Malta and Gozo have such different characters that it is not easy to choose between the two. To make matters more complex, if you are visiting between April and September, there is the third option - Comino.
Malta is the commercial island. There is an active nightlife at Paceville, also known as St. Julian's. This area has several modern discotheques, cinema complexes, and restaurants to meet all tastes. There are also other very popular nightlife areas, especially in Summer, at Bugibba (St. Paul's bay) - which also has a cinema complex and several restaurants, and at Marsascala (Southern Malta). New centres are sprouting all over the island, and today, even the little-known Fgura has its own cinema complex and shopping centre.
Valletta is the commercial centre, and very popular by day, since most of the shops are concentrated in this area. Several museums and places of interest are also located in Valletta. The city will take you back to the times of the knights with its imposing palaces, such as the President's palace and the Prime Minister's offices. Make sure that you visit the Upper Barrakka gardens for a view of the Grand Harbour. Sit down in front of the old National Library for an open-air pizza at Cafe Regina, locally known as Eddie's Cafe.
Ta' Qali is the local 'crafts village', where one can purchase souvenirs at reasonable prices, and see several souvenirs being made. The best known is the "Malta Glass" factory, where you can see glass being mouth-blow, and formed by hand. There is currently a program in hand to modernise this village, so please bear with us !
Mdina is the "silent city", a museum in its totality. Apart from the unique atmosphere and architecture in this city, one can admire beautiful views.
Gozo is the quiet island. One can see traditional craft being carried out as the livelihood of so many Gozitans. Farmers, fishermen, lace-makers, and several other traditional craftsmen make up most of the population. The population is also much lower than that of Malta, so there is much more greenery, several beautiful country walks, and an overall peaceful atmosphere.
Comino is the ultimate in a relaxed holiday. This unique island has only about 3 vehicles on it, 2 of which belong to the hotel. The hotel is built around one of the bays, and it's bungalows are built around another bay. There are 2 swimming pools, several water sports, tennis courts .. and the place is kept extremely clean by the hotel's own staff. And don't think that the hotel will try to exploit it's monopoly as a food-source on the island - the food is excellent, and very well-priced. There is also a regular boat trip from the hotel to the mainland at approximately 1 hour intervals. Comino can also be visited as a day's outing, since it has so many beautiful bays. In fact, visitors to comino on a day-trip will probably not even see the hotel, since they will usually spend the day in the "Blue lagoon", between Comino and Cominetto.
In Malta we use the Malta Lira, written as Lm. One Lm will be worth more than your currency. It is divided into 100 cents.
The Euro is worth around 42c and the UK pound sterling is worth around 63c. However, most shops will accept Sterling and Euro anyway. From the 1st January 2008, the Euro will be the local currency for Malta.
As in any other country, it all depends what you do. A coffee will cost you anything between 25c and Lm1 (from a 5* hotel); McDonalds meals are less than Lm2; A 'large' pizza and beer (or wine) will set you back by about Lm3.00. Locals fancy a 'pastizzi' lunch, a popular snack found at many village corners. The average person will not manage to eat more than 4 or 5, which will set you back by 30 to 40c (Less than 1 Euro)
Overall, prices are on the lower side compared to the rest of Europe. If you fancy saving more money, use the supermarkets, such as the Smart Supermarket in Birkirkara, where discounts will take your money a long way.
Wine is particularly cheap from supermarkets, with a good bottle of wine starting from around 80c. Beer is around 30c a can; a sliced loaf costs 16c; cheddar is around Lm 1.20 per kilo.
If you're staying in St. Paul's bay look up the bakery called 'Giormina' (open till 10pm daily) .. really it's a mini-supermarket, very popular with the locals.
Definitely not. There is a bank immediately upon arrival at the airport, even before leaving the baggage reclaim area. There are at least 3 cash-dispensing machines at the Malta International Airport, which accept all major credit cards. There are also several automatic currency changers around the island, although these generally use higher exchange rates than those in the banks. All hotels will also convert currency to the local, although one should verify the exchange rate, especially in the smaller hotels.
Eh eh eh .. Funnily enough, there are very strict censorship laws in Malta, so you won't find 'Playboy' editions on our news stands. However, at the beaches .. it's a totally different story. And probably every beach has a futile decoration which states "Topless bathing prohibited" (!)
Malta, and especially Gozo and Comino, have an extremely low crime rate. At Bugibba, Sliema, and St. Julian's, especially in Summer, one will see whole families still walking on the promenade till the early hours of the morning. The usual precautions are, of course, not out of order, but despite the close proximity to Sicily and Tunisia, the Maltese have not been contaminated by their neighbours' bad habits.
The other official language in Malta, of course, is English, since Malta was, to a certain extent, a British base till 1979. All Maltese speak english; others will also speak fluent Italian, German, and other languages.
I included this question because in fact, I was asked quite often. The islands are not as small as one would imagine. There are some 150,000 private cars on the roads; we drive on the left, and road-signs are european. Buses are terribly cheap, but equally unreliable, which is the reason for this high figure. However, the tourist is rarely in a hurry, and the bus does arrive .. eventually !
Sliema is a popular shopping centre for the islanders, since there is a good concentration of up-market shopping in this area. In fact, Sliema is generally considered to be an up-market location, and the locals from this area tend to be quite poshy. This does not in any way mean that you should be discouraged, it's just the island culture - people from the North are considered to be farmers, the South is the industrialists and metal workers, and Sliema/St.Julian's is in the centre. The centre is the focal point of Malta, with the shopping areas and nightlife mainly centering around here.
The most popular beaches are in the North of the island, one is the Golden Bay, and the other is Mellieha bay, which we locals call 'Ghadira'. However, there is another large beach in the South called Pretty Bay, as well as several other small beaches. There is in fact a small sandy beach practically in St. Julian's, called St. George's bay. In Sliema itself, swimming is mainly off the rocks, which is very popular. The same would apply to Bugibba, even though there are some small pebble beaches there.
Starting with the airport, it all depends on your holiday plan. The average visitor carrying quite some luggage would best take a taxi. This can be controlled by buying a pre-paid taxi ticket from inside the airport, depending on your destination. Taxi-drivers are often very enthusiastic, so please negotiate your fare before getting into the taxi.
The other alternative is the buses. I have included a time-table on these pages, but one small word of caution - the timetable is not really anybody's bible, so there might be some waiting to be done ... and the buses don't all take large luggage cases. If you are backpacking, this alternative is viable - buses are very cheap, given that they all run to Valletta. So whatever your destination, you first travel to Valletta, then change buses to the actual one you needed in the first place.
If you're quite a group, you can pre-book a mini-bus. More links for this will be added on this page, for the time being, more details can be freely obtained by e-mail to our address.
Of course, there are the self-drive cars. We drive on the left, as in the UK, so this might be unusual for some. Our traffic lights are also quite unique, since we have an orange + red before the lights go green. Maltese drivers are quite tolerant, and notwithstanding the bad publicity they get, very few visitors are involved in road accidents. Again, some negotiation will always get you a better rate ...
The best way that this can be answered is by giving you someone else's direct experience. Jeff and Faye have created a fantastic site documenting their visit, the link is here:
Jeff and Faye's Incredible Trip to Malta
