Booking a flight and hotel in Malta is easy. Direct flights run from Cork to Malta regularly, as do flights from Dublin to Malta. The currency is the Euro. Transport from the airport is easy, cheap and direct and the time difference is just one hour (GMT-1). Maltese and English are spoken almost interchangeably on the island, so you will have no problem making yourself understood.
When Is The Best Time For City Breaks To Malta?
Happily the climate in Malta is superb throughout the year. The only problem is overheating in the summer when temperatures reach around thirty degrees. January is the coldest month but there is little rainfall at any time of the year. For walking holidays the cooler months are ideal, though November and December get the most rain. Christmas is a dazzling time to visit Malta, with warm temperatures reflected in the ambiance of festivities on the island.
What Is There To Do On Package Holidays In Malta?
Straightforward sun, sea and swimming holidays are perfectly possible in Malta. Boat excursions to the islets scattered throughout the archipelago can be teamed with kitesurfing and snorkelling amidst shipwrecks and underwater caves. The aptly titled Blue Lagoon is the epicentre of water sports on the island.
Back on land you can explore the historic streets of Valletta, described by UNESCO as one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world. This tiny one kilometre square site is imbued with 16th century grandeur. It was also European Capital of Culture in 2018 thanks to its opera house, new museums and restored fortresses. There's plenty to discover when you take a city break in Malta.
What Is There To See On Package Holidays In Malta?
The blue bays of its coastline are not the only sight you can see in Malta, which has been inhabited since well before Christ. Here are just a few of the island's most popular attractions:
Wonder at the 5000 year old necropolis, Hal Saflieni Hypogeum. Discovered just a hundred years ago, the underground site is a spectacular and mysterious world. Hewn crisply from the rock, the chambers and passages of Malta's necropolis date from around 3000 years before Christ and house around seven thousand bodies. Follow up your visit with a trip to see the Yypogeum's Sleeping Lady at the National Museum of Archaeology.
Marvel at the prehistoric sculptures of mammoths and women that are housed in Malta's museums. Ghar Dalam Cave and Museum, for instance, is packed full of ancient fossils belonging to hippopotamuses, dwarf elephants and other creatures and date from almost 8000 years ago. If ancient artefacts are your thing, don't miss out on the megalithic Ggantija Temples, which crown Malta's hills and stand six metres high.
Don't miss sights like Fort St Angelo, a Medieval fort in historic Vittoriosa which combines splendid views of the harbour with fascinating interactive exhibits. Vittoriosa's Inquisitors Place was a tribunal and prison used in the Inquisition You can still see the prisoners' carvings etched on the cell walls.
Meals Out In Malta
Weekends in Malta rightly centre around the cuisine as much as the ancient architecture. Fresh fish and flavours imported from Sicily and the East meld in many dishes. Dig into Bragoli olives, Kapunata (a ratatouille-like soup) and gbenjniet, a soup flavoured with sheep's cheese. Sunday mornings spent at the Marsaxlokk fish market are complimented perfectly with a bowl of steaming aljotta fish soup. Sweet toothed visitors enjoy kannoi, a fried pastry filled with ricotta. Maltese wines remain among the most distinctive in the world, attracting numerous accolades. Look out for the gellewza and ghirghentina grape varieties.
Mementos From Malta
Turn souvenir shopping into the focal point of your weekend in Malta with a trip to a glass blowing factory. The molten material is blown and shaped before your eyes and you can purchase the products afterwards. Return with bags filled to the brim with delectable nougat in all sorts of flavours. For more permanent mementos, purchase some Maltese filigree jewellery or some of the island's popular Mediterranean-style pottery.