Sightseeing Bus

Firstly, when you are on holiday, time is precious. You can spend hours driving around, staring at a map and getting lost. Whereas the bus driver knows where he’s going and takes you straight there – without having to perform a u-turn in a petrol station and without having a row with your other half.

Secondly, the Sightseeing Bus stops only at the major tourist attractions but moreover, it stops right outside them. You don’t have to worry about parking, whether you’ve left your hire car somewhere you shouldn’t and if you might get a ticket. The buses also operate a hop on/ hop off policy and they run every half hour, so once you’ve seen what you stopped to see, you get on the next bus and let it take you on to your next destination.

Thirdly, if you’re on a bus, and it’s an open-top bus, you will be nice and cool and you will be able to actually look at things as you travel along. You will have interesting hair when you get off but you won’t be scouring the roadside for signs, or praying that the exhaust on the 1950s pick-up truck you’re following doesn’t drop off and put a massive dent in your hire car.

Fourthly, if you’re the sort of person, like me, who enjoys sampling the local food and drink (oh the drink!) while on holiday, then taking the bus in a no-brainer. After all, you can have a bottle of wine or a beer, or two with your lunch, and you can’t get pulled over for drink driving if you aren’t driving.  An added bonus is you don’t have to go through that awkward – ‘so whose turn is it to drive’ conversation.

And finally, the Sightseeing Bus comes complete with commentary so it’s a good way of getting yourself familiar with the island, learning a bit about its history and learning a lot about its geography ie where everything is in relation to everything else. If you merely sit on the bus for the whole circular route, you can check out how things look and decide whether you might want to add them to your ‘to do’ list. Convinced yet?

The open-topped 'London' buses that cruise around the country on two distinct routes - one covering the south of the island and one covering the north. Each tour takes approximately three hours if you stay on board the bus but they do stop for loo breaks and so you can buy a drink etc.

The South (Red) tour visits Valletta, The Three cities, the picturesque fishing village of Marsaslokk, the Blue Grotto and the Megalithic Temples of Hagar Qim as well as many, many other fascinating sites. The North (blue) tour takes you through the yacht marinas of Ta' Xbiex, San Anton Palace gardens, Ta Qali Craft centre, the Aviation Museum, Mosta Dome all the way up to the Silent City of Mdina. The return journey takes you past some of Malta's most magnificent beaches as well as the hugely popular tourist centres of Bugibba and St Julian's.

Buses travel every half hour, the tour commentary is available in 16 languages, your ticket is valid all day, there are 44 stops and they’ll even pick you up from your hotel. Tour tickets cost €15 per adult and €9 for children. They are operated by Supreme Travel, a well-established company that also runs excellent harbour cruises and a similar service on Gozo. All trips can be booked online and you can also download a full brochure listing all the routes and stops.