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A weekend in Malta is barely enough to call it a proper vacation, right?! Nevertheless, you know how some places click with us, while others never do. Well, in this case, 2 days was absolutely enough for me to fall in love with Malta…

It was one of the shortest international trips me and my husband took spontaneously over these years. We had a Monday off work, found last moment cheap tickets, booked a hotel, packed a small hand luggage suitcase and landed on the sunny island of Malta…

One weekend in Malta: Yes or no?!

Only for a weekend?! Most people would say it´s not worth traveling somewhere for such a short period of time: you end up spending more hours on the road and just don´t experience a new place properly.

Fair point.

Although for me, when it comes to visiting new places and experiencing new cultures, – a day in a new place is for sure better than nothing! 

Also read: Epic Weekend in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Looking back to this short weekend in Malta, I still can´t believe we made so many nice memories only in 48 hours. Malta definitely has some special vibes! It´s one of those unique Mediterranean islands people tend to revisit often. Now I completely understand why!

One weekend in Malta?! – Definitely yes. You’ll love it anyway. Plus you’ll end up having more reasons to come back…

Malta: Useful info

The Republic of Malta consists of 3 islands: Malta, Gozo, and Comino. Valetta is the capital. The official languages are Maltese and English. The official currency is euro. You might also need a power plug adapter: in Malta, the sockets are 3-pin British style. And of course, we didn´t bring any (who thinks of sockets while planning a spontaneous trip?!) – but luckily our hotel provided us with one.

A Weekend in Malta: What not to miss

A bit of history

One of the most interesting things about Malta is its rich history. An island has traces of Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, French, British and was influenced by multiple cultures. From 1530 to 1798 Malta was ruled by Knights of St.John (Sovereign Military Order of St.John of Jerusalem). During that time the Islands were under constant threat from the Ottoman Empire, before the famous  The Great Siege battle took place.

From 18oo till 1974 Malta was ruled by the British. So the Maltese adopted their legislation and education. In some way, it reminded me of Cyprus.

Also read: Top Experiences to Fall in Love with Greece

The mixture of architectural styles and impressive buildings across the island clearly indicates Malta was of great strategical importance over the centuries. And even though you´re surrounded by all those Mediterranean landscapes most of the time, every once in a while you realize Malta is one of its kind place.

Weather in Malta

One of the coolest things about Malta is its sunny weather all year round. In the summer months, it´s definitely hot while the temperatures hit 30-35°C mark. The lowest temperatures from December to February rarely drop below 14°C. This mild climate allows exploring the island in a comfortable way, and also makes Malta one of the best places for winter sun in Europe.

Rotunda of Mosta
Rotunda of Mosta

Hotels

I won´t lie! When you only have 48 hours – you secretly crave for a care-free luxury hotel getaway, as we did at the Riviera Maya, Mexico. I often mention on my blog that the best stays in my life used to be very local family-owned places: hotels almost never have this kind of a personal touch. For example, let´s take my trips to Liguria or Crete, where the places we stayed literally made the whole trip.

However, with Malta, my criteria was slightly different: check-in flexibility, good breakfast, nice room, central location, access to the sea. Besides, as we booked everything so late – our choices were quite limited!

We ended up staying at the Grand Hotel Excelsior in Valetta. Although the hotel was huge, each and every staff member was very nice. It was my husband´s birthday and they left in our room a bottle of wine with a card signed by most of the staff members. No one knew I had a blog, so I assume they make it for all of the guests – which is awesome! Another thing I loved was their personal taxi service (at a reasonable price), which allowed us to have a romantic dinner in Mdina. We just asked at the reception desk whether they could call a taxi for us and in a minute were already driving to another side of an island. After our dinner with views, the same driver picked us up and took back to the hotel. So it´s all about small details! But these often end up making or breaking your trip.

You can imagine breakfasts in this kind of hotel: with so much food and guests, it is normally a mess. So I didn´t expect the staff at Grand Hotel Excelsior to be so fast with seating you and cleaning the tables in between all these crowds of tourists rushing around to refill their plates. We are the same, by the way. So, at some point, we both went for something towards the buffet and for some reason waiters in charge decided we left. It was just a minute and guess what?! – Not only did they manage to completely clean everything, they already seated there someone else … It was all sorted out quickly when we came, they apologized and gave us back our table. It´s still a mystery to me how they managed to arrange everything so fast. Well, I guess the moral here is that we should eat less… [lol]  But that´s just a weekend, come on, calories don´t count on weekends!

It´s funny how at home, in Spain, we normally have toasts with tomato and espresso, maybe tortilla on weekends. Big breakfasts are not typical for the Spanish. But when you see so many “delicatessens” you immediately feel like the only aim of your trip was to come here and try every single thing! [lol] Does this happen to you as well or do you manage to resist somehow?!

Traditional Maltese Date Pastries
Traditional Maltese Date Pastries

Even though our stay was really good, next time I would definitely go for a small nice local hotel, somewhere in the northern part of an island or even head to Gozo.

A weekend in Malta: What can you do in 48 hours?

A bus tour around the Island

Malta is so small that the same hop on/hop off buses you could find in every big city, here circulate around the whole island. I loved that we were able to see villages and landscapes outside Malta´s capital. Even though we had no chance to explore them fully. But you get a general idea of a place and that´s always great!

Discover Valetta / Lunch on the streets of an old city

Your Malta itinerary must definitely include the city of Valetta. All the charming little streets in the fortress of Valletta will be your ultimate source of historical and architectural inspiration on the island of Malta.

Valetta is small, but we somehow ended up walking a lot to explore its architecture, fortifications and waterfront views.

Valetta in the sunset light
Valetta in the sunset light

Mdina / Dinner with views

Mdina was the only place we were able to explore outside Valetta. Such a quiet and peaceful city – hard to believe it is actually still the same island! Besides, it was one of the filming locations in Game of Thrones. You´ll immediately recognize the Main Gate (also called the Vilhena Gate) if you´re a fan.

Our restaurant choice was De Mondion: quite pricey, although the views were simply stunning (especially during the sunset).

Also read: Most Beautiful Sunsets Around The World

Swim,swim,swim

And here comes my only regret – we didn´t get to visit any paradise beaches. A day trip to Comino or Gozo would be such a dream come true, although we´d need more than one weekend in Malta to make this happen. Nevertheless, our hotel had direct access to the sea (via stairs), as well as a pool with views, so we ended our brief sightseeing experience on the island with a relaxing bath. Not bad, right?!

More sightseeing ideas

  • 3 fortified cities of Cospicua, Vittoriosa, and Senglea
  • Game of Thrones sightseeing tours
  • Mnajdra Temples
  • St. Paul´s Catacombs
  • Blue Grotto sea caves
  • Wine tasting
  • Popeye Village Malta
  • Lower Barrakka Gardens
A Weekend in Malta: What not to miss

Would you like to know more about Malta?! – Check this Expat Story about life in Malta.

For more Malta travel tips and itineraries check my Pinterest board Malta.

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A Weekend in Malta: What not to miss

This post is linked up with The Weekly Postcard and Feet Do Travel