I will be spending 2 weeks in Italy and was thinking about flying from Rome to spend a week in Malta. My other alternative is to spend more time in Italy and go to the Amalfi coast. Is Malta worth the journey?

Dear Wenbon: Don't know about a week - we stopped on a cruise and there is an interesting Stone Age cave you can tour - it depends if the Government is "open" so you can tour the castle and other Templar spots to give you more sites. I personally found those extremely interesting on a previous visit but nothing was open on this last one (hence the stone age caves!) Course, at the risk of sounding a complete Philistine, what does the Amalfi Coast have but views? I would go to Florence. Enjoy.

I can't comment on the Amalfi coast but I just spent 4 days in Malta and wished I'd had longer. I loved the place - the laid-back atmosphere, the stunning coastline and turquoise blue water, the mix of influences - Muslim, Italian, British, Mediterranean... the architecture, the painted fishing boats... and we hardly visited any of the traditional sites, such as Mdina, Gozo or the 3 cities (too hot!). Had a fantastic day trip to the blue lagoon on a yacht, for several hours snorkeling (exceptional). Food was excellent (bar our hotel breakfasts), as was the beer and local wine.
Indeed, it was quite unlike anywhere else I've ever visited. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

We spent a week on Malta two years ago, and had a fabulous time! We felt a week was long enough to spend a couple of days just being lazy by the pool and having plenty of time to sightsee -- one day in Gozo, another day on a snorkeling trip, another day renting a car and touring Mdina, going to a local Festa one night.
Enjoy!
Annette

Malta is a place that inspires very strong opinions--people usually love it or hate it, with very little in between. I was there last year for 11 days and loved it and plan to go back again.

There are some very good websites about Malta that may help you to decide: aboutmalta.com, searchmalta.com, visitmalta.com.

Also, if you haven't done so already, please type Malta in the text search box above and you will find many more opinions and recommendations.

Have a wonderful trip, whichever option you choose.

Well, here's hoping it's worth a visit since I'm booked to go there in five weeks!

On the other hand, I've never regretted visiting a place with thousands of years of fascinating history and locally grown tomatoes...