Places To Go in Malta

You find Blue Grottos all over the Mediterranean! It’s no massive surprise though when you have a sea that appears so brightly and brilliantly blue under the perpetual blazing sun, then any old grotto that sits on its edge is going to be vaguely blue!  READ MORE

This is not an article advising you to watch a dodgy ‘coming-of-age’ film from the 1980s – the one that earned notoriety for the divine Brooke Shields swimming topless. We certainly would never recommend that! This is about the Maltese Blue Lagoon – an enjoyable experience that does not require you to fast-forward through an hour of dull...READ MORE

Sun, sea, beach, sights, eat, out, drink, sleep, sun, sea beach, sights, eat, out, drink, sleep. This familiar, pleasant though exhausting routine can soon take its toll on the unwary traveller. So, if you suffer tourist fatigue, recharge your batteries with a visit to the Chinese Garden of Serenity in Santa Lucija. READ MORE

A swift glance at a map of Malta will be enough for you to see that the majority of the major settlements are on the northern side or towards the middle of the island. You’ll see very little in the way of serious towns on the southern edge … and there’s a good reason for that – cliffs! READ MORE

In the late 19 th century, when Queen Victoria was on the British throne, her Government decided to build four state-of-the-art gun batteries - complete with enormous 100-ton Armstrong guns. They would protect the harbours in the colonies of Malta and Gibraltar. One of them - Fort Rinella – was built close to Valletta and you can still visit it today. READ MORE

Compared to some ‘lively’ European holiday destinations, Malta is pretty laid back. There is a bustling night scene if you want it but you have to go looking for it so most visitors enjoy a quiet and relaxing stay. Malta’s prevailing peace, however, is nothing compared to sister island Gozo … because if Malta is laid-back, then this...READ MORE

Children’s TV has always been and remains baffling – as anyone who has watched the Teletubbies or In The Night Garden will tell you! When I grew up in the UK, the choices included a black and white drama about Robinson Crusoe, Laurel and Hardy films, an odd Yugoslavian production called White Horses, or French diving documentaries featuring a chap...READ MORE

When it comes to religion in Malta there’s really only one player in the game. The island is staunchly Catholic with roughly 98% of the people here answering, effectively, to Rome and the Pope. Now, you don’t have to be a genius to figure out that if nearly everyone is Christian then they’re going to need lots of churches. READ MORE

You’ll find several things on Malta that are left over from its time as a colony of the British Empire. The language for one - because mercifully everyone speaks English – and that a good thing because Maltese (with its silent ‘Q’s is a nightmare). There’s also football , which was brought here by the English military, as was...READ MORE

By definition, everyone who lands in Malta from overseas is ‘a tourist’! But this ‘one size fits all’ description covers a whole range of people from the ‘never leave the hotel and sit by the pool all day’ package variety to those who want to fully immerse themselves in the culture and discover things that are uniquely...READ MORE

Some places just ooze charm and class! It seems to drip from the buildings and cover the streets. They tend to be places where man, the species, has not gone blundering in, smashed things about and added lots of charmless concrete and steel boxes. They're ancient places that still appear ancient today. Places like Mdina! READ MORE

At 101 HQ, we’re great fans of Mdina . In fact we are so convinced that this historic and beautiful city will be a hit with tourists who visit that we have written not one but two separate articles recommending you go. The first sings its praises in the hours of daylight, while this one is much darker! READ MORE

Take a unique and prestigious piece of Maltese handmade craftsmanship back home with you and see a free, live glassblowing demonstration at the Mdina Glass workshop at Ta’ Qali Crafts Village. Established in 1968, Mdina Glass is The Original Glass of Malta.  READ MORE

It’s one of those age-old questions that, appropriately in this case, often gets asked during a drinking session in a pub: “When and where would you like to die?” We don’t know if anyone ever asked the notorious hell-raiser Oliver Reed but we’re guessing he would have opted for: “During a drinking session in a pub!” READ MORE

Most people enjoy a day by the sea. But there is also a fairly large percentage of people who have serious issues with sand – or, more specifically, its annoying habit of lodging in every nook and cranny of your body and grating away until you are red raw! This is where Malta scores heavily because most of the shoreline here is a totally sand-free zone! READ MORE

Hotter than the bottom of a boiling vindaloo curry pan and dryer than a sachet of silicia gel, in a camera bag, in a tumble dryer, in a Saharan laundrette – that’s the way the weather is in a typical Maltese summer. That being the case, rolling lawns, ponds, fountains and blooming flowerbeds are not common but they do exist if you know where to look...READ MORE

There are some of us who hated sandy beaches as a child! Not the digging sandcastles and swimming in the sea but the process of getting off them and back to the car or hotel etc - that’s the issue here. All that chafing, grating and abrasion in some very personal places – and it goes on for days – weeks sometimes! READ MORE

Though small, Malta still has something for everyone and somewhere to go for everything ... it’s just a case of knowing what you want to do and then where to go to find it. For history and sightseeing, for example, you head for Valletta or the former capital, Mdina . For peace and tranquillity, it’s Gozo . And to mix with the in-crowd, you hit...READ MORE

Tourists have a well-earned reputation for shunning the century-old traditional crafts when on a Mediterranean holiday and snapping up some unbelievably crass tat as a memento of their trip. The Ta’ Qali Craft Village is hell bent on ending that trend when it comes to visitors.  READ MORE

Three Cities! Now this one will confuse you! For a start, you’re probably looking at the title of this article and thinking ‘Three Cities! That’s a bit non-committal isn’t it?’  READ MORE

Valletta! What can you say? Beautiful Valletta, with its golden stone buildings, vast harbour, fine cafés and bars, compact shopping centre, historic buildings and tourist attractions. It has to be a must-see for any visitor to Malta. But this city is so much more than all the above and its majesty represents something much deeper than most people who...READ MORE

More than 20-plus years ago (when I first went) Valletta was a city crying out for facilities that really took advantage of the view. Sure, there were plenty of excellent cafés and bars but these were in the middle of town. If only someone would build a development on the side of the Grand Harbour – on the Valletta Waterfront.  READ MORE

Some countries have fiestas, many have festivals and still more have carnivals - but Malta has festas! They’re similar to all of the above in some respects and yet utterly different and uniquely Maltese in others. The only way you’ll ever really find out is by attending one yourself. READ MORE

The towns and villages of Malta and Gozo are replete with all kinds of clubs. You have the inevitable two rival political clubs - red vs blue - in almost every prominent public square. READ MORE