What's the new bus system? I can't believe Malta would give up those buses and get a system - LOL

If you want my opinion on the buses look at your other thread.

I don't understand your question. The frequency depends on the bus. It's not like the buses are all on the same schedule.

http://www.atp.com.mt/atp/servlet/ControllerServlet?action=loadUserPage&userPageName=directService

Ah yes, Adrienne. Thanks. I've been reading several forums though only posting here. My question about frequency was clearly addressed in the link you post here, though I see no indication of what year this is for. There has been apparently been a re-vamping of the buses as well as the entire system over the past year or so, if I understand correctly. And I am not finding a current schedule.

You could try e-mailing them with your questions. The e-mail address on the website adrienne linked to is: info@focalpointtransport.com

I can't believe anyone could get the Malta bus drivers to use a set system. They have their own code and their own schedule, no matter what is on the printed schedule. Some of those rides were not for the faint hearted!

I think you're expecting too much of Malta. It sounds like you want German efficiency and you're not going to get it on Malta.

Use the schedule that is posted on the site that talks about the new system.

http://www.arriva.com.mt/mainline-bus-routes

Maybe you should rent a car.

We used buses to get around all over Malta and the only issue I can recall is having to wait for a bus, but that's what you do with public transport. We didn't have to wait that long and could have grabbed a taxi if necessary. If you have a car it can be more convenient but there are downsides as well, such as finding your way, potential of accidents, cost of petrol, cost of car hire, parking issues, etc. I'm pretty sure you won't be able to drive into Valletta.

On Gozo we hired a jeep as I'd read that the buses are much less frequent but on Malta we went all over the place as well as all the historical sites (we had about 10 days on Malta and 5 on Gozo) and were happy with the buses. One thing you should know is they all operate out of Valletta, the bus station is right outside the city walls. So if you are staying somewhere other than Valletta, you'll have to get a bus to Valletta first, then a bus to where you are going.

Kay

No Adrienne, I have no expectation for precision timing...I think you may be mis-reading the intent of my questions. I simply want to know whether buses go from point A to point B, and whether I'd have to wait half a day to get from point B to point C; whether I'd spend half of each day returning back & forth to Valetta from every single site, etc. Seems like a pretty reasonable thing for me to be asking, I think. If it would be impossible to coordinate well, then I'd rent a car. OK?

Thanks for your detailed response, KayF--very helpful!--and I believe I am persuaded to not rent a car. What's the cost of gas now in Malta/Gozo?

By the way Adrienne, thanks for the schedule/map link. I absolutely could not find that page when I googled. And I think I will also email them--thanks for the address, walkabout.

The buses may leave the origin point on time but can be early at intermediary stops. If you're at a bus stop on time you may have missed the bus.

Thanks for the heads up on that, Adrienne.

Just noticed on Gozo.com that they say getting around Gozo by public bus "can be tricky"--and they clearly recommend car rental instead. Any comments?

Laugh out loud, all right. I enjoyed the Maltese on a visit a few years ago with the exception of the bus drivers, who certainly needed revamping.

Not sure how to interpret your reply, Southam. Can you add a little more explanation?

Before our trip to Malta and Gozo, I had read that bus transportation on Gozo was more limited than on Malta and buses were not as regular. For this reason we hired a jeep, which seemed to be a common mode of transport on Gozo. On Malta we found the buses to be fine. I think each bus is owned by the driver and some have small decorations or names on them, showing pride in ownership I guess. This was a few years ago now and all the buses were around 50's vintage but in good repair with new paint jobs etc, but that old look.

I wouldn't have any trouble relying on the buses on Malta, loads of locals use them as well. The only thing that may be annoying, if you are not staying in Valletta, is that all bus routes start and end in Valletta, sort of like the spokes of a wheel. We loved staying in Valletta so it didn't affect us but if you were staying in another town and wanted to get somewhere, you'd have to go via Valletta.

Kay

Thanks, Kay. Did you arrange the jeep rental prior to your trip or upon arrival? And did you have any trouble getting from ferry to the car rental on foot in Gozo?

Hi plr, we booked the jeep from home and they offered to meet us at the port on Gozo where the ferry comes in, we all drove to their office which was nearby and we filled in the paperwork, showed our licences etc. It worked really well and on the return journey, we stopped at their office, picked up one of the men who worked there and he came with us to the port, where we gave him the keys and we caught the ferry back to Malta. We used http://www.mayjocarhire.com/

We did arrange a transfer from the port in Malta back to the airport while we were on Gozo, with the same car hire company. They do transfers as well. We had intended to get the bus back from the port to the airport (via Valletta) but the bus was quite crowded when we were headed to Gozo and there was barely room for our luggage so we figured this was a better option. It was certainly a lot more comfortable and we were surprised how reasonable the price was.

Kay

It's been some time now, but I got all around Malta by public transportation with no problem; I just did one day in Gozo on a jeep tour. Here's a thread to give you some idea of what I was able to do with no car: http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/maltas-100-best.cfm

I really, really enjoyed Malta; history is soaked into the stones.

Oh, and for a bit more orthodox version, here's my little trip report: http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/malta-trip-report-little-island-short-trip-small-report.cfm As I said, it's been a while--didn't realize it was that long ago, to be honest; Malta definitely stays with you.

I have to agree with Amy. Malta is a special place which few people seem to visit. The history is quite amazing and we found the people friendly and welcoming. We hope to go back one day.

Kay

Kay and Amy, you've been so helpful with all the details! Thanks. Enjoyed your trip report, Amy, and feel very reassured about not renting a car on Malta, though perhaps I will do so on Gozo.

Been thinking a lot about all the options, and re-considering what I might do.

When I fly into Malta at mid afternoon, brain-dead from jet-lag--I think I want to go directly to Gozo, check into a hotel and do nothing until the next day.

What is the "best & most economical" way for me to get from the Malta airport (no rental car and on foot, with 1 piece of luggage, a backpack and a small bag) to the ferry for Gozo--and then from the ferry port in Gozo to my hotel? Are these transfers frequent and reliable? Is there a lot of coordination needed to connect with the ferry? And since I'm not a spring chicken--no major walking with all my luggage?

There is the public bus but if you've flown a long way and won't want to walk much, it's probably not a good idea. The transfer we arranged (details above) was just for us, we had an airconditioned car with driver and he was at the port to meet the ferry. You will need to check the ferry timetable but I think you will be able to book a transfer from Malta airport to the ferry, then another transfer once on Gozo to your hotel.

Travelling to Gozo on your arrival will add quite a bit of time on to your day. If you stay in Valletta, you could be at your accommodation very quickly. By the way, I suppose you know that Valletta is car-free so you will have to walk everywhere and also there are lots of stairs? The stairs were built low and flat - for the knights with their heavy armour we were told - so are not difficult.

Kay

Kay, I'm a walker! It's what I love to do when traveling. I just don't want to be hauling all my luggage on foot for a long distance while also jet-lagged. Sorry I wasn't clear. Are there general listings of choices for booking these transfers (airport to ferry ? Gozo hotel to ferry / ferry to Malta hotel)? I'm not at all opposed to using the public bus if it isn't a hassle with luggage.

Valletta really is a wonderful place to "chill out" after your arrival; it's definitely not a resort town like some of the others. To me, it wouldn't be worth all of the extra time and effort to get to Gozo on the first day, and the buses can sometimes be crowded; that is, there might not be much room for luggage.

Just writing about this makes me want to be back in Valletta; there's something about the quality of that light on the golden stones: http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1115464943053546425HYBcpR (Sorry for the poor quality; this was pre-digital camera.)

@PLR: What exactly do you need to know...the above comments have me confused. You can check bus routes and times ONLY on the bus company's website: www.arriva.com.mt It's possible to buy a 7 day ticket from the airport and it won't cost teh earth. Expect long journey times, as the routes can be devious, but there is ample space for luggage on the X routes from the airport, and also to some extent on 12/13 (Sliema/St Julians/Bugibba) and 91 (M'Skala) as the bendies run on these routes. Cultural sites may be a bit off the beaten track, so the open-top hop on hop off might not be a bad idea. Let me know if you have specific questions.

@PLR: If you intend to spend most of your trip in Gozo, you might need a Gozo bus ticket...not sure the Malta one is valid there even though it's the same company. It is easy and cheap to transfer to Gozo by bus from the airport... X1 goes from airport (l-Ajruport) to ferry (ic-Cirkewwa) but not sure how often that runs. You can call their customer care (356)21222000- I am sure they will help you out.

KayF & Amy, I truly do appreciate your recommendations. Spent time looking at Malta first, but the deal-breaker was my end-of-trip very early flight departure. Staying in Malta first would thus require 2-4 extra luggage pack-ups, which believe it or not, I absolutely will do some suffering to eliminate!

And so I think I will do a shuttle van service (about 20 euros, I think) rather than bus service from the airport to the ferry and to Gozo. If I'm going to pass out from exhaustion, I figure it's less likely that my body slumped on the floor will be ignored in a shuttle van than in a public bus, haha!

...Although I have not yet checked to see how late the last ferry leaves from Cirkewwa....

You can find the ferry timetables at this link by clicking on timetable tab at the top of the page:
http://www.gozochannel.com/timetable_departure.htm

Have you booked your hotel in Gozo yet? Mine picked me up at the ferry port.
I also went immediately to Gozo upon arrival in Malta. I paid for a taxi or transfer to maximize my time.

I've just learned that MaltaTransfer.com will transport a single individual for just 10 Euro to the ferry terminal, but charge a whopping 69 Euro from airport to my Gozo hotel, which is barely a half mile from the ferry terminal on Gozo! Let's see. Which should I choose?!

Nice to see all the evening ferry times! No problem, it appears.

Thanks again to everyone who has been so incredibly helpful on this and my other threads! I so appreciate all your contributions.

Use that transfer to get to the ferry port, then see if your hotel offers a more reasonable transfer, or just grab a taxi when you arrive on Gozo. Good luck--I loved walking across Gozo!

Yorkshire, I was joking!! My hotel is within walking distance of the ferry--a half mile at most. I thought the price difference was unbelievable. 10 Euros is great! And yes, my hotel will transfer for free.

ha ha--obviously I am a careful reader. I thought maybe luggage was an issue.
Anyway, enjoy Gozo, it's gorgeous!

Just be aware that a half mile in Gozo is not necessarily walkable especially with luggage as the island is very hilly. Which hotel is it? The Grand is only one I know to be within walking distance.

If you use the bus it is only €2.60 (for a day ticket) and there are large bendy express buses with luggage storage space at the airport to ic-Cirkewwa ferry terminal. Route number is X1 and this link will give you the timetable (the buses are timed to correspond with ferry times as far as possible): http://www.arriva.com.mt/file.aspx?f=726
I would use the bus

Yorkshire, luggage will Never be enough of an issue for me to pay an extra 59 Euro to go a few blocks!! Yup, RK, it's the Grand. And as I said--they transfer free of charge. I thought that even the X1 bus you mentioned might have a bunch of stops along the way, and I really want to get quickly to the bed at the end of the road! (what's a bendy bus?).

They're those large buses with an accordion-like section in the middle that enables them to turn corners easier. Several cities in the US have them too. They look like this:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23723650-boris-bendy-buses-are-on-borrowed-time.do

Good hotel choice plr!

So just for clarification: does the X1 bus go directly, non-stop from airport to the Cirkewwa ferry terminal? That's surely the best deal, if so.

It makes a few stops along the way but generally travels in a straight line to destination. The journey lasts 1h05min...travelling by car would take just under an hour, so it's not bad. The main stops will be Marsa P&R, Mater Dei Hospital, Pembroke P&R and Mellieha. Have a look at the timetable from the link on my Feb 28 post. It's a bus not a coach so you won't be able to sleep on the seats (no headrest) but it's reliable and will give you a teaser glimpse of the island. You can get a 2hour ticket from the driver which is even cheaper (€2.30).

But then, wouldn't the transfer minibus you mentioned be stopping at the hotels on the way too to drop off the other passengers?

Good point, RK! Thanks again for your help. Bus it will be.

The bus will be empty at the airport but will pick up passengers at the stops, so choose a seat close to your bags for obvious reasons. You could also buy something small from the airport shops to get some small change - it is preferable to pay the driver in coins (definitely don't expect him to give change to anything more than a €5 note).

The bus will leave from the second lane just outside the terminal door. Choose the correct stop...it will prominently show X1 on a yellow background on the bus stop sign. Anyone working for Arriva (bus drivers/controller/CCAs) will be more than happy to help you out with queries.

RK, I doubt I could even think of another question to ask the Arriva people, as you have covered all the details beautifully. Thanks much! Nice to know all this in advance so that when I arrive in a brain-dead state, I can just read what you have written & stumble along, haha!

Hope you enjoy it (but I'm sure you will, especially Gozo). Don't forget your shorts and sunglasses ... May can be quite warm.

"May can be quite warm"....Really?? I show 59-73 degrees Farenheit in the climate charts>

The average max temp for May is 23C. It will fluctuate lower and higher. May is IMHO the best month of the year WRT weather. No storms, warm enough to wear shorts and take a first dip, yet not scorching or unbearably hot. The humidity will make it feel a notch warmer. Whether this is warm or not is relative to where you live of course. These are the official climate charts:
http://www.maltairport.com/weather/page.asp?p=17356&l=1

The warmest May days ever recorded were in 2006 when 35.3°C was reached on the 23rd. Here is a summary of the weather last May: http://www.maltairport.com/page.asp?p=17375&l=1

An update. The bendies on this route seem to have been replaced by 11 metre buses, but there is still ample space for luggage up front. Major roads in Gozo are being redone at the moment, unfortunately.

YES Malta does have a totally new bus system - al those traditional buses are all now gone. The new bus system is called Arriva, an international company. If you google Arriva Malta and go to their website, you will find their schedules

In some ways I think that's a shame. I thought the old buses looked fabulous, it was almost like some had a personality. I suppose the new ones will be much more comfortable and have airconditioning, which would be nice.

I wonder if they will use just a few old buses for a tourist route? They do a similar thing in Melbourne, where I live, all the old 'rattler' trams went long ago and have been replaced by shiny new (boring) trams but they've kept one for the free City Circle tram which the tourists love. Not sure if they just love it because it's free

Sorry to get off Malta and on to Australia. Oops.

Kay

I agree that it's a shame about the buses - the old buses were part of Malta's charm.

Did they replace the former bus drivers as well? The cranky ones and the ones who took the curves on 2 wheels. They were part of the Malta adventure as well.

Will the new buses adhere to the posted schedules (unlike the old buses)?

Yes, the old buses were all replaced by new ones about a year ago - you never see one in sight any more. A foreign company called Arriva - I believe it also has buses in the Uk and other countries, is responsible now for local buses.

Of course they do not have that charm that the older ones had, many tourists really loved them, but I guess it was time that they were changed. The new ones of course are air-conditioned, wheelchair accessible, etc. They are brand new and cost the Maltese Govt. many millions of Euros. The old ones were scrapped, or sold or if I remember well, and some of them were to be put in some museum.

Again, if I remember well, the local bus drivers were reimbursed for their buses, and they had to some courses and pass through a rigorous driving test before being employed by the new company. The hand-over to the new system took really long, with foreign drivers initially being sent to Malta. There was quite a dispute last year as of course some drivers (those who were accepted by Arriva wanted to support their ex-colleagues) did not like it and there were strikes, this combined with new routes and systems which the Maltese took long to get adjusted to, initially made the system slow, and Arriva was really critisized for its inefficiency. On the other hand, what maybe worked for other countries for Arriva did not work for Malta, taking into consideration our small Island and what we were accustomed to. The Transport Ministed was really critisized by the opposition (that is no new thing here in Malta, regarding politics).

Now the routes and system has been adjusted, and the people got used to it. It has different types of routes, some that are direct, and do not go to Valletta, like from St Julians directly to airport, others that go to Valletta, and from all locations there are buses that go directly the the new Govt hospital that has been built, or to University. The system is still a bit slow, and often buses do pass full in bustops in peak times, but I am sure it will keep on improving over time when the exigencies of the people and tourists are met.

To tell you the truth, I have never boarded on any of them, as I either drive or am driven, lol, but my younger son frequently uses them, and he now knows where to change buses etc, you do not have to go to Valletta now anymore to do that. To reach a certain locality there may be three different routes taken so that passengers may be picked up from any locality, and some are taken to a certain bus station like the university to change buses. But the Maltese still liked (or were used to) that they go to Valletta so lately they had to increase routes to the capital city again.

A real lot has changed in the last 8 or 10 years in Malta, namely improvement roads (there is still need for more to be done of course), promenades, a brand new state of the art hospital, huge malls and areas of entertainment very lovely and unique like The Point in Sliema built on a peninsula, currently an amphitheatre is being built which will also house the new parliament building at the entrance of Valletta - another big project, plus so many other projects are at hand that would attract more tourists like the building of a sea-life aquarium, the Manoel Island project, etc etc.

I think even the traditional Maltese mentality of the younger generation has changed a lot lately from my days - I am in my forties. I think the Maltese were more laid back at the time, and maybe liked to save up more etc - nowadays everyone lives for the day to have the best time ever.

We also now have more laws and regulations we have to adhere to by the EU, which we are doing very successfully, this including the problem of deficit the EU is facing in some countries - we have to help them out as well. We also have many better roads as many were funded by the EU. The EU was very keen for us to enter the union since Malta is at a very important strategic position in the middle of the Mediterranean and could be of great help, an example of this is when there was a war going on in Libya, Malta helped Europe and USA so much, no wonder it is always in everyone's good books.

But I think that most tourists come to Malta because it is so rich in history ( for example it has the oldest archeological sites ever recorded in history) and because of its great sunny weather throughout the year. And I also believe they do like the Maltese way of thinking and the fun atmosphere, even if you just go for a coffee in Sliema. You know Malta was voted as the best and safest place to live, and also that the happiest people were the Maltese. I think it is due to the laid back attitude, and the fact that we are so close to mainland Europe, yet we still have a lot of identity since we are cut off as an island. I guess we have a bit of both worlds. I have so many frieds (USA and Australia) who emigrated and are so homesick of Malta but they can't afford to return for a holiday. All they do is keep on posting photos of Malta on their Facebook and try and keep in contact as much as possible.

Also the people here enjoy a lot of benefits from the country, like students studying at post-secondary level and University are given a lump sum before the beginning of their course and every single year of study to buy books, etc, and then are given a monthly allowance to be a bit of support for themselves and not be a burden to their families. You do not find that anywhere, on the contrary, in other countries you have to pay for the course or are forced to take loans, I really do think we are pampered and encouraged to continue our studies - that is maybe a reason why so many students are continuing their studies, but us Maltese unfortunately still take that a bit for granted.

I am afraid you are never going to encounter again any old (but as you said charming) Maltese buses or any poor cranky Maltese drivers who used to have to drive all day, stopping at countless bus stops in the unbearable heat of the Summer without aircon, lol. - who would not be cranky?

Forgot to add - for anyone who is interested in Malta - there are so many traditional feasts going on during the whole year, like during Christmastime, the carnival parades in February, the Good Friday processions in quite a few localities - the locals taks so much price in dressing up, and really lovely statues, the Summer feasts in every single town and village, the Notte Bianca, a night-time feasts that recalls eras of olden times, the ancient city like Vittoriosa would all be candle-lit and there would be lovely re-enactments, it is also done in Valletta and Vittoriosa Gozo every year, the annual big fireworks display on the Valletta Harbour - I could go on and on.

Anna - thank you for your insights on Malta.