When I hear people talk about visiting the Mediterranean they are often referring to countries like Spain, Italy and Greece. One of the more overlooked destinations in the area is Malta, and what can I say, I instantly fell in love with it. Ironically it wasn’t even one of the places I had planned to visit. In fact, it was my wife that included Malta as part of our itinerary, and until I did some research I didn’t really know much about it. This is truly a hidden gem in the turquoise sea.
I need to restrain myself so I don’t create a rambling history lesson of Malta, but there are a few key things that are important. Malta was first inhabited around 5900 BCE, and has been occupied by different peoples ever since. There are several archeological sites on the island from very different periods of human history, most notably the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic Era. More recently, it played a significant role during the Crusades, and was governed by the Order of St. John during the 15th and 16th centuries. What I know for certain is that I have not travelled anywhere else where history and antiquity is so evident everywhere you look.
There is no need to rent a car in Malta. They have a great bus system that can get you anywhere you want to go, and it’s very cost effective. The buses run frequently, and the routes all seem to begin or end at the main terminus at the gates of the old city of Valletta. We bought our multi-day pass at the airport, which also included the option of taking a trip on a charter boat up the coast to the northern island of Gozo, with a stop in Comino and the Blue Lagoon. This turned out to be a great deal, because we had already planned on taking a day to explore the northern part of the island anyway.
We booked ourselves a nice apartment suite in the Gzira neighbourhood, steps away from Manoel Island, just off the waterfront. This area has a vibrant night life, with lots of little cafe’s, bars and markets that line the walkway along the building fronts. Once we arrived, we quickly picked up some provisions, grabbed some takeout from a nearby Turkish Kabab Cafe, and hunkered everyone down to get some rest. I decided to take an evening walk around Manoel Island at sunset. The waterfront causeway leads you past an access road onto the island, and as you follow the road past the marina you reach Fort Manoel, which was closed for renovations. The fort is more like a fortified castle, with a dry moat surrounding the space between the outer walls and the main structure. I was able to follow the outer walls down to the shore line, and walk the perimeter around the fort from the beach. Although it’s a bit off the beaten path, you are rewarded with stunning views of Valletta on the opposite side of the bay.
Valletta is the capital city of Malta, and also designated as a world heritage site. In the old town you can see a unique Baroque Style of architecture that was popular when the island was run by the Order of Saint John and the Knights of Malta. You can walk along the fortification walls, tour the Grand Masters Palace and visit the Knights Hospitaller that was used to care for the pilgrims travelling to and from the holy lands. History aside, the old city is just fun to explore. It’s a maze of streets and alleyways, filled with cafe’s, shops and restaurants that run along the main streets.
There is also a sprawling square just outside the main city gates, with a large fountain at its centre called the Triton Fountain. In the evening it’s nice to relax, listen to the buskers playing music, and soak in the sights. Watching the sunset from on top of the fortification wall was my daughter’s favourite memory from Valletta; from that vantage point, the setting sun illuminates the city in a golden hue as it slowly disappears below the horizon. It’s an absolutely stunning view.
Over the next few days, one of the first sites we visited was the Tarxien Temple, not far from Valletta. Malta is famous for its numerous Neolithic Temple sites around the island. All of the temples are designated as World Heritage Sites, and the government has gone to great lengths to ensure they are protected. These temples were built by quarrying huge stone slabs and standing them in a circular design very similar to Stonehenge. Although the neolithic temples are thought to be constructed by the same peoples who eventually built Stonehenge, they predate its construction by at least several hundred years. Although the exact purpose of these temples has yet to be fully understood, it is widely accepted that they were religious in nature. What is clear is that they were of significant importance because of the engineering efforts employed to construct them.
I also had the chance to travel with my son across the island a few days later to visit the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples. Although these are two separate sites, they are only a few hundred feet apart, and both are really well preserved. These temples are located right along the coast, and the surrounding grounds are full of hiking trails and view points, including a 17th century coastal watch tower built by the Knights of Malta. They also have a 4D movie about the building of the temples in the small museum on site, which is totally worth the time to see.
Another site that is worth the visit is the Ghar Dalam cave. It’s a little further south than Tarxien, but easily accessible by bus. You won’t spend more than an hour or two here, but it’s an important Palaeolithic excavation site, where they have recovered pre-historic bones of extinct animals from the last ice age. The small museum provides a really good overview of the site, and explanations of the environmental changes that have occurred in Malta over the past several millennia.
We did put a day aside to take advantage of the charter boat ticket we had purchased with our bus passes. Coincidentally, the charter boat, aptly named Captain Morgan Tours was docked just a half a kilometre away from our hotel. More booze cruise than ferry, it took us from Selima up the coast to Gozo. Once we arrived, they loaded us onto buses and drove us to the historic Victoria area, where we stopped at an old church, and of course an artisan market. It had been a long time since we had been on an organized tour, and I immediately remembered why I hate travelling on tours. They herd you like cattle, keep you on a tight leash, and rush you from place to place. Not exactly a great way to see the local sites, but it’s a trade off. The views of the coast on the voyage north, and the chance to explore around Comino and the Blue Lagoon on the trip south were worth the annoyances; and the free beer on the way up and back didn’t hurt either. It left me with a desire to go back one day and explore this area again. There is lots to see, and I could easily while away the days just taking in the beautiful views.
Once we returned home, I read an article that listed Trip Advisers top ten places to visit in 2019, and for the first time Malta was on the list. I’m not surprised, I think this place has been overlooked by travellers because there isn’t an appreciation for what it has to offer. I hope to make it back one day, before it gets too busy, to see the sights I wasn’t able to fit in on this trip and to spend more time soaking in the stunning views and vibrant sounds of this hidden gem, nestled in the Mediterranean Sea.