Since we didn’t really have any summer this year in Holland, I was craving some sun rays and warmth! Malta was an easy choice since it had been on my bucket list for a while – the small island state should offer a lot compared to its small size…and I can definitely confirm that now! But let’s start from the beginning…

11.10.-12.10.2017 Malta – Gozo

In Amsterdam we had to wake up very early, given that our flight on the museum piece-like airline Electra Airlines (booked through Transavia) was going to leave around 6am. Well – the early bird catches the worm – at least we still had a full day to explore Malta this way 🙂 Our first stop was Mosta, where we visited the Rotunda church with its huge dome. Afterwards, it was beach time in Mellieha – unfortunately the beach here was full of sunbeds and umbrellas, and English guys of the generation 50+ 😉 So after a beer and enjoying the sun for a bit we continued on to Popeye Village. We didn’t feel like paying the expensive entrance fee for something that’s more of a kids attraction however the view of the little village and its location in the small bay is very pretty!

 

Our next destination was the ferry terminal to cross over to Gozo. What many people don’t know is that Malta actually consists of 3 islands: Malta, Gozo and Comino. The ferry ride was rather unspectacular with some nice views, but nothing special. We had booked our accommodation in Xlendi, a cute little village with a very picturesque location in a bay – even though a bit built up.

Next day, we started our Gozo roadtrip – first stop: Victoria, the capital of Gozo. We were immediately taken by the views over the whole island up from the hill of the citadel, as well as the cute little alleys, of which we should see many more in the following days.

 

Rising temperatures around noon meant that we were getting in the mood for some ocean and coast time. We drove to the place where the Azure Window used to be (which unfortunately crashed during a storm in March this year). But even without the Azure Window there is still loads to see! First we hiked a bit along the coast towards the South where you can find a little bay in which we tested our new snorkel equipment for the first time. Not much to see in terms of marine life, but it was just amazing to snorkel in such clear water 🙂

 

Later, we checked out the Inland Sea and the Blue Hole. The Inland Sea is a little „lake“ which is connected to the ocean through a small tunnel; the Blue Hole is the most famous dive site in Malta/Gozo. Since the dive shops were a bit too complicated for our taste, we consented to just snorkelling and skin diving a bit. I don’t think we missed much to be honest, since the water was so clear we could see everything from the top and could watch the divers disappear into the tunnel connecting the Blue Hole to the open ocean.

 

From one spectacular coast line to the next, we were driving up North to Wied il-Ghasri, an impressive gorge: Like a winding river the ocean has made its way quite a bit inland. You can climb down to a little „beach“ and then snorkel all the way to the ocean – something we did the following day only 🙂 Next to it, there is a cool looking dive spot – at least the entry/exit looks adventurous (this would be just my thing!!): Climbing a long ladder you make your way down to the ocean, and up again…

 

We continued our drive along the Northern coastline, passing a few photogenic salt flats and impressive rock formations until the beach of Ramla Bay. Here, we treated ourselves to a well-deserved beer and some snacks – however also this beach was just too full for our taste…

 

13.10.-15.10.2017 Gozo – Malta

Even though we really liked Gozo – we pretty much had seen it all in one day. That’s why, around noon we took the ferry back to Malta after some morning snorkelling back at Wied il-Ghasri. Originally, Mathijs had wanted to doe some cliff jumping at the dive spot but unfortunately the sea was too choppy this morning and it just didn’t seem save, not knowing currents etc. So – onward to Malta it was! We tried yet another beach: While you do have a great view over as many as 3 different bays from the Ghajn Tuffieha tower, also here the beach was just spilling over with people… 😦 Even so, we did enjoy soaking up the sun and relaxing a bit!

 

Afterwards, we had to push onward to Marsaxlokk, taking some photo stops along the way. In Marsaxlokk we had rented an amazing apartment for the rest of our time here, and when we finally arrived after searching for Lidl and being stuck in traffic for a while, we couldn’t believe our luck when seeing the apartment that was actually big enough for 6 people! 🙂 Marsaxlokk itself is a pretty little village with a photogenic harbour with colourful boats. We only didn’t end up liking the restaurants here too much – but maybe we were just unlucky…

Next day, we first drove to the nearby swimming hole St Peter’s Pool, which was really cool! I went for some more snorkelling while Mathijs tested the cliff jumping options – even though not as high and interesting as on Gozo. The rock formations at St Peter’s Pool are again amazing, and it just continues under water!!

 

Afterwards we decided to visit the Dingli cliffs – but either we missed the right view point or we just didn’t find them as impressive… The cliffs were cool for sure, but you’re still quite far away from them. To cool down a bit, we passed by Ghar Lapsi then and snorkelled quite a bit in the clear turquoise water 🙂 And later on we sat by the harbour in Marsaxlokk enjoying the evening light and our favourite Maltese wine (Dolcino – available as white or rose). What more do you need!?

 

Sunday – which meant masses of tourists flowing into the small village of Marsaxlokk…supposedly to see the advertised fish market, which only consisted of 2-3 ridiculous stalls. The rest of the market stretching along the harbour is cheap junk goods. Hmmm. We decided to leave this craziness behind us and drive to the Blue Grotto. Without realizing, we had saved up one of the highlights until the end: the Blue Grotto is definitely making up for the collapsed Azure Window!! We took a small boat tour which went underneath the rock bridge and into some little caves. Even though there were hordes of tourists and we felt like kettle being ushered around, it was a really cool trip to do!!

 

On the hunt for a place to cool down we followed a random road to somewhere near Zurrieq, but were still way too high above the sea… what followed was a descent or should I say climb all the way down – but in the end we found our perfect private little bay with direct access to some pretty snorkelling 🙂 Definitely worth the pain!

 

We couldn’t stay forever though since someone (me 🙂 ) still wanted to see the cities of Mdina and Rabat. Off we were to some more sightseeing! Another right decision since Mdina is a really cute little town with a medieval feel to it. We enjoyed our walks through the cool alleys and the views across Malta.

 

13.10.-16.10.2017 Valletta

On our last vacation day we wanted to explore Valletta. We had saved the capital for the last day on purpose since we couldn’t go swimming/snorkelling in the ocean anymore anyways (flight was only late at night – not really wanting to stay sweaty/salty until arriving home at midnight since we didn’t have a shower option anymore) 😉

So – on to Valletta we went! After some difficulties with one-way roads and wrong information on Maps.me/Google Maps (Mobile phone navigation on Malta is a topic by itself – pretty much doesn’t work), we found a central parking space for only 2 Euros/day and were off to explore the city. First, I was shocked by the masses of tourists (how the hell does Malta look in summer high season!?), but then we ventured a bit further off the main roads and discovered some beautiful alleys and ended up liking Valletta in the end. The typical Maltese balconies are super pretty and photogenic and from the Upper Barakka Gardens you can enjoy the most beautiful views 🙂 Another dream day!

 

We also wanted to visit Vittoriosa afterwards, but took a bad choice here: instead of taking a boat across the bay, we decided to go by car (after all: what did we have it for!?). Well: bad GPS signal + confusing road layouts + lots of traffic = should have taken the boat! 😉 We did arrive in the end, and Vittoriosa was a good way to finish off our holiday. The little town has again some cute alleys, and a top-class yacht harbour. The yachts which were anchored here resembled palaces more than boats. Never seen anything like that! Unfortunately no one invited us in for a cocktail 😉 …so we needed to leave without being able to visit one of these mega-yachts, and make our way to the airport. What followed was a long trip back and an arrival in the middle of the night in Amsterdam. But that’s how it goes with low cost airlines, and these summer days on Malta were definitely worth it!! 🙂

Here are some more photos for anyone who is interested.