A Complete Malta Guide: Knights, Food And incredible Nature
Malta. In May 2019, after having spent the last five months traveling back and forth between Austria and Luxembourg, we didn't have a lot of holidays left.
So we thought: why not exploring the tiny Maltese island? Five days should be more than enough, right?
[insert "wrong" noise] Nope! It sure wasn't! From unique knights history and stunning nature to impressive archaeological sites: Malta has it all and this guide does too. .
An introduction: fascinating knights history and stunning nature in Malta
Golden beauty. Arriving on that picturesque island, the gold of the buildings gives this instant, warm feeling. The Globigerina Limestone, or "Franka" in Maltese, is the main building material in Malta since prehistoric times.
Located somewhere in the middle of the Mediterranean, between Tunisia and Sicily, one of Europe's smallest countries is a fascinating mix of Arabic and Latin culture, with influences of the British Empire.
Fascinating knights tales and stunning nature: welcome to Malta
The archipel has known so many different cultures, being at the crossroad of civilisations and all, which makes it an amazing country to explore.
Size doesn't matter
First off: don't let its size fool you! We did. When we first thought about going to Malta, it was mainly because we didn't have much days off left. So we reckoned: why not doing a mini-vacation on that island? As it's not far from home, we wouldn't lose time with a long flight either.
In retrospective, I can honestly say: we should have stayed longer! We thoroughly explored Malta and the capital Valletta. We even had two days on Gozo, the second largest island (read all about it here).
But we were not able to visit all of the amazing archaeological sites, nor to cross over to Comino, the smallest inhabited island of the archipelago (number of permanent residents: 3).
First holiday as a couple
We did a quick stop in Saint Julian, as Sebi spent a few weeks there when he was was a teenager. He did exactly what Malta is known for amongst young people and students: learning English. And maybe party a bit. While studying of course.
But the fact is: he knew that the island was beautiful. But he didn't really take the time to explore it back then. His interests were of another kind ...
Anyways, we had a week to spare and longed for a much needed holiday break in September before winter. And actually, this was our first holiday as a couple (insert violins and floating hearts). And it was beautiful!
Practical stuff
Budget
⤀ A round-trip from Luxembourg was around 140€ p.p., booked in May.
⤀ Our B&B was 584€ for 5 nights, breakfast included, which is pretty reasonable, I think, as the location was perfect.
⤀ Car rental was okay too, we paid around 200€ for 7 days in Malta and Gozo, insurance and additional driver included. That is, if you don't count the 34,94€ fine we got for speeding ... (oops).
⤀ Sightseeing can be more expensive, depending on what you want to visit. Churches are mostly free, except for the Co-Cathedral in Valletta that had a 10€ entrance fee. But the Hypogeum was 27,50€ p.p. for roughly 1 hour visit. I'd say it's worth it, though!
Best time to visit
We went the first week of September, which was perfect: less crowded than during summer holidays but still hot enough to have a swim in the sea.
Getting around
We rented a car with First and it went very well, no complains. You better rent a small one as free parking spaces in Valletta or the Three Cities are scarce.
Distances are easily manageable as the island has only a length of 27 km at most. Oh, and speeding controls are frequent! You're not supposed to do more than 70kmh on Maltese roads ...
Driving is on the left due to British heritage
Where to stay
We didn't want to stay in Valletta's city centre because:
⤀ It's way more expensive
⤀ We had a car and didn't want to circle around the city every day to find a free parking spot
⤀ Traffic in the city is dense, we didn't want to loose time just to get out of it
⤀ It is the most populated city, hence noisier - at least we thought (read on to find out why I say that)
So we stayed in Cospicua, one of the Three Cities, which was ideal! We didn't even need the car to get to Valletta as there were water taxis/ferries every half hour and they departed right in front of our B&B.
We stayed at Nelli's B&B, a super charming little B&B run by a Belgo-Danish couple. No, I didn't look for a Belgian host on purpose. Beautiful rooms, perfect breakfast on the roof-terrace and attentive service: what more could we ask for?
Funny detail, though: the café right underneath our B&B happened to be kind of a meeting point of fishermen.
Imagine our surprised faces when the bar, closed during the day, suddenly opened up at 4 a.m. and the street filled up with middle-aged tanned Maltese coming back from their morning fishing-trip, having their coffee with a cigarette. Every morning.
So from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. there was quite some chatter in the street. Luckily, the rooms blocked out most of the noise. So it amazed us more than it did bother us.
Breakfast views from Nelli's B&B
View on Senglea (left) and Valletta (front) from Dock 1, Copiscua
The language
The primary one is Maltese, a semitic language (the only one in Europe) and a latinised variety of historic Arabic.
English serves as second language, being an anglo-saxon remnant of the British Empire that dominated them for 150 years - hence the red phone booths everywhere.
The food
Malta's cuisine is influenced by the almost-neighbor Sicily, hence a lot of pasta, pizza and sweet desserts.
The Pastizzi, puff-pastries filled with either ricotta-cheese or mushy peas are famous. Very tasty and ideal as a snack, good for my guts.
Unfortunately we kind of forgot to taste their speciality, fenkata, a rabbit ragout. Fish is also very prominent.
To accompany the food (or to enjoy the sunset with - see down below), try a refreshing Cisk, the local beer.
Tasty fish in Marsaxlokk, Restaurant La Reggia
English flair in Mdina
The culture
So many things to see and to explore! From archaeological and prehistoric sites to the fascinating Maltese knights history and nature. B
ut in general, you pay quite a bit to visit all of it. Some of the sites are more than worth it, though.
Read on for our personal favorites ☟
Megaliths and their mystic significance
Malta’s megalithic temples rank amongst the most significant ones in Europe. Built between 4000 and 3000 B.C., they served the purpose of honoring the Goddess of fertility.
There are around 30 known sites of that kind on Malta and Gozo. Can you imagine? That's quite a lot for two tiny islands!
The Hypogeum and Hagar Qim are the ones that impressed us the most. As an archaeologist, I could have spent hours and hours analyzing these fascinating stone elements – but I contained myself, for Sebi’s sake …
∘ The Hypogeum Hal Saflieni
This subterranean neolithic temple rendered us speechless. Located in Paola, on the eastern part of the island, it consists of numerous galleries and chambers on three different levels and served as a burial site.
Built between 3800 and 2500 B.C., it was discovered at the end of the 19th century by accident. They were actually attempting to drill holes in the floor of the house above ground, to build a cistern.
Well, you can imagine their surprise once they broke through.
In total, the chambers contained the bones of around 7000 individuals. The feeling you get down there is indescribable!
Attention: Be very early with your reservation as the number of people is very limited due to the narrow spaces! Click here for the tickets! Photography is not permitted.
∘ Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples
Arriving at the site, just outside the village of Qrendi, a short walk brings you to the Hagar Qim temples on a hilltop overlooking the sea.
They can be dated back to around 3600 - 3200 B.C. and you immediately get a feeling of being crushed by the giant stones, some being as much as 5 meters high.
Statuettes of obese figures have been found during excavations and can be admired at the National Museum of Archaeology. Y
ou don't have to be an archaeologist to appreciate these megaliths - Sebi ain't one and he was super impressed!
Good solution for protection
Playing with holes and light
Some stones are 5 m high!
From Hagar Qim, it's a 500 m walk down the hill to the slightly smaller Mnajdra Temples. The walk down is easy-peasy with a beautiful view on Fifla island.
Getting back up is a bit more difficult, although not that much since I'm asthmatic and I felt it was alright (read my health story here).
For those who have more severe breathing problems or bad legs, they offer rides on an electric caddy to get you up and down the hill.
Downhill to the Mnajdra Temples
Slightly smaller Mnajdra Temples
Although scientists have done tons of research, a lot of functionality questions remain - as is the case for most of the major megalithic sites all over the world.
So many questions still unanswered! It's pretty awesome to wander around and try to figure out your own hypothesis - okay, maybe that's just me...
Of roman and medieval times
Malta is mainly known for the megalithic sites and the knights history (and let's not forget the beautiful nature). But what about the whole period in-between?
This is where Mdina and Rabat had their glory. Mdina is a city that absolutely charmed us and the Saint Paul's Catacombs in Rabat were a slightly creepy but very unique experience.
Mdina, entrance to the fortified city
∘ City of honey: Mdina and Rabat
Nowadays, Mdina and Rabat are considered twin cities, but very distinct.
In former times, though, they were one and named 'Melita', literally meaning 'City of Honey'.
The site had been occupied since the Bronze Age and developed into a city under the Phoenicians, forming part of the Roman and later the Byzantine Empire afterwards.
Romans and Arabs
A few vestiges of that era have survived, amongst which the Domus Romana showcasing nicely preserved mosaics and statues.
In the 9th century, Melita came under siege. The Aghlabids, an Arab dynasty of emirs, ultimately destroyed the city and massacred its inhabitants. It took almost a century for the city to be resettled by a Muslim community.
They rebuilt the city and gave it its present name, Mdina, derived from the Arabic 'Medina'.
'Medina' means 'town' or 'city' and it remained the capital city of the island until Birgú became its administrative centre under the Order of St. John in 1530.
The silent city
Today, Mdina is still confined within its walls and is referred to as 'The Silent City', partly because no cars are allowed beyond those walls.
But mostly because, from 1530 on, the city never regained the grandeur it had before.
Relaxing stroll through the Silent City
Despite being a hotspot for tourists, we felt the calming effect on the city and it was a very soothing experience to just stroll through the streets and admire the quirky mix of Romanesque and Baroque architecture.
Views and trivia
The views from Mdina, perched on a ledge, overlooking the region up to the sea, are absolutely magnificent!
Btw: did you know that the gated entrance of the fortified city served as filming location for Game of Thrones? In the series, this gate is the entrance to King's Landing.
Rabat, on the other hand, takes its name from the Arabic word for 'suburb' and it does indeed feel like that. But it is home to the fascinating Catacombs of St. Paul and St. Agatha.
Magnificent Mdina views
∘ Saint Paul's Catacombs
We had never experienced anything like this before! As an archaeologist, I've visited many special places and crawled into weird spaces - but this was new, even for me.
The Romans had started to carve these catacombs to bury their dead as they needed a space to do so outside of their city. They consist of numerous underground galleries, each one having its own entrance, with tombs dating from the 3rd to the 8th century.
If you're prone to claustrophobia, you might not want to visit. However, if you really don't want to miss it - and trust me, it's pretty awesome - there is a panic button in each of the deeper galleries. I found that very reassuring.
Pagan, Christian and Jewish tombs are identified through symbols carved in the stone and some are even decorated with frescos in red paint. All confessions mixed. Another proof that religions can coexist peacefully. Too bad this is more of an exception than the rule.
Slightly creepy entrance to the site
Sebi going down.. into the catacomb
A labyrinth of tombs
Where's the exit?
Of knights and their heritage: Valletta
Here it comes: the chapter of Malta's history that Sebi looked forward to the most!
Okay, I admit, the Maltese knights have intrigued me for a while as well. Come on, knights are fascinating. Even though in this case, they are religious knights. Not sword-wielding, damsel-in-distress-rescuing, prince-charming-like ones.
The Order of Saint John was a Catholic military order that arrived in Malta in 1530 to settle here permanently. They quickly transformed the city by building magnificent Palazzi and impressive churches to demonstrate their power.
And decadence. Because ultimately, most of them weren't really pious. Or modest. Well, at least, they put their mark on the island and their story is absolutely fascinating. I won't bore you with historical data, just go and explore it for yourself! Trust me, even if you're not a history-nerd, you will still find it interesting.
∘ Grandmaster's Palace and Palace Armoury
Decadence of the Grandmasters
The perfect example of the decadence of a Grandmaster of the Order. They had to really spread out their wealth, obviously. I mean, wouldn't we all do that? Not..
But it does display the European Baroque in all its splendour! Occupying a whole city block of course.. But originally, it was supposed to be built somewhere else when the knights developed the new city of Valletta in 1566 (read below the pictures).
Nowadays, the Palace houses the Office of the President of Malta. Naturally. So the only spaces you can visit are the Palace State Rooms and the Armoury.
The latter hosts a pretty impressive collection of weapons and it has indeed been an armoury since 1604. It showcases some spectacular personal armours of Grandmasters and even Ottoman weapons from the Great Siege of Malta in 1565.
Beautiful clock in the courtyard
Grandmaster's throne
Lifelike mannequins in the Palace Armoury
Auberge de Castille
The current 'South Street' used to be called 'Strada del Palazzo' since the Grandmaster's Palace was planned to be located here.
That spot is now occupied by the Auberge de Castille which was built in the 1740s to house knights of the Order of St. John from the 'langue' (= an administrative division of the Order) of the kingdoms of Castile, León and Portugal.
It now houses the Office of Malta's Prime Minister and is the first thing that sparks the eye when entering the city from the Upper Barakka Gardens.
Auberge de Castille at Castile Place (on the right)
∘ Saint John's Co-Cathedral
Built between 1573 and 1577 by the Order of St. John, the cathedral was commissioned by the infamous Grandmaster Jean de la Cassière - fancy sounding name, right?
The outside doesn't reveal much but, once inside, you get slapped in the face - figuratively speaking - by high Baroque ornamentations of the finest sort!
Seeing that, you wouldn't say that this is not the most important church in Malta, right? Ha! But it is! See that little 'Co-' in the title? It's because in the 1820s, St. John's got bumped to second place by the archbishop of Malta, his main cathedral being St. Paul's in Mdina.
It's definitely a must-see (that will cost you 10€) when in Valetta - even if you're not a fan of extremely protruding embellishments.
St. John's Co-Cathedral front
More gold! And colours!
Gold and marble all over the place
∘ Bow-windows, cafés and craft beers
But Valletta and the Three Cities offer much more than just historical sightseeing of course! Charming little squares, countless bars and restaurants:
⤀ Upper Barrakka Gardens
Our ferry from Cospicua to the capital always stopped at the Lower Barrakka Gardens from where you can take the lift to the Upper Barraka Gardens, which is kind of an oasis of freshness with palm-trees when it's hot.
Plus you get an amazing view from up there and they do a demo of the canon battery every day - pretty cool if you're traveling with kids, I guess. I know my nephews would have loved that.
Relaxing Upper Barakka Gardens
⤀ Caffe Cordina
A special shout-out goes to the Caffe Cordina, very famous and loved as it is one of the oldest ones in Valletta (1837). It's located in the Republic street, in a beautiful, historic palazzo and serves very tasty pastizzi, reasonably priced.
⤀ Balconies & bow-windows
We also enjoyed simply walking by the beautiful facades with richly decorated balconies - a custom that was adopted in the 17th century influenced by the baroque movement in Europe.
Especially the building corners: the knights wanted them to be ornamented at a maximum to bring a sense of grandeur to their new city.
And then came the typical and smaller wooden balconies somewhere in the 18th century, the 'Maltese' ones.
But they're not originally from Malta, it's actually inspired by victorian England and North-Africa at the same time - that beautiful culture-mixing-thing again.
Valletta's bow-windows
Different colour-schemes
Unfortunately, the bar on the right was closed every time we came to this spot
⤀ Malta Craft Beer Festival
The Maltese apparently also started very recently to develop a taste for craft beers, which we discovered by chance while visiting fort St Elmo in the north-eastern corner of the city.
What a coincidence that, on the weekend we were visiting the city, they were holding the 2nd Malta Craft Beer Festival at the fort. I mean, how cool is that?
You can imagine that, as a true Belgian beer-enthousiast, I was super happy! So we spent the evening enjoying amazing food, live music and very tasty beers crafted by micro-breweries.
And you even get a goodie-bag with a beautiful glass!!
I guess they'll continue to organise this every year in September, although maybe not in 2020, what with the Coronavirus and all that.
Side-note on the food: street-food of the healthiest and tastiest kind! This was so good for my tummy as I was feeling the Pastizzi a bit too much (read here to know what I mean).
Every little tent served another craft beer
Falafel and lentil salad - yum!
Highlights outside of Valletta
Other than visiting the capital, don't hesitate to head out and visit the rest of the island. You can do it, believe us!
Remember that I told you that the maximum length of the island is just about 27 km. Meaning: you'll never spend more than 10-15 min to get from one highlight to the next - isn't that convenient?
So here are a few other things to visit (or do) besides the capital city:
∘ The Three Cities: meet the Rolling Geeks
This was so much fun!! Rolling Geeks offer self-drive golf-carts with integrated GPS to explore the Three Cities (Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua). I have to admit: I have a horribly bad sense of orientation.
But even I didn't get lost. Okay, Sebi was the driver, so that helped. But even so: the whole route is indicated by signs as well! And it's pretty easy to follow the GPS.
In case you do get lost, which happens when there are road works for example, there's a button that immediately connects you to the owners to guide you back on track.
It's available in several different languages and you even get to take Selfies (please don't do this while moving!) that they'll send you afterwards.
The whole tour takes around 2 1/2 hours to complete, depending on how often you stop and how long you take to get your drink (they have specific locations for 'drink-breaks' - so cool).
We had quite stormy weather the day we booked the ride. But even in pouring rain (we got SO wet!!) the Three Cities are absolutely charming!
Somewhere in the Three Cities
Wet street in Senglea
View on Forti Sant' Anglu from Safe Haven Garden
Stormy weather ahead behind Forti Sant' Anglu
∘ Palazzio Parisio
Here's a cute little village at about 13 km from Valletta to the North-West (told you: no big distances here!): Naxxar.
Very quiet, peaceful, not much to visit except for the church and the Palazzo Parisio. Beware that there's another 'Palazzo Parisio' in the historical centre of Valletta, one where Napoleon Bonaparte resided for 6 (!) days during the French Occupation of Malta.
But unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit all the beautiful Palazzi and the one in Naxxar, in my honest opinion, is much lovelier.
No wonder it's used as a wedding location - I mean those gardens are a magical oasis! And the ballroom is spectacular!
The early-20th century Palazzo is open to the public and you get a handy little guide for every room, all in a Sicilian Baroque-style.
Don't leave too quickly afterwards, as there is a nice little café in the gardens where you can enjoy an ice-cold Cisk and Pastizzi.
Stairway to the upper level
Golden rooms, one after the other
Wouldn't mind getting ready here
THE Ballroom! Mind-blowing!
The peaceful gardens...
... and the refreshing Cisk
∘ Marsaxlokk
Ahhhh Marsaxlokk! A picturesque little fisher-town with an unpronounceable name! Well, no: you can pronounce it, you'll just probably fail miserably, as we did - haha!
The name stems from the words 'marsa', meaning 'port' and 'xlokk', the Maltese word for 'south-east'. The latter is in relation to the dry sirocco-wind always hitting that part of the island first.
It has been used in the past a harbour by Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans alike. Pretty busy little town, if you ask me.
Although it's very popular among tourists, thanks to the traditional 'Luzzi' (the little boats, you know) floating around, it loses nothing of its charm.
The fishermen take very good care of their colours, as these boats are generally passed down from generation to generation. Plus, the 'Xlukkajri' (yes, that's what the locals are called) are pretty superstitious - the colours have to stay exactly the same through generations!
Most of them also figure a little mark on the bow, the 'Eye of Osiris', protecting them at sea. A hell of a protection, right?
Colourful Luzzi with the Eye of Osiris
Fishermen repairing their nets
Colours everywhere!
From knights and Maltese history to nature: grottos, cliffs and natural pools
∘ Dingli Cliffs
So cool to watch a sunset here, believe me! Heck, the sunsets in Malta and Gozo were so beautiful that I'm actually going to write a whole post about the best spots to watch them (I'll update here, later).
The cliffs serve as natural defences of the island, forming ramparts to the sea at the highest point of the island. Which isn't that high, we're talking about 250 m above sea-level.
So, obviously, if you have visited the cliffs of Moher in Ireland (I feel another post coming up..), it's not that impressive. But still, the sea-views can't get any better than this.
Sunset at the Dingli cliffs
∘ Popeye village and its beach
It's not because of Popeye village that I categorize this as a top spot - although, if you're a Popeye-fan, this is apparently really fun! It was built as a filming location and that movie starred the late Robbin Williams. But it's not cheap at all...
Anyways, the fact that this 'village' was built right next to the water, below a beautiful cliff, that's what makes it special. You can even go have a swim there.
Quirky Popeye-Village
∘ The Blue Grotto
Stunning! Even though we have only admired it from above. I was getting seasick merely from watching those little boats they use to get inside, rocking heavily on the waves..
So I can't tell you what it looks like in the caverns but it's supposed to be magnificent. The caverns dive down to 40 m below sea level.
Seven consecutive grottos can be visited and the waters are said to be of the clearest blue you've ever seen. Too bad I was too freakin' scared.
But I promised Sebi that, the day we go back to Malta (and we probably will), I will dare!
Until then, I have to be content with admiring my pictures from above - they're quite nice too, right?
The magnificent Blue Grotto
∘ Saint Peter's Pool
This is one of both times we really slowed down to enjoy a bit of swimming and sunbathing - we're more the active kind of traveler.
And St. Peter's Pool is one of those spots where you don't mind having people around you, as you're lying on the rock. Not on a sandy beach where you continuously catch the sand that blows over from your neighbour's towel.
You can even jump down from said mini-cliff. I chickened out (I'm such a coward, I know) but Sebi jumped and it was awesome!
Plus, the water is so clear, you can see hundreds of little fishies around you. So beautiful!
Too bad the sun sets on the wrong side, so this won't be one of my top sunset-spots. Still beautiful, though.
You can't see it from here, but the rock is pretty high to jump down from
At a glance
Here are all the highlights at a glance, so you'll know on what part of the island you'll want to go. As you can see, we covered quite a bit of that giant (ha ha) island.
I think we checked off most of the must-sees regarding knights, history and nature in Malta in this guide. But if you have some other highlights or secret spots, feel free to let us know in the comment section or contact us. We already know that we will head back to that charming island eventually.
Don't hesitate to pin and save it for your next trip to Malta 🙂
xx
Cyn & Sebi
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