Introduction
Located in the Mediterranean Sea south of Sicily, this small island country really punches above its weight as a tourist destination. Inhabited since around 5900 B.C., in its more recent past it has been ruled by Sicily and France, before becoming a British colony until independence in 1964.
The Maltese capital Valletta is characterised by grand sandy coloured buildings with magnificent colonial style architecture.
Organised by Chenai, this trip was a treat for my March birthday. As usual we were happy to escape from the cold and grey UK weather and feel the warm Mediterranean sun on or skins! Read on for our Malta trip review.
Getting there
We took a very nice flight from Heathrow with Air Malta. On the way we were treated to glorious views of the Alps. There are many options to fly to Malta from the UK, which you can search here using Trip.com.
The airport at Valletta was a very pleasant experience. Stepping onto the tarmac we enjoyed pleasant temperatures of around 21 degC. There was a bit of wind around, but much warmer than Heathrow in March! An impressive aquarium is built into one of the walls. Colourful Oscar fish and large Gouramis calmly wafted back and forth sizing up the new arrivals. The toilets were clean and modern, leading us (as usual) to wonder why UK airports are such a comparatively grim experience.
Valletta
Valletta itself is a beautiful and quite unique capital, and the old centre is totally walk-able. We marvelled at the grand architecture that makes the capital a marvel to wander around looking up at the glorious buildings. The roads are all straight and form a grid system, reminding us of our much maligned home city of Milton Keynes!
Hints of Malta’s British influence were not hard to spot. Red phone boxes and post boxes scattered around, probably more common here than in the UK in fact.
We hugely enjoyed exploring the capital on foot, stopping off at cafes to enjoy coffee or sample the popular bitter orange drink called Kinnie. We also enjoyed checking out the various boutique shops. We visited St. John’s Co-Cathedral, which must be one of the most impressive we have ever seen. It is adorned with elaborate and opulent art covering the wall and ceiling. Sometimes when visiting Catholic countries, we can in all honesty get a little tired of every recommended attraction being a religious site, however this one is probably the main highlight of Valletta, and is not to be missed.
Down at the sea front, the Upper and Lower Barraka gardens are also highly recommended. We were quite aware of the wind down here, and despite the warm March temperatures of around 21 degC were grateful that we had brought light jackets along with us. At 12 noon we witnessed the daily (except on Sundays) cannon firing from the Saluting Battery, which drew quite an impressive crowd!
Special mention in Valletta has to go out to a small pharmacy called Regent Pharmacy. We popped in here on the last day to buy some physio tape. Chenai accidentally left a necklace which had a lot of sentimental value (having taken it off to apply the tape). We were unable to contact the pharmacy by the time our flight left, and had given up the necklace as being lost. However, on our return to the UK the owner got in touch and arranged to send the necklace to us in the post, refusing to let us send him any money to cover the cost! This is quite typical of the friendly and helpful nature of the Maltese.
Accommodation
We stayed at the Urban Valley Resort and Spa, which is just outside the main tourist centre of Valletta. A very pleasant experience was had at this fine spa hotel, which had a good breakfast and some rather tasty tapas style light bites served at the bar/restaurant area. Sadly it wasn’t quite warm enough to jump in the pool, but we did indulge in the spa and the separate indoor pool, and had a very nice massage each.
From here it would have been a bit of a stretch to walk into Valletta’s centre, however the Bolt app was available locally to arrange taxis. We used it to book taxis to and from Valletta, and found that clean and modern cars arrived quickly to take us to and from the centre at a reasonable price.
Election joy
Coincidentally, our visit coincided with the national election result. The Maltese Partit Laburista won the election on 26th March 2022 during our visit. The knock on effect to us was that we could not find any taxis from our hotel to Valletta in the evening! Lucky for us the hotel food was very good indeed.
It was clearly a popular victory, as we had seen scenes of joyous celebration during the day in Valletta. On our last day during our taxi ride to the airport, we passed convoys of vehicles packed with revellers on the backs of flat-bed trucks (or any vehicle that would accommodate), all gleefully waving flags and blasting air horns.
Conclusion
Valletta in the early spring is an ideal destination for a short city break. Temperatures in March are mild enough to walk around in a t-shirt or light jacket, enjoying the attractions of the capital without the stifling heat of the summer.
Two or three days are enough to enjoy the main sights of the Maltese capital in our opinion. We would love to return to Malta and explore the island further. A return in May or June would be nice, hiring a car to enjoy the coastline and the warm seas when the sun is a little more intense and warms the sea. Some time on the Maltese island of Gozo is also something which is firmly on our wish list.
To book your stay at Urban Valley Resort & Spa, or search for other hotels in Malta, click here.
Disclosure : this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase via links in the article, I will receive a small commission which can help the blog to grow. I will only recommend hotels that we have personally stayed in and enjoyed.
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