Top tips for travelling to Malta

I have just got back from a 4 night break to Malta and I cannot recommend the place enough. It was beautiful, very cheap and the people were so friendly. Up until recently, I had never even thought of going to Malta but I found cheap flights (£75 return from Bournemouth including luggage) and had been constantly inundated with photos from friends who had gone to Malta this Summer. Therefore I decided that it would be the first destination for my 'gap year'.

I thought I would compile a list of tips/places to go rather than an itinerary or guide as everyone has different priorities plus it is unlikely that everyone would be staying in the same location that I did. I hope this post is (sort of) helpful/interesting and if you have any questions you can comment or send them to me on Instagram here.

Visit Café del mar!!

If you follow my Instagram you will probably be sick of photos of this place but it was absolutely incredible and I could not help but include it. They have an infinity pool that overlooks the water and provides stunning views of the Mediterranean sea and St. Paul's island.  I spent the day swimming and sipping cocktails in the sun and honestly I could have stayed there all holiday.

They don't charge entry and instead you have to pay for a sunbed, which starts at €15 for a basic sunbed, with the prices increasing depending on whether you want a cushioned sunbed, a VIP bed or a gazebo.

It then turns into a nightclub some nights of the week where they host sunset parties plus a range of events.

Obviously had to get some cocktails
to drink by the pool.

Allow plenty of time for public transport!!

This is probably well known but the public transport in Malta is slow and sometimes unreliable. Short distances by car can take double (and sometimes triple) the time on public transport. For example from Marsaxlokk to Buggiba it is 40 minutes by car but 1h40 or 1h50 by bus! Make sure to leave plenty of time for any trip (we were certainly caught out by this!).

Visit St. Julian's and Balutta bay

Whilst we did not stay in this area, I can imagine it would be a beautiful place to stay. There is a wealth of restaurants with terraces and balconies where you can sit, drink and stare out onto the water. The pictures speak for themselves so I am not going to sit here and try and convince you to go.

We went to two buoys for a drink then La Crema Siciliana for lunch. Drinking ice-cold drinks whilst staring at the water was a very enjoyable way to spend my afternoon.

The terrace at Two Buoys

Eat as much Italian food as you possibly can!

Being so close to Sicily, a lot of restaurants serve Italian food, and it is good. We ate pizza and pasta pretty much every night and the prices were very reasonable. Make sure to take advantage of this!

All of this came to 14 euros

I hope you enjoyed this post and these pictures, we also visited the Blue lagoon (an unmissable trip on a visit to Malta) which you can read about here.

- Jess