Wow, what a great trip, I'd venture to say the best so far..Malta is so rich in history and beauty. It's a magical mix of the very old with very modern. And the culture is so unique and the people extremely warm. Two weeks is the perfect amount of time to get a feel for the country.

TRAVEL:
Took Virgin Atlantic from JFK, connected in London Heathrow on Air Malta. Arrived 3 p.m., smooth.
Grabbed rental car from Thrifty and headed to our rental villa in Swieqqi, a small town near St. Julians.

Lodging
I rented the villa through a private owner and it was amazing. Huge pool, three bedrooms, spotless, with a great view over the island.

Activities
With two young kids, we spend each day going to the beach in the morning. We'd alternate between the small pebbly beach right in St. Julians, St. George Bay, or driving up to Ghadira Bay in Mellieha, about a 40 minute drive. Mellieha was just gorgeous, so shallow and calm for the kids. There was a great beach restaurant, Maxim, that served delicious food with great owners.

Highlights
The capital of Valletta is incredible. We walked around the city, went to the Upper Barraka Gardens with its view over the water, took the Karozzin ride.
Vittoriosa is another of the fortified cities in Malta, just gorgous architecture and a great feel.
We loved Sliema for its vibe and the shopping and the Spinola Bay area of St. Julians for romantic evening walks.
Took a day trip to Gozo on the car ferry, just gorgeous. Went to Rambla Bay Beach with its red sand, lunched in Marsalforn Bay in a cute seafront cafe and looked around Rabat, the sleepy capital. Gozo is special, but a bit too quiet for a trip with the kids, in my opinion. Nice for a honeymoon.
Oh, and the kids loved the amusements on the Bugibba waterfront.
In two weeks, we basically went everywhere onthe island.

Dining

Peppino's -- St. Julians -- wonderful al dente pasta, fabulous views over Spinola Bay. SAt on a tiny balcony, just romantic.

Papparazzi -- ST. Julians -- Just go for desserts. Food's just OK. Try Nutella Pie, heaven.

Amici Miei -- on the Valletta Waterfront -- wow, this area of Malta is fairly new and just so pretty. There are some cool lounges and new restaurants and this is the best one.

Piccolo Padre -- St Julians -- Wonderful pizza, great location

Don Vito's -- Bugibba -- High above St. Paul's Bay, cozy, warm British owners

Best gelato: Angeli's on Sliema waterfront and the gelateria across from Tanti ice cream in Bugibba..

Malta is such a gem, undiscovered by Americans.. I'm so looking forward to my return.

Thanks for writing this up, melodyt13. It brings back good memories. We spent two weeks there in 2002, the first week on Gozo, the second on Malta itself.

How did you find driving on Malta? We rented a car for our week on Gozo, but thought we'd rely on public transit (love those old yellow buses) on Malta. That worked out well, although it was usually slow and sometimes crowded.

Anselm

Thanks for ths melodyt13! I hear such conflicting reports on Malta always, it is good to hear a really enthusiastic report for a change. It has always appealed to me, but DH is not so sure. He has heard all the negative reports I guess.

We don't hear much about Malta on this board. I hope you can post a link to some pictures. My parents when on a cruise and that was one of the stops. The images are lovely.

Loved your trip report! You mentioned names of places I'd long since forgotten. And the trip to Gozo as the ferry glides over the india ink color of the Mediterranean still is a vivid memory. Hope you had time to visit Mdina and were captivated by its charms. Our love affair with the Mediterranean started with our trip to Malta a few years ago and continues to this day. Thanks for posting!

Driving in Malta for my husband was challenging at first, once he got used to mastering the traffic circles on the opposite side that we're used to, he was fine.... The drivers were not any crazier than those we experience in NYC. We loved having a car b/c we went everywhere. We even went to the Blue Grotto, which is gorgeous. Unfortunately for us, the seas were too rough for the boats to take us on a ride that day..
We also loved Rabat, a true Maltese village, well off the tourist map. We enjoyed a traditional festa, with the marching band and the confetti and the carrying of the statue down the streets.. Priceless...
I forgot to mention the nightly fireworks fromt the religious festas every night. Several villages were celebratign during our stay and were decorated for the parades..

I don't know what negativity there is to report. Yes, there are a lot of British tourists, but there are a lot of British tourists all over Spain and France as well during high season. Diffrence is that the place is genuine. Most everyone we heard at the beach was speaking Maltese.. Those dining around us in Marsaxlokk, a beautiful fishing village, were all Maltese...Except for maybe Qawra and Paceville, areas which I would avoid, Malta is a gem...

Malta is particularly economical. The meals, groceries, activities, the rental car, everything is less expensive than other western European countries, by far.. For example, we would have a beer at a shack on the beach in Ghadira for roughly $3 US and a Kinnie for about $1...