The Islands of Malta, Gozo, & Comino...Hiking, Salt Mines, and History

St. Paul's Bay, Malta

Malta is a beautiful island off the coast of Sicily. It used to be property of Great Britain, so driving is on the left side of the road, and the influence of the island is British and Italian due to location and history.  I don’t know how much you know about spring weather in Europe, but it really isn’t hot enough in April to get in any water without a wetsuit, even as far south as Malta.  Since it was the off season, flights and lodging were dirt cheap, as in less than $30/person for the flight and just over $100/night for lodging right on the water. We went for the week of Spring Break and toured all 3 of Malta’s islands: Malta, Gozo, and the tiny island of Comino.  It truly was a great family vacation and the memories of our time there still warm my heart.

Malta
We use the Chase Sapphire card for all of our regular purchases so that we can rack up credit card points and get free stuff. We stayed at the A/X Sunny Coast Resort and Spa  in Malta for free on this stay.  I do recommend staying here. This particular resort is a aparthotel, essentially an apartment hotel. Our apartment had a full kitchen and was VERY spacious. There is an indoor and outdoor pool, as well as a spa. Children are only allowed in the indoor pool and spa area during certain hours, parking is limited, and our room did not include breakfast. There was a super cheap diner right next door to the hotel though that offered breakfast and we had our full kitchen, so we didn’t miss it. This hotel is walkable to the aquarium and all of St. Paul’s Bay area. I recommend St. Paul’s over the more popular city of St. Julian’s if you are looking for a more relaxed, small town feel. St. Julian’s is very metropolitan and crowded, but has a great night life, so it all depends on what you’re looking for.​
***Insider tip:  If you stay in St. Paul’s and you have kids, I recommend you eat at Luzzu. It’s a restaurant with an entire indoor play area.  We barely saw the kids during dinner and enjoyed a great double date there with friends that also happened to be in Malta!

---

The walled city of Valletta

On our first day, we drove to the ruins of Hagar Qim & the Mnajdra Temples.  These ruins date back to 5000-5500 BC. They are incredibly well preserved, due to being composed of Limestone. Limestone holds up incredibly well over centuries.  These ruins are older than the pyramids, my friends.

​We then toured the town of Valletta. Valletta is a beautiful walled city, made completely of limestone. Just walking the city and looking at the old fortifications is breathtaking. From there, we went to St. Julian, walked around, and ate at the Blue Elephant in the Hilton St. Julian..  I highly recommend this restaurant. The inside looks like a Thai village with a waterfall, huts, and the food is absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!  ​

The Ruins of Hagar Qim

Blue Elephant Thai Restaurant Hilton St. Julian

The next day we went to the silent city of Mdina.  Mdina is called the silent city, because it used to be Malta’s capital. When they decided to change the capital to another city, Mdina was left behind like a ghost town. We also hiked to St. Peter’s pool and hiked to all the scenic points shown on Google Maps. 
***Insider tip for Mdina:  If you have kids, do the Knights of Malta Tour. It was a self-guided audio tour complete with mannequins and sound effects that acted out the history of the knights that have held and defended Malta for centuries. It’s lively and fun.

Knights of Malta

Mdina

On our last day on the island of Malta, we planned to take the ferry to the island of Gozo. ***Insider tip:  I recommend the ferry to the other islands over the boat tours, simply because it’s SO cheap. It’s less than €5/adult and less than €2 per child to ride the ferry to Gozo, add about €16 if you want to include your car. 
Near the port, we went to the Popeye Village. This is where the Popeye movie with Robin Williams was filmed. It’s a small park, but picturesque, and we participated in a tourist rendition of the movie. It was fun to be filmed like movie stars and take part in the movie. I highly recommend taking photos at the area overlooking the park. The photos turn out fab, as you can see from mine.

Gozo
It was a quick ferry to Gozo and from there, we drove to our Airbnb. It is called Gozo a Prescindere Bed and Breakfast and it’s in the adorable town of Nadur. Andrea owns the B&B. He showed us to our room, treated us like family, and made an amazing breakfast every morning.  Breakfast included an exotic fruit salad that involved ginger, mint, and lime…..it was sublime. Andrea also made our family homemade dinner one night. He’s an Italian from La Spezia and puts his heart in his cooking and in his business. I can’t recommend this B&B enough. We reserved a timeframe in the on-site spa and enjoyed hot tea and the hot tub (which was warm, but not hot). Andrea also helped us to plan our time in Gozo and gave us great recommendations. 

While in Gozo, we drove to the salt pans where you can buy fresh sea salt from a shop carved right into the mountain side, hiked the Ghasri Valley and drove around the island. Roads are super slim, often 2-way roads that look like 1-way roads, and they’re all lined with limestone walls.

Backyard view from our B&B Nadur in the background

Salt Pans

Sea Salt Shop

Comino
We took a boat ride to Comino, with tickets purchased from Andrea (our B&B host). The boat that took us to the Comino island marina just so happened to be at the famous Blue Lagoon, which is the brightest, bluest water I’ve ever seen, as you can see from the photo below. We hiked around about half of the island, since the island was too small to bring our car, bought a pretty drink near the port, then headed back to Gozo. There’s really not much to do on Comino, but it was a beautiful hike. 

The Blue Lagoon Coming Island, Malta

After touring all 3 islands, we found Malta to be incredibly rich in limestone, full of history from ancient to not so ancient, all of the water we saw was startling blue and crystal clear, and it was beautifully mountainous. The island was perfect for hiking, especially if you enjoy crystal clear water and cliffs.  In the summer, it would be great for cliff jumping, but not great for enjoying the beach. We saw very few beaches.

Next post: The Southern Italian Islands of Ischia, Procida, and Capri....hot pools, hikes, and cliffside dining!