Blue Lagoon, now let me tell you, when I saw all the photos of this place I thought that it couldn't be that blue, that it must be one heck of a filter. Well I was wrong, the water was clearer than any water I've ever seen. One of my friends said it was nicer than most places in the Bahamas!

You can rent chairs for the day to sunbathe or you can sit on the rocks or sand for free. We opted for the free option. There are many stalls for food and drink as well as stalls for swimming gear. The best thing we saw was the fact there were lockers for people to keep their things safe and there was a man there all day looking after the them. The place was very efficient!

Blue Lagoon, Comiso










Last Day


On our last day we were on the hunt for an Irish breakfast, considering we live in Sicily, the lack of a good 'ol fry up was real. So we found a place in Sliema and had the best fry up. After we hung around the massive shopping centre in Sliema as they had all the brands that Sicily don't. As it was so hot in Malta, we took so many breaks to cool down so we stopped in a very cute cafe called French Affaire to get some smoothies. If you're looking for an "Imstagrammable" place to go you should check it out!. After this we decided to head to another area of Malta called St. Juliens. We didn't do much on our last day except eat and relax by the water. We got here on foot but you can most definitely get a bus to it.

St. Juliens


View of Valletta from Sliema




Tips To Know Before Coming

  • Bring your swimming costume with you everywhere, we had so many opportunities to go swimming (in every area we went to) however we weren't prepared.
  • The strip of restaurants in Sliema are extremely touristic so I wouldn't recommend going there, they're also very expensive.
  • They drive on the left.
  • They speak both English and Maltese.
  • Make sure you shop around for the best offers if you're going on a boat trip.
  • There's more to see than the Blue Lagoon. Try Gozo, Tal-Mixta Cave, St. Peter's Pool, Wied il-Mielah, Ta' Pinu, Popeye Village and Hondoq Bay. 
  • Malta is so small you can get busses or boats everywhere so I wouldn't recommend getting a taxi.
  • It's difficult to find good places to eat as a lot of restaurants are touristic. Make sure to do research before coming.
  • It doesn't really matter where you stay. Any nearby towns around Valletta would be ideal, as I said Malta is small so getting from area to area is so easy and quick. I would also recommend staying in Sliema as it's easy to get to everywhere from there!
  • Try Pastizzi.
  • They use a lot of rabbit in their cuising so if you are a lover of cute bunnies watch out!





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