Malta with no car – doable. Malta in three days – doable. But how to combine the fact of having no car and visiting the most important places of Malta just in three days? No worries, everything is possibile.
Public transport
Our journey started with the delayed flight to Luqa, which already shortened our time on the island. The area of Malta is only 316km2 so it would be perfect to be travelled around with a car. However, some people cannot rent the vehicle with four tires even if they have a driving licence. It’s enough not to be 25-26 years old and not to have a credit card. I fulfil both conditions. The circumstances mentioned above forced us to trust the Maltese public transportation. The bus routes grid is well developed and it’s possibile to get to many places. A single ticket will cost us 1,5€, yet it is worth considering buying a week-time card for 21€- we will ‘check in’ after each boarding. When it comes to the public transport timetable, at bottom it doesn’t come at all. Admittedly, yes, at every bus stop we will find described in a detailed way concrete times of shuttling the buses; we can also check them on the Internet; the timetables will be also visible on the big digital boards at the platforms, but so as to, I guess, irritate us. The Maltese buses shuttle according to their own whims and the fact that our bus is supposed to come at 4.10, doesn’t change the fact that it may come at 5.10. Thus, there is no other option but to wait at our bus stop and patiently…wait – for sure something will arrive someday. There are a lot of bus lines, yet to many places it is possibile to get only from Valletta, which involves the additional waiting for the oncoming vehicle of the public transportation. Nevertheless, as not to speak only about the minuses, of course there are many pluses to which we can rate the affability and the willingness of helping of the bus drivers and the fact that, willy-nilly, Malta is relatiely small, and thanks to that the covered distances are also not great. The drivers do not hurry and despite being already late, they will finish smoking their cigarette with calm. So what? You cannot be late twice, can you? Natheless, those gentlemen (and sometimes also ladies) will willingly explain to us how to get to a particular place and will greet us with the smile upon their faces. So how can you anger because of some little delay?
The exact public transport timetable you can find here:
https://www.publictransport.com.mt/
What to eat?
When visiting Malta, for sure you have to try the local meals and treats. We cannot leave this little island, not knowing the flavours of the local delicacies which include mqaret – pastry with daktyl filling; various types of sweet pretzels; sweet kannoli and no-sweet pastizzi which I had the chance to try. These are little croissants made of puff pastry with various kind of fillings inside – we can feel there ricotta cheese, mushrooms, peas. On the way we take also something take-away – timpana – a small bake with pasta inside. We cannot forget about trying the rabbit meals which have a wide appeal. And the most famous drink is kinnie – sparkling beverage of tart- bitter flavour that breaks with tang of sweetness. Personally, I am not a big fan of it – the flavour resembles me the disliked cough mixture that I used to take when I was a child. Although, it has a wide appeal on Malta.
Where to sleep?
The hotel chain on Malta is developed quite well and everyone will find something for themselves without problems. The obvious thing is that the prices of accommodation will be higher in the capital city and during the season, yet there are many places of good standard and relatively low price. It can be found for example in the Bugibba area where we stayed. The accommodation there will cost us around 13€ per person for a night. Everywhere we can come across small cafes and restaurants where for breakfast we will get a delicious cup of coffee with a crossaint or a typical British breakfast with a cup of tea with milk. In addition, to my astonishment, we will get a salad served with crisps. In the Bugibba area there is a bus station, thanks to which we will get to different parts of the island easily. In the lazy afternoon it is also fun to visit the National Aquarium of Malta.
