After a week of holiday in the Mediterranean, it’s now time to wrap up the Malta highlights from November 2021. My travel hiatus lasted for almost two years. The last time I traveled abroad was in December 2019 when we visited Banja Luka in Bosnia-Hercegovina, now I can finally say that the hiatus is over. One of the reasons we decided to come to Malta is that we know people here and the place is familiar in case something would go wrong. For me, it was the second time I visited the island. However, Jesper and Little A have both been here more times than that.
Getting Here & Practicalities
Before the pandemic, it was rather easy to find cheap (and direct) flights to Malta from Skavsta. Now those flights are canceled, so this time around we opted for flights from Stockholm Arlanda via Munich to Malta. Before the trip, we had to fill an electronic passenger locator form for Malta. As Little A was under 5, nothing more was required from her. As Jesper and I are fully vaccinated, we didn’t need to take a test or quarantine. On the plane from Munich to Malta (as well as indoors in Malta), all adults and children over 3 years had to wear masks.
At the airport, after landing, we had to show our documents. Once we made it out of the airport, nobody checked our proofs of vaccination. However, in restaurants and museums, we had to give a name and telephone number for track and trace purposes.
Once we had arrived in Malta, we decided to travel by Bolt. Little A needed a booster seat, fortunately, they were readily available in many cars.
We stayed in a town called Marsaskala. It’s not far from Valletta but in Malta getting from point A to point B always takes ages.
So, What Did We Do?
Before listing the Malta highlights, let’s just run a short recap of what we actually did. We had a total of nine days and nights on the island. The first days, we just relaxed after the trip. The early start on Saturday morning indeed took its toll on us. Our first excursion took us on a hike from Marsaskala to Marsaxlokk. After the walk and some ice cream, we continued our day in Sliema and Valletta before returning home. I even found a bookstore in Sliema.
One of the main objectives of the trip was to relax and enjoy the sun. In the end, we spent quite some time in Marsaskala. There isn’t an awful lot to do there, but there are a couple of nice playgrounds and good restaurants. So we hang out at the playground and ate tasty food.
We made two more trips. The first one took us to nearby Birżebbuġa, which is in the south of the island. One of the most interesting places in this seaside resort was the Għar Dalam, which is a cave on the outskirts of the town. Little A was really fascinated with all the fossils. It also felt good to find a park to stroll in.
The most impressive one of the places we visited (apart from Valletta) was Birgu. The fortified city with its churches and palaces is definitely worth a visit.
I have been to Malta once before and that time it didn’t impress me much. There are still some things I don’t like about it. Many buildings look incomplete and they (the buildings) are really everywhere. But let’s focus on the positive things and talk about Malta highlights from this trip.
Malta Highlights
- The food and especially the seafood. It was delicious and very easy to find. We also found a nice Indian place where we ate a couple of times. Surprisingly enough, Little A liked the food, too, even though it was spicy.
- Valletta and the Three Cities are so beautiful. I especially enjoyed the boat rides: first from Sliema to Valletta and then from Valletta to Cospicua (or Bormla). The cities looked very beautiful at dusk.
- Malta gives you the chance to deep dive into history. It is a very historical place and I often found myself on the internet, looking up random things about people, places,and wars.
- Little A really enjoys the island (it was her third time there!) and it was fun to see her practise her English. All the people (including children) we met spoke English.
These are my Malta highlights from November 2021. Who knows, there might be more of them in the near future. After all, Malta has become something of a favorite spot for us. If you want to read more about our adventures in this tiny Mediterranean country, you can find all the blog posts here }}
