nancytoon

I am taking a cruise with 6 girlfriends in October. WE WILL BE IN MALTA FOR ONLY ONE DAY.WE WILL BE LIMITED IN TIME AND DECIDED TO DO A LOCAL TOUR.HAS ANYONE DONE A TOUR WITH MALTARENTACAR.COM? SWANSEA ENTERPRISES.THEY ARE OFFERING US A DRIVER AND GUIDE. ARE THEY A RELIABLE OUTFIT? THANKS , NANCYTOON

adrienne

Hi nancytoon,

Can you take off your cap lock...it's difficult to read and rude.

I don't know much about this company but the tours look good and reasonably priced, especially as you are splitting the cost among 8 people. Which tour are you considering? Will they do a custom tour for you or do they only offer the canned tours.

I recommend the Mdina and Valetta full day tour and try to get them to take you to the craft village for shopping. Lovely filigree jewelry in Malta. I'd get rid of the Upper Barracca Gardens and try to get the Mosta church into the itinerary. I also would mix the Mdina Experience or the Malta Experience (videos). I fell asleep during the Malta Experience.

Do a very short lunch as the food isn't great in Malta so not worth a long stop since you only have the one day.

adrienne

That should be "nix" (not mix) the Malta and Mdina Experience.

nancy

A friend of mine is also taking a cruise with approx. 6 hrs in Malta. We reviewed the ship tours offered and between me & a friend (we were in Malta for 12 days) we suggested the following from the cruise ship: "City of Knights & Mdina."

For such a short time, we (my travel companion & I) felt this tour offered thru the cruise line, covered the best of Malta.

Ha! Adrienne was my travel companion I didn't check out the local tour companies you mentioned.

KayF

We had a fantastic trip to Malta and Gozo a few years ago and used this company for hiring a jeep and transfers as well -

http://www.mayjo.com.mt/eng/tours.asp

We found them really friendly and helpful and thought the prices were reasonable too. You could check out their website. We would use them again if we are lucky enough to visit Malta again.

By the way, you can easily visit all the sights in Valletta yourselves, just by walking. It's not a huge area, just get yourselves a map and plan a route, starting at the bus station outside the city walls. Great views, by the way, from the Upper Baracca Gardens, just inside the city walls.

Kay

nancytoon

Thank you all for your responses.The tour group is offering us a guide and driver for six hours. It seems like a good deal. Nancy

gailw

KayF:
I'm going to Malta in November and am interested in a tour on Gozo. I went to the website of the company you recommended but I don't see any prices. Do you have any idea what they'd charge for a Gozo tour?
Thanks in advance,
gailw

nancy

While planning my trip to Malta independently of a tour, I looked into this tour company, especially for Gozo. I thought the company was very reasonable.

http://www.bdriven.com.mt/

It turned out that we just went with a tour company (GCT) rather than on our own. But, if I was without a tour company I would definitely have reserved with bdriven. I liked their offers for Gozo and other places in Malta.

Just something to check out.

KayF

To GailW - sorry I don't know what they would charge but I do remember when we booked a return transfer from Gozo back to the airport on Malta, we were pleasantly surprised at how reasonable it was.

We had prebooked a jeep on Gozo through them as well and all dealings with them was very good. They were very helpful, can you email them and make some enquiries?

Kay

Rhea58

Nancy:
I was there by land, not cruise &
can confirm that the food is ersatz Italian so don't waste time & money on it.
Disagree re Malta Experience, I liked it. With 6 hrs you might want to concentrate on Valletta.

gailw

KayF and Nancy:
I did email Mayjo and rec'd a prompt response. They charge 19 euros per hour, pick up at the ferry in Gozo and you can either go to the 'usual places of interest' or choose a more custom tour, in an air conditioned taxi with a "knowledgeable driver." They said most tours take 3-4 hours.
The last time I was in Malta, there was a tour we found through the hotel which picked us up at the hotel, so we didn't have to make our own way to the ferry landing. I will check out the bdriven.com site and see how it compares. Mostly, it's my intention to take buses around Malta to the various destinations but I'd kind of like to avoid having to wend our way from Sliema all the way to the ferry landing before even starting the Gozo tour.
I'll let you know what I find out, and thanks for your assistance.

KayF

Hi GailW,
If you decide you like the idea of going with Mayjo, you could ask them for the cost of pick up at your hotel in Sliema, and transport to the ferry etc. I think they would do all that if you asked.

When we were on Gozo, we asked about a transfer back to the airport on Malta. We had caught the bus on Malta to the ferry port and it was a bit of a hassle, especially with luggage. My tall husband had to stand, bent nearly double, as the bus was quite short and there were no seats, and no space for luggage.

Anyway, we had the option of pick up at our Gozo hotel, transfer to the ferry, ferry tickets, collection at other side (on Malta) and transfer to airport - OR - pick what we wanted from the above. We chose just to be picked up on the other side once the ferry arrived but we could have chosen to be collected at our hotel on Gozo and be transported the whole way. They seemed quite flexible to us (and friendly too).

Kay

gailw

KayF
Thanks. That's a good idea. I emailed bdriven re charge for Gozo tour and haven't heard back yet.
gail

EricBentzen

I haven't tried any tours - had plenty of time to walk or take the bus, but:

1.
A tour by car in Valletta is ridiculous. It is mostly stairs and for pedestrians only. I don't want to be rude, but why not read a bit about the place before wasting money?

Walk and enjoy. Valletta is in my opinion by far the best place to spend time and explore, if you have but one day. Mdina is interesting and beautiful in its own way, but kind of sleepy. With so little time I'd concentrate on Valletta.

2.
I feel sorry for those who haven't had a decent meal in Malta and thus hastily conclude that food everywhere on the islands is "ersatz Italian" or the like.

I agree that some restaurants are poor, but so is the taste of many discount tourists, and that is why the said restaurants survive.

Of course there are excellent restaurants! But you'll have to move just a bit away from the tourist mainstream. Just to mention two:

For lunch try "Tony's Sicilia Bar" in Valletta. It is cheap, the (sea) food is very good and the view is magnificent, if you can sit outside.

Find Triq San Gwann (St. John Street), which crosses Republic Street, and walk to the bottom of the stairs away from Sliema. Closed Mondays as I recall.

Ristorante Fumia in Sliema (Sliema Multi-Storey Car Park, High Street/Triq il Kbira, closed Mondays) is a top notch Italian/Sicilian fish restaurant. However it deserves more time than you have on a single day visit.

We have been to Malta twice and have had the good luck of spending a week both times. My impressions are in my trip reports at http://www.sitestory.dk/rejser/malta2005/indexe.htm and http://www.sitestory.dk/rejser/malta2006/malta.htm

I hope you'll enjoy your visit to Malta. It is definitely worth more than a day, so use your time prudently and don't rush

SunnySideUp

I travel regularly around the med and have been lucky enough to tour Malta several times, and been ripped off, p*ssed off, patronised and disappointed until someone reccomended I try Charles Zammet. Turns out he's from the company someone else mentioned before - Bdriven.

BTW - anyone interested should know that Charles has left Bdriven and now has his own company:
http://www.forte.com.mt

Out of the SEVEN visits Ive made to Malta over the years, he's honestly the only one I would recommend