We just got back from a week-long trip to Malta with the kids, my brother and his boyfriend, and we absolutely loved it!
We left Cascais on Saturday 17th June and returned home the following Saturday, the 24th, with direct flights with Ryanair purchased 4 months in advance. We paid less than 1000 euros for the 4 of us with a cabin suitcase, plus 4 backpacks.
This post is a summary of our trip, but if you want to see all the details of the trip, access the posts below:
- Getting to know Valletta, the Maltese capital, and Sliema
- A day in Marsaxlokk, St Peter´s Pool and Pretty Bay
- Exploring the Blue Grotto, Golden Bay and beautiful Mdina
- A day in Mosta Rotunda, Popeye Village and Gahdira Bay
- 2 days exploring the island of Gozo, Malta
- An afternoon at the Blue Lagoon on the island of Comino, Malta
Script Preparation
After a lot of research on blogs and even on ChatGPT about what to do in the country, I decided to buy the Malta Uncovered website online guide, from a tourist turned resident who explains Malta in every detail.
I found his material to be excellent, as it has a good explanation of the country's history, as well as many tips from someone who lives there and didn't just visit for a few days (as most blogs do). If you're also looking for more complete material, I highly recommend buying his e-book (but it's in English).
To prepare this itinerary, I used Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google My Maps and, of course, the guide I mentioned above. I wrote down a summary of the attractions and tips in Docs, put what I thought was cool on the map to get an idea of distances and then I went to the daily spreadsheet. Since we were traveling with small children, we had to think of itineraries that weren't too rushed because of their naps and slower walking pace. I missed out on a lot of cool things that I wanted to see, but now that I'm thinking about the trip, I see that we did a lot of stuff!
Map with places visited
For those who don't know - just like I didn't know - the country Malta is formed by 3 islands called Malta, Enjoyment and Comino. The main one is Malta, Gozo is the secondary one and Comino is an island where only 3 people live and is the famous main attraction of the country, the Blue Lagoon.
On this trip, we visited the 3 islands, stayed on the two largest ones, and then visited the following places:
Car Rental
Since we were traveling with small children, we didn't even consider renting a car to explore the island. After seeing so many interesting places spread across the two largest islands, we decided to rent a small car to explore at our leisure. We booked our reservation well in advance through RentalCars with Budget and everything went very smoothly, but as always, we took out full insurance to avoid any unpleasant surprises. I recommend it!
Rentalcars is a partner of the blog, so if you are going to book with them, use our link to earn a commission from Rentalcars! Thank you 🙂
Travel Insurance
We took out travel insurance for the four of us at the last minute because the children were going through a very difficult time with viruses and we wanted to be safe. We paid less than 80 euros for all of us for the entire trip with the company IATI. They are a reference in the industry and are our partners too. Don't take unnecessary risks on your trip.
If you are going to take out your insurance with IATI, use our link to earn a commission from them. 🙂
Summary Itinerary
Island of Malta
- Saturday – 04/17/2023: We took the Ryanair flight around 8pm in Lisbon and arrived in Malta after midnight. We called a uber and in 20 minutes we were at our first hotel in the country, in the Sliema area.
- Sunday – 06/18/2023: We left the hotel on foot, took a ferry to Ditch, we spent a few hours in the city and at the end of the afternoon, we stayed at the hotel pool which was located in a beach club. We had dinner near the hotel in Sliema at one of the many trendy restaurants in town.
- Monday – 06/19/2023: We picked up the rental cars at the airport and went to explore the south of the island of Malta. We first went to Marsaxlokk, where we had lunch with the famous fresh seafood, and then we visited the famous St Peter's Pool. Before returning to the hotel, we took a bath at the beach of Pretty Bay, super calm for children. We had dinner in Sliema again, in another very cool restaurant.
- Tuesday – 06/20/2023: We took an amazing boat trip in Blue Grotto, on the other side of the island of Malta and then we had lunch and enjoyed the beach in Golden Bay. At the end of the day, we went to see the beautiful Mdina and we had dinner there.
- Wednesday – 06/21/2023: We did checkout from the hotel and we went to see the impressive Mosta Roundabout. Then we took a quick trip to the viewpoint to see the Popeye Village. We passed in front of Red Tower and then we had lunch and enjoyed the beach in Ghadira Bay. At the end of the day we took the ferry boat to the island of Gozo and we went straight to the new hotel.
Gozo Island
- Thursday – 06/22/2023: We took a really cool boat trip in Dwejra Inland Sea and then we went to have lunch and enjoy the beach in Ramla Beach. At night, we went to a very lively São João party in the city of Xewkija and we had dinner there.
- Friday – 06/23/2023: We went in the morning to Ta Pinu Basilica, which is huge, and then we had lunch at a very beautiful beach called Hondoq-ir-rummien. From there we took the boat to see the whole island of Comino and in the end we enjoyed the Blue Lagoon, the country's main attraction. We had dinner at a nice restaurant in Xaghra.
- Saturday – 06/24/2023: We did checkout from the hotel, we went to meet the Temples of GGantija and then we take the ferry to the island of Malta. We drove to Mdina, where we had lunch in the middle of the square with a view of the wall, and then headed to the airport to catch our flight to Lisbon.
Our accommodations
We split our stay in Malta into two hotels, one on the main island and the other on the island of Gozo, and these were our choices:Ta joia
115 The Strand Hotel by NEU Collective
We wanted a hotel in the middle of the main island of Malta, preferably close to Valletta, and we found this one with a fair price, breakfast included, pool, free cancellation and a rating above 8 (our prerequisites currently).
It has a stunning view of Valletta from its rooftop and from some of the more expensive rooms – my brother’s, for example – but we stayed in one with no view at all, which I wouldn’t recommend. The neighborhood is full of trendy restaurants and shops, and as soon as you cross the main street, you’re right next to the sea, watching hundreds of boats in the marina. The hotel doesn’t offer parking and it’s pretty hard to park your car nearby, so we had to use a public parking lot about 15 minutes away on foot. Not very practical for those with children, of course.
The hotel pool is across the street in a beach club called Aqualuna Malta It was full every day we were there. We only enjoyed it on the first day and on the other days we were so tired from the tours that we went straight to dinner and then went to sleep. It is a lively place and the pool is deep enough for children but has benches around it, so Ju was able to stay there comfortably, but it would be much better if there was a pool just for children, of course.
Villa Dei Venti
Our second hotel was very different from the first, not very trendy. Small, with nice decor. boho, large rooms with views of the countryside, restaurant/bar with delicious food and drinks, few guests, impeccable service and a very pleasant little pool.
Since the island of Gozo is small, I can safely say that this hotel is very well located…lol. You can drive to any point on the island in no more than half an hour.
Our trip in photos
