How To Spend a Week in Malta
Malta is a country that had been on the top of our list to visit for a long time. We’d heard such great things about it from other LGBTQ+ travelers about how welcoming & inclusive it is as a country, that we knew we wanted to experience it for ourselves. We visited Malta in late April and we think it was the perfect time to go! There were hardly any crowds and the weather was very temperate — not too hot and not too cold. We spent a week on the island of Malta so keep on reading to see how we think you should spend 7 days there!
How to Get to Malta
Since Malta is made up of 3 islands, flying is your best bet. It’s located 115 miles off the coast of Sicily, and you can actually take a 90 minute ferry between the two countries if you choose. From the USA we couldn’t find a direct flight to Malta, so we had to have a layover in Germany. If you live in Europe, you should be able to find a direct flight to Malta without an issue!
How to Get Around Malta
You can rent a car, but keep in mind that since Malta was part of the British Empire until the 1960s, they drive on the left side of the road. However, Malta has its own versions of Uber on the island called eCabs & Bolt. They are both app-based ride shares and work all over the island! We took them everywhere and thought it was very affordable and the best way to get around. We also spoke to a lot of the drivers who were locals and who gave us some amazing tips on what to do while we were visiting!
Where to Stay in Malta
There are a few areas we would recommend staying in Malta. We stayed in St. Julian’s and loved it. There are a lot of restaurants and bars there, and you can walk around that neighborhood as well. The capital of Malta is Valletta, and that area probably has the most to do in terms of food & sightseeing. But Valletta is also the most crowded & touristy area of Malta.
We think the best of both worlds would be to stay in Sliema, the neighborhood between St. Julians and Valletta. It’s more local than Valletta, but also has a ferry that connects Sliema to Valletta and only costs under €2 to ride. We stayed in an Airbnb in St. Julians and loved it, but there are also hotels all across the island if you prefer that instead!
Find other Malta accommodations here!
Best Things to Do in Malta
Upper Barakka Gardens
The Blue Lagoon
Marsaxlokk
Popeye Village
Visit The Blue Lagoon - The Blue Lagoon is the most popular thing to do when visiting Malta and it is 100% worth it! We took a day trip there with Sea Adventures and had the best time. They have a few trips that go to the Blue Lagoon, but we chose the one that left at 9AM and we returned around 3PM. Getting to the Blue Lagoon earlier is better because the later the gets the more boats/ferries/tours arrive and it can be hard to find a spot to sit (the beach area of the Blue Lagoon is very small). Since we went in late April the water was cold but we still went in for a dip! The water is crystal clear & blue and it’s one of the most beautiful places we’ve been! Don’t skip out on this when you’re visiting Malta.
Explore Valletta - Valletta is the capital of Malta and there is a lot to do there! Our favorite was the Upper & Lower Barakka Gardens, Triq Sant’Orsla (pretty street for photos), Merchant Street (shops & restaurants), Parliament Steps, but we honestly just loved walking around & exploring. Valletta is filled with cute streets and alleys where you can find great picturesque spots and just get lost walking around. Just be aware that Valletta is very hilly so you will have to walk up and down hill and/or stairs a lot!
Take a day trip to Gozo - As we said above, Malta is made up of 3 islands — Malta, Gozo, and Comino (where the Blue Lagoon is). We have a separate blog post on Gozo that you can find here, but just know it’s worth it to take a day trip or stay a few nights there on your trip!
Explore Mdina - Malta is filled with cute little towns, and Mdina was one of our favorites. Mdina looks like you’ve been transported back to the 12th century. They also filmed Season 1 of Game of Thrones in Malta and used parts of Mdina as filming locations! The entrance to Mdina is a large medieval gate and once you walk around the town, you can definitely see why Game of Thrones was filmed there! We loved this town and highly recommend visiting!
Visit the fishing village of Marsaxlokk & St. Peter’s Pool - both of these are near each other so we recommend doing both the same day! Marsaxlokk is a local fishing village with great restaurants, amazing views, colorful fishing houses, and a cute local market! We loved exploring around here and it’s great for taking photos. St. Peter’s Pool is also a must do when visiting Malta. It’s a natural pool surrounded by these really cool rock formations. In late April when we visited the water was a little to cold to swim, but we went for a dip anyway! It would be perfect to swim in late Spring and the Summer, but still a must see either way!
Go see Popeye Village - Popeye Village is the former set of the 1980s Popeye movie with Robin Williams. They built the entire set for the movie in Malta and it’s still there today! Now it’s a theme park with some attractions and shows, but it’s really cool to see in person. If you are a Popeye fan then you should definitely check this out.
Hike the Dingli Cliffs - The Dingli Cliffs are a beautiful rock formation on the west side of the island. The west side of the island is vastly different from the east, where most of the tourist attractions are. The view from the Dingli Cliffs was beautiful and definitely worth a visit if you like small hikes.
Watch a Fireworks Show - Malta has some of the best firework displays in the world! A local told us that the two highest ranked firework show runners are from Malta and consistently put on insane firework displays. If there is a Firework show or display while you are visiting, make sure you check it out!
Honorable mentions of other things to do in Malta: Blue Grotto, St. Julians, The 3 Cities
Find other Malta activities & tours to book here!
Where to Eat & Drink in Malta
Bianco’s Pizza & Pasta
Coogi’s Restaurant & Tea Garden
St. Julian’s
Salumeria Gardens (best pizza & vibes)
Bianco’s Pizza & Pasta
Gululu (traditional Maltese food)
Two Buoys
The Thirsty Barber
Pleasure Wine & Cocktail Bar
NAAR Restobar
Lot Sixty-One Coffee Roasters
Crust
Mood Cafe
Valletta
Sunday in Scotland
Yard 32 Gin Bar
Soul Food
Pastaus
Im Pasta
Coffee Circus Lisboa
Caffee Cordina (oldest cafe in Malta)
Mdina
Coogi’s Restaurant & Tea Garden (one of our fav meals in all of Malta!)
Bar One Cafe
Coffee House Shop
Fontanella Cafe
Since we are plant-based, there were some traditional foods we were able to try! Since Malta is so close to Sicily, a lot of their cuisine had Italian influence so you will see a lot of pizza & pasta in Malta. But some traditional Maltese food is lampuki Pie (fish pie), rabbit, soft drink Kinnie (tastes kind of like Aperol), Pastizzi (pastry filled with peas or ricotta cheese,), & Ftira (handmade bread typically served with a local dip).
LGBTQ+ Scene in Malta
Malta is consistently voted the most LGBTQ+ friendly country in Europe. They have LGBTQ+ rights at a constitutional level and the entire country is very welcoming towards LGBTQ+ people. We felt so safe there as a lesbian couple, the most safe we’ve ever felt while traveling. We did see a few queer bars, but since Malta is generally a very welcoming country, it seemed like queer people were welcomed everywhere. We highly recommend visiting Malta is you are LGBTQ+ because we think you feel safe and not have to worry about your sexuality or gender identity while traveling there.
If you want to see more of our trip to Malta, then make sure you watch our Malta YouTube video where we give you even more information! We absolutely loved Malta and think it’s such an underrated country to visit!
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