Malta highlights

Last week I went to the lovely island of Malta with my Mum and Sister, and boy was it a hot one! After getting slightly more burnt than anticipated, eating lots of pasta, and staring down a LOT of cats, I thought I'd share a few snaps of my time there and give my honest opinions about the trip and any recommendations I would give if thinking of travelling there. Obviously I only had a small taste of the island so I can't speak generally, just about what I personally experienced, but I hope this is somewhat helpful or enjoyable to read.

So I'll start by saying that I stayed in the North of Malta, in Mellieha, which was just a 20-30 minute ferry across to the sister islands of Gozo and Comino. I stayed at the Ramla Bay Resort which had it's own private beach and arranged boat trip to the Blue Lagoon at Comino (the best part of my trip by far!) for those on All Inclusive, which was lovely. The private beach on the other hand I can't rave about, it actually made me quite sad looking at all the plastic and rubbish on the shore line, and the jelly fish (which I am aware cannot be helped 😂) kindd of put me off delving into that particular part of the beautiful waters.

Speaking of which, here are a few snaps of the Blue Lagoon and the area surrounding it, which is located on the West coast of Comino, and can only be accurately described as a 'little slice of paradise'. 

The water was actually stunning, so so clear (although this didn't stop my Mum getting stung by an invisible jelly fish 😆) and warm to swim in, luckily we had purchased some goggles and a snorkel before we went on the trip so we used these to look at the little fishies swimming round where our boat was anchored. 

The only negative of the experience was how, for lack of a better word, 'touristy' the beach surrounding the lagoon was. The boat docked first at the shore to let off any passengers who wanted to explore the rocky beach and cliffs,  but we decided to stay on board as the surrounding areas seemed busy and somewhat cluttered. It was a shame to ruin such a beautiful spot, and we were warned that any food or drinks purchased there would be expensive. For this reason we stayed onboard and jumped/climbed off the boat in the middle of the Lagoon which I personally think was a better way of experiencing it anyway so win-win. I speak about how it was a shame that the little cove was ruined by the amount of tourists/holiday-makers that were present, but being myself at the time, a tourist, this is hypocritical and I can fully see why people make the trip. Even with the crowds at the beach, the trip is well well worth it, it's just not quite as serene as I assume it once was. 

The next thing I'm going to speak about is the hidden gems we explored whilst over there. We chose to go on two of the organised excursions by the holiday company we flew with, which were a tour of the sister island of Gozo and a 'Malta Highlights' tour of Malta's highlights (ironic right?)

The tours really gave you a sense of the culture and an insight into the nooks that you wouldn't otherwise see. For example we visited the largest pottery shop on the island, where they made the pottery onsite; we took a look at the traditional lace made on the island; we stood on the highest cliffs looking out over the Mediterranean, unfortunately it wasn't clear enough to see Sicily on the day we went, but it is said that on clear days you can see it from this point in Malta. We learnt a lot about the history of the country as well, on the island of Gozo we visited the Ggantija Temples, the walled/silent city of Mdina in Malta(where some scenes of Game of Thrones were filmed for the fans out there😜), and we also had cinema experiences on both tours, with the Malta one taking the cake as it was 5D and had all sorts going on, spoiler alert: snakes and javelins and water make an appearance in a very real way! 

I would definitely recommend at least going to see this short film in the country's capital Valetta; there is so much history to Malta that you possibly wouldn't realise, and it is a really fun way to learn about it! In general I thought both tours were fantastic, in part because of our good ole' tour guide Francis, whom we had on both tours conveniently (haha!), and also because of the parts of each island that you wouldn't usually get to see if you travelled around on your own. 

To finish with I'm going to do a simple 'best bits worst bits' tally just so it's easy to look over if you haven't the time to read over my rambles above. I'll start with the worst bits because I like to end on a positive note hehe. 

Worst bits:

-the rubbish on the beach

-the 'tourist' feel in some spots I visited

-the roadworks on the main roads of Malta

-the amount of cats (if you don't like cats)

-the sunburn (my own fault, don't sit out for too long in direct sunlight folks😆)

Best bits:

-the clear blue sea

-the Blue Lagoon 

-the happy culture throughout the island 

-the 5D cinema experience 

-the cats (if you like cats) 

-the hidden gems- views, pottery, temples etc. 

-the sun (when enjoyed wearing factor 30+ and with regular shade) 

-the pastaaa, food in general was delish 😋

Overall I loved Malta and everything I got up to there, it was a much needed break with two of my favourite people, and I didn't stop laughing for most of the trip. I would highly recommend visiting the island, but would recommend staying near the sea for the breeze, as long as you don't forget to go inside every couple of hours and wear lots and lots of sun cream.