As the first stop of my trip I’d like to share a few good tips to anyone who decides to visit Malta or decides to stay on the island for longer. I try to exclude the emotional roller coaster and focus on the facts.
After spending here 3 months I can say that this place is very easy to get to like. From March till October it offers the best day and nightlife crammed with gigs, music festivals, local festivals and so on. Regular bands/Dj-s on the island are: David Guetta, Deadmau5, Snoop Dogg, Too many DJ-s, but the metal lovers can find plenty of local, Italian or English bands too on the rock.
When it comes to Malta, most of the people think of PaceVille, the most popular area among teenagers where the parties end with the sunrise (or even with the next sunset). Once you visited the area a few times most probably you will try to avoid it. For alternative music fans I can recommend a fantastic little place in Balluta bay called Muddy Waters. Don’t judge by the size! It’s probably similar to the size of your loo, but with friendly people, great DJ (sometimes live bands), cheap booze. Perfect place to end the night. Here is a bit of a taster:
Eating out:
You have a wide choice of restaurants with Mediterranean cuisine..fusion of Italian, Maltese. The national food in Malta is the rabbit stew. Why? I don’t know..I haven’t seen a single rabbit hopping around on the streets…anyway..this is something that you can die without bad conscious for not having it.
Personally my favourite restaurants are:
Gochi- fab sushi place, nothing fancy but apparently the best sushi on the island..try their noodle soup! It’s on the way to Paceville just after Spinola Bay. Service is a bit slow.
Vecchia Napoli– an excellent Italian restaurant..pizza and calzone is the speciality, but try their calamari soup as well. Again, the service is slow also here. It’s just after Balluta bay. Saying that, almost next to it there is the best ice cream place in the island.
Peperoncino– recommended by Tripadvisor. Superb food, excellent service. Price is in line with all these but overall good value.
The good thing about Malta is that you can explore Italy (Sicily is only 50 miles and 2.5 hours away with the Catamaran ) and the sister island: Gozo and Comino.
Renting an apartment is fairly cheap (compared to London at least), you can get a 3 bedroom apartment with the sea view for 900-1000 euros. Be prepared that due to the humidity, flats get really cold during winter with expensive aircon heating. (you’re better off getting a gas heater and humidity extractor) Mold is a common ‘friend’ of people in the flats, especially in penthouses.
Clothes shopping is not great..expensive and bad quality.
Be aware of Maltese drivers..I caused myself an accident as a pedestrian just by crossing the zebra. YOU NEED TO MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH THE DRIVERS.
I met some extraordinary people here during the roller coaster ride that i will not forget.
Take care and keep in touch!
alizroundtheworld 