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| Comino |
Malta is a good place for a short break, especially if it's not high summer. In summer, I have been assured, it is busy and crowded and very, very hot. The upside is you can go swimming in the sea, but as I've also been told, everything's more expensive then. So, really, if you want to actually see Malta, winter is a good idea.
Malta is three islands – Malta, Gozo and Comino – which make up the archepelago. The nicest of the three, if you're not crazy about hyper-development, is Comino. This almost completely undeveloped island is the smallest and, at last count, has three inhabitants and one hotel. Which sounds just about perfect to me.
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| Gozo's Inland Sea |
Gozo still has a fair amount of what you might call 'countryside'. That is, land that is not built over, and it also has a lovely little inland seawater pool, where you can be taken by small boat through a crevice in the rockface out to the real sea and be shown some interesting rock formations and, with a lament in the boat owner's voice, the spot where the Azure Window, a famous rock arch, once stood. Sadly for Gozoans, it collapsed and disappeared overnight during a storm in 2017.
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| Comino's blue water |
If you're only in Malta for three days, one of them must be spent on a boat cruise that leaves Sliema docks at 10am, takes you up the Malta coast to Gozo for a mini-van trip around this island, and then on to Comino for a contemplative wander to gaze at the extraordinarily blue water, before bringing you back about 5pm. There are a number of companies touting for your attention to do this along the Sliema waterfront, so which to choose? I went with
Luzzu Cruises, which I would recommend. Useful to know: there is a long enough stop in Victoria, the capital of Gozo, to eat lunch in one of the local cafés.
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| Valletta steps |
Another day should be spent in Valletta, Malta's capital. The best way to approach it is by water ferry, which runs regularly from both Sliema and Three Cities on its other side. It's a small city and walker friendly, so you can see plenty without trudging too far.
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| St John's Co-Cathedral |
For a full day, try seeing St John's Co-Cathedral for its sheer brilliance of decoration; starchitect Renzo Piano's city gates for the pleasure of a bit of new that actually fits with the old; a visit to the Saluting Battery (try to make this for 4pm if you want to see the canons go off); and, my favourite, take the tour of
Casa Rocca Piccola, an absolute gem of a 16th-century palace where the family still lives. The tour takes a very reasonable 45 minutes and, while you wait for it to begin, you may sit in the courtyard garden and enjoy the company of a talking parrot and a (silent) turtle. What makes the tour so enjoyable, aside from the pure nosiness of having a look round someone else's home, is that the tour guide – a woman named Patricia – manages to convey the history of Malta through the story of a single family.
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| Casa Rocca Piccola's parrot |
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| A Valletta pastry shop |
When you get hungry you will have many places to choose from and, as Malta is famed for its food, even small, touristy spots seem to serve surprisingly good dishes.
In winter, both the ferries and the local buses cost a very reasonable €1.50 per trip. Hang on to your bus ticket though, because it's good for two hours, meaning you can hop on a second or even third bus within that timeframe without paying more.
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| Mdina |
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| A Mdina 'street' |
Your final day could go like this: an hour's gentle horse ride (I went with
Bidnija, based solely on the fact they will come collect you and take you back again afterwards), followed by visiting Mdina, a wonderfully intact former capital of Malta. The stone is so yellow and bright that my pictures of the place look as if they've been put through a filter, but there was no need. When you get to Mdina, if you're hungry after your ride, head straight to
Fontanella's Tea Room for the best cake on the island and the best views. They also serve a good pizza.
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| Lovely old shop fronts in Valletta |
