Best day tours on Malta
 

I will be on Malta for a week in July. I would like to take several 1/2 day tours and a full day tour of Gozo. I have seen some I can book online from home, but thought maybe I should wait til I get to my hotel and go with what they recommend. Any thoughts or advantages as to what I should do? Does anyone know of particularly great tour company or guide? We will be a party of 4. Thanks!

You don't say where you are staying but if it's in one of the more popular areas then you will probably find there are shops/kiosks offering tours all around. They seem to all use the same two or three companies' boats/coaches.

I recall using Captain Morgan for a boat trip around Malta including a two-hour stop at Blue Lagoon on Comino island. If you haven't looked at their site, it's http://www.captainmorgan.com.mt/

By all means, you may save time and effort booking before you go but you'll find it very easy to do when you are there and you can all flick through the brochures, speak to peeople there and decide at the time. Other guests may be able to recommend some tours for you. You probably only need to book a day or so before each tour.

From memory, apart from the one mentioned above I did the day-trip to Gozo and a (long but worthwhile) day-trip to Sicily.

Thanks. we will be staying at the New Dolmen Hotel in Qwara. I think this is a very tourist filled area. I really would like to see the underground temple of Hypogeum, but I know that you really have to make advance reservations because they only let a few people in each day in order to prevent damage from carbon dioxide. Did you visit this place?

Hi! Malta was so easy to get around, you wouldn't actually need to take too many tours; you can go by Maltese bus just about anywhere. The tour of Gozo is a good idea if you have just one day there, though, as you'll be able to see much more. I took the jeep tour version and liked that very much as it was open-topped and you could smell the thyme and other herbs growing all around. (If anyone in your group has mobility issues, though, they aren't the easiest to get into or out of~)

The Hypogeum is awesome, in the true sense of that somewhat overused word; you do almost always need advance tickets, but you can arrange that by email. Only ten people per hour are permitted inside, and even in off-season October there were people being turned away for more than a week in advance.

Just an FYI....my British boss just returned from 4 days in Malta attending an international scientific conference. The entire group was put up in a 4* hotel; and while the accommodations were plush, the surrounding area and beaches around Malta were not. They had a horrible time and complained that Malta was very dirty and quite poor. (BTW, these were Europeans - not Americans - attending this conference so this was their summation). I don't know, but from what they said, they would never spend 1 week in Malta as that is too much time. They recommended going to Sicily or even Corsica for a better time in a nicer place.

It's funny but a lot of people say you everyone either loves or hates Malta.

I actually felt somewhere in between - I am really glad I was there but it was not somewhere I would rush back to. There are a lot if interesting things to see and if your colleagues were on a conference maybe their free time just meant they had evenings to spend in Valletta and didn't get to see a lot else.

I am rather surprised anyone would describe Malta as dirty.

Hi lprasz. From the Dolmen head up the road (opposite direction from the sea)to the crossroads and on the right hand side of the cross street, you will find a shop that sells lots of trips.
I think it was next to a small hotel on the corner,anyway it was the first small shop you come to.

I haven't been to Malta for a few years, but sure it will still be there. It was run by two sisters and I would highly recommend them. I'm sure they also offered the Captain Morgan trips too.
I think your hotel would probably charge more than a local kiosk for trips, and you would end up on the same one.
Don't think we used any of their day tours as we got around by ourselves on the local buses, but that was the first place we used to go after arriving to book their evening tours to the festas in the local villages.
If you haven't read about them, Festas are celebrations held in each village or town on their particular church Saint's birthday.

The best time for Festas are July and August so you should be lucky enough to get to one (I used to make sure I got to every one available)!

Brass bands fronting the procession, the church lit up like it was Christmas, nougat sellars everywhere,thousands of fireworks filling the sky and shredded paper or anything confetti-like being thrown from every rooftop.

They were always the highlight of my trips to Malta - magical!

Have a great trip :)

Here is the e-mail address for the Hypogeum. I would e-mail ASAP so you can get a date.

mailto:[email protected]

I have communicated quite a bit with this tour company and am impressed. For 4 people the price is pretty good and you can get 8 or more hours with them. Charles at b-driven used to write a lot on Fodors with good info.

b-driven <[email protected]>

Hope this helps. I'm not going to Malta until the end of this month. [email protected]

Hi again. I found the leaflet from the agent I was talking about.They are called Freestar Tours.
Don't know of a website but their address is Tourist Street,Bugibba.
Tel: 580308 and 580581.

They had around 40 trips available and to give you some examples of cost a few years ago:

Festa fireworks: adults Lm 1.50
Malta by night: Lm 2.00
Gozo highlights: Lm2.50 full day
Gozo Deluxe; Lm 3.75 full day
Prehistoric temples: Lm 2.00 (1/2 day excluding entrance fees)

Hope this helps :)

Wow! What a lot of great information! Thank you all very much! I am sorry to hear that someone didn't care for Malta. We are spending 10 days in Italy first, and my teenagers will be burned out on museums. Being able to just chill out by the pool on an island and see some unusual sites will be just the ticket. this jeep tour of Gozo sounds perfect for us, and the advance reservation info for the Hypogeum is invaluable as that is at the top of my list. In my opinion, there is no place on earth that is not worth visiting once.

18 akinbaye street
isolo, lagos
nigeria.
Dear Sir/Ma,
i will like to know about to traveling to the conference in malta. please reply me on how to travel to malta. l'm looking forward to hear from you. thanks

I just returned from 2 weeks in Malta on a tour with a lot of free time. My trip to Gozo was part of the tour but I did notice the Jeep tours which looked like fun. The trick is being able to see enough. As far as Malta goes, use the bus. It goes everywhere. The main terminal is out of Valletta (the capital) and practically everywhere is only 20 from Valletta. If I can answer any specific questions, please e-mail me at [email protected]. I loved Malta.