4 Days of Winter Sun in Malta
After hearing amazing things about Malta from friends and colleagues, we decided to swap the chilly London December for some sunshine. The weather definitely didn’t disappoint as we were walking around in 20°C heat for most of the trip. And who knew people in Malta loved to celebrate Christmas so much?! Every street and corner was filled to the brim with lights, trees, and laughing Santa Clauses.
 |
| Cute alleyway between Lower and Upper Barrakka Gardens |
Trip Details
This was a package holiday from Weekender Breaks, which we bought via Groupon. It included flights and hotel, costing around £150 per person. The hotel, Solana Hotel & Spa, is situated in Mellieha and is only a short drive from the ferry terminal to the island of Gozo. The spa in the hotel was open and free for us to use, but the rooftop pool and bar was closed.
As mentioned above, the weather was lovely for early December. We did get a little bit of rain, but it was warm and sunny for most of the trip.
Day 1
Our flight out to Malta was very early in the morning (8AM) from Southend Airport. As it’s probably the furthest London airport from where we live, we travelled down the night below and stayed at a nearby Premier Inn.
We arrived in Malta at 2PM and took an airport transfer shuttle bus to the hotel. We were planning to take an Uber, but they do not operate in Malta. Although the shuttle bus worked out to be pretty cheap at €8 each, we had to wait almost two hours before getting on the bus.
After checking in, we had a quick nap to recover from the long journey to the hotel. For dinner, we checked out a highly rated Japanese restaurant near the hotel called AMAMI. Because it was quite late, we were unable to fully appreciate the views of Ghadira Bay from inside the restaurant. However, the food more than made up for it. We got some sushi and dumplings for starters, and chicken katsu curry with their Japanese Robata for mains.
 |
| Sushi and wonton dumplings from AMAMI |
Day 2
On our second day, we took a shuttle to Valletta - the capital city. We grabbed lunch at Trattoria Romana Zero Sai, and had cake and coffee in Caffe Cordina. Both places were recommended to us by a friend from Malta.
For our first tourist stop, we explored the Lower Barrakka Gardens. The view of the Grand Harbour is stunning from here. We then made our way up to the Upper Barrakka Gardens, walking uphill alongside the harbour. Unfortunately, we just missed the cannon firing which occurs twice daily at noon and 4PM.
 |
| Lower Barrakka Gardens |
We decided to grab a drink after, as we had to wait for our shuttle back to the hotel from Valletta. We ended up in The Blue Lounge Bar, which is part of the Osbourne Hotel. It was nice and cosy in there, perfect for an evening cocktail.
After we got back to the hotel, we had dinner at The Hilltop Restaurant which was less than a minute's walk away. The food was authentic and you could tell that the majority of the customers were locals, which is always a good sign.
 |
| View of the cannons |
 |
| Upper Barrakka Gardens |
Day 3
The one place everyone I spoke to raved about was Gozo, so it was high on my want-to-see list. We took the bus to the ferry terminal, and it was a short wait before we were crossing the sea. The trip is free to Gozo, but you’ll have to pay for the round trip at the Gozo terminal when you’re ready to travel back. We managed to cross just as the sun was setting, which provided some beautiful views.
You can take the bus outside of the Gozo ferry terminal into Victoria, the capital of Gozo. The main streets were filled with Christmas lights and music was blasting from speakers on the street. We spotted a stall in the Villa Rundle gardens selling mulled wine, and got one to join in with the festivities. By this time, it was getting dark and we headed towards Cittadella, one of Gozo’s main architectural attractions. It was so peaceful walking around this magnificent castle at night, as there was hardly anyone there.
For dinner, we went to Brookies Restaurant which was a 15 minute walk away from Cittadella. I’d highly recommend going there if you’re looking for good food and service. We had such a nice evening here, we almost missed our ferry back!
 |
| Sunset as we take the ferry from Malta to Gozo |
Day 4
As our flight was in the early evening, we only had the morning to fit in something in. Our hotel was only a 10 minute drive to Popeye Village, so we took a shuttle there from the hotel in the morning. We spent just under three hours here, but I think we were done in about an hour. It’s a good place to take the kids, as there are lots of fun activities for kids to entertain themselves with. However, as a couple, we enjoyed the walk around and reading up on some of the facts about the film set.
Outside of the village, there’s a viewpoint that overlooks the whole film set if you didn’t fancy going inside. It’s also a great place for photos, and we spent a little while here before going in.
 |
| Popeye Village from viewpoint outside |
No comments: