There are many islands to visit in Malta and it's a great destination to enjoy the Mediterranean winter sun. Here is an overview of how to spend two and a half days in Malta during the winter season.
Base location: St Julian’s (seaside town)
Hotel: Mercure Hotel St Julian’s
Transportation: Bus or taxi’s (Bolt)
Day 1: Valletta (capital city)
Spend the day in The Walled city of Valletta.
Getting there from St Julian’s: Take the bus 13, 14, 15, 16 or TD13 from bus stop Ross in St Julian's to Valletta bus terminal. It's one straight bus, and about 30 minutes.
Starting at the bus terminal, walk towards Triton’s fountain and into Republic street, the main shopping street in Valletta.
Stop 1: Take a picture on the steps of Parliament House.
Stop 2: Further down, you will find St John's Co-Cathedral. It costs €15 to enter, so unless you want to pay entry, you can skip this.
Stop 3: Visit the Malta 5D experience for a quick and interactive overview of Malta’s history.
OR Hop on the Malta Fun Trains for a tour of Valletta.
Stop 4: Stop at Melita street at Morels cafe for a glass of freshly squeezed orange and carrot juice. After this, you can stop at the Chocolate District cafe if interested.
Stop 5: Head to St Paul's Pro-Cathedral - next to it, you will find a stunning blue door and red phone booth for photos.
Stop 6: By 4pm, walk to the Upper Barrakka Garden to watch the Saluting Battery and view the gardens. A great photo opportunity here and you can catch the sunset.
Stop 7: Once you're done, walk back down to Pastaus for delicious freshly made pasta.
To end the evening you can go to The Valletta waterfront, but when I visited, it was empty and everything was closed except for The Hard Rock Cafe and a Starbucks. Otherwise, you can use the rest of your evening to wander the shopping street and purchase souvenirs before heading back to the main Valletta bus terminal.
Day 2: Mdina (fortified city)
Also known as The Silent city, this is where Game of Thrones was filmed.
Getting to Mdina from St Julian's: Take the bus 202 towards Rabat - it takes you all the way there. The journey is almost 1 hour, so try and get a seat if you can. The last stop will be where you get off.
Walk into Mdina and explore:
The Mdina Gate
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Catacombs
The Knights of Malta Experience
The Mdina Experience
The Malta Dungeons
Grab a glass of Maltese wine at one of the cafes
Day 3: St Julians (seaside town) and Sliema (resort town)
St Julians is a modern seaside town that is very close to Sliema.
In St Julian’s you can visit:
Bay Street Shopping complex
Spinola Bay for photos
The Love statue for photos
In Sliema you can:
Walk along the Sliema Promenade
Then head to The Point Shopping Mall
Visit Tinge Point for an iconic photo of Malta
Grab a coffee at a caffè near Tigne Point
Taking the bus in Malta
You can buy a bus card from some ticket machines next to bus stops. There are different day, pay as you go and weekly travel options available, starting from €6 to €15 and so on.
If you don't want a bus card, you can simply pay for transportation on the bus. It's €1.50 per journey in winter and €2 in the summer. You can also pay by card. But have some spare change just in case.
Arriving at Malta International Airport (Luqa)
Don’t worry about taking public transportation. Just book a taxi at the airport, you will see signs for the taxi bay area. It costs €25 and takes about 20 mins to get to St Julian's.
Further information about Malta
Malta is a nice choice for solo female travel.
English is spoken everywhere in Malta.
Malta is cheaper than other European destinations.
Card payments are accepted everywhere in Malta.
Malta is multicultural. You will find people from all nationalities there.
The Maltese people are friendly.
The weather in Malta is about 17 degrees in December. Wear layers. It's like spring in the day, then gets cooler towards the evening around 5pm.
Luqa airport is small but there is a decent duty free and you'll be able to purchase something to eat.
The buses in Malta aren't always on schedule and Google maps doesn't always show the full timetable. So wait for the correct bus number, it may pop up out of nowhere! Also, people don't queue for the bus, so try and get a spot if you can. The driver will drive past stops if the bus is too full.
Malta plug type: the same as the UK.
View my suggested outfit for Malta in December below:
