Flying into Malta 8 am on a Friday in late May and flying out on Monday morning...please help me decide whether to stay in Valletta or Sliema- take a day for Gozo- rent a car- take time for the Hypogeum. We’re a mid- late 60’s couple arriving after 2 weeks in Sicily and may never get back to Malta, so we want to maximize our time. Love history, art, beaches, food but not nightlife. All suggestions welcomed! Thanks.

We loved Malta and Gozo. I felt like we'd discovered a hidden gem. I'd suggest staying in Valletta which has more history than Sliema. Also more to do there. We stayed in Valletta for about a week and visited Sliema by bus for about half a day. Didn't think much of it but loved Valletta.

We had 4 days on Gozo and stayed in Valletta again before we flew out. Also had 2 weeks in Sicily on that trip. You have roughly 3 full days which I think you could easily spend just on Malta but if you wanted to do a day trip to Gozo, go for it. It's not that far and is a lovely place, quieter than Malta. We used public buses on Malta and hired a little jeep on Gozo.

I don't have strong memories of the Hypogeum, enjoyed the beautiful mosaic floors at Piazza Armerina in Sicily a lot more. It really depends on your interests.

Kay

Thanks, Kay. Piazza Armerina is on our itinerary for Sicily so I’ll look forward even more to that upon your recommendation. With three days only in Malta would you suggest renting a car to maximize our time, or should we just rely on the buses which seem to be highly recommended? Right now I know we want to explore Valletta and Mdina for sure, the rest is still unclear...

This link will help for public buses, basically most of what you need to know...

https://www.publictransport.com.mt

Bus there is a downside.....the popular routes get very busy, so staying close to a terminus helps. Many of the bus routes start at the main bus station in Valetta which is yards outside the City gateway, so staying in Valleta is a sound idea.

If you decide to rent a car, avoid Gold Car.

We relied on just using the buses on Malta and enjoyed not having a car. In Valletta there are large parts that are pedestrian only anyway, often with wide, shallow steps. Parking would be difficult or impossible. The locals were helpful on the buses, letting us know when to get off for Mdina etc. We picked up a map at the bus station to check routes, bus numbers etc.

This was years ago now and I think the whole bus system has been revamped since then. I do remember a couple of times sitting waiting for a bus for longer than we would have liked but overall it was fine and cheap too.

The buses on Gozo seemed to run less often which is why we hired a jeep. You could do an organised day trip to Gozo I guess, though the bus and ferry worked well for us. We used Mayjo car rentals, they were great to deal with.

Kay

Oct 17 : not massively impressed with the buses the week we were there. There's a huge amount of overcrowding so they don't even stop for more passengers if they're full. And they get very full. Sometimes they simply don't show at all - one morning we waited for over an hour for a bus that should have been running 3 per hour. Sometimes they were fine but it was very hit and miss, even during off peak hours.

I second staying in Valletta esp for a short time. And that's where the buses start from if you want to use them. There's lots to do and you're excellently placed for the ferry across to the Three Cities.

We found the hoho buses much better than the local ones, although they were much more expensive. Go early and come back early as they also get crowded. We used them for both Mdina (gorgeous), also stopped at the Rotunda in Mostar on the way, and Marsaxlokk.

Book the Hypogeum now. We booked out trip 6 weeks our and there was no tickets left at all.

Hi,

know more about malta here http://www.travoline.com/hotels/intl/malta.html

My wife and I have been to Malta 3 times now and love it. We stay at the Grand Hotel Excelsior a short walk from Republic Street a main walking mall in Valletta. St. John's Co-Cathedral is amazing but get there early as there can be long lines waiting to get in. The Grand Masters Palace of the Knights of St. John is also very interesting.

I would certainly recommend going to the Hypogeum. Be sure to get tickets well in advance. If I recall correctly only 10 people at a time, once an hour. We took a taxi there to be sure we would be on time but took a bus back to Republic Street. The Tarxien Temple site is not that far away from the Hypogeum.

We have also been to Rabat to venture through the Catacombs of St. Paul and St Agathe. Both were quite interesting. Mdina is a short walk away and is kind of 'attached' to Rabat.

This year we took a taxi to the Hagar Qim and adjacent Mnajdra Temple sites. One entrance fee gets you access to both.

We stayed 3 nights on Gozo this year. It's about a 30 minute taxi ride from Valletta to the ferry. The ferry runs quite frequently and takes 20 minutes to cross. The Hop-on, Hop-off bus is the way to go for a quick tour of the island. Victoria was quite nice but our main reason for being there was the Ggantija Temple site. The Azure Window collapsed last Sping.

I would definitely stay in Valletta. And with that amount of time I don't think you have time for Gozo.

For me the highlights were a Blue Lagoon and round the island boat trip (took most of a day), a half day trip to Marsaxlokk (smaller fishing village) by bus, a half day (again by bus) trip to Mdina, and a half day trip to Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples and the Blue Grotto. I think you will be hard pressed to fit in those things. I didn't get to the Hypogeum cause the tickets were sold out months in advance, but (I can't say for sure since I didn't go there) I think in your short amount of time I wounldn't have done that anyway.


Here's my trip report from my week in Malta: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...s-in-malta.cfm

And the photos are here:http://andiamo.zenfolio.com/f399049891