Travel and Flight to Malta
Thursday, January 1st:
Trip report from the island of Malta in January. Our 6-day trip starts in Basel on New Year's Day right after a New Year's Eve party. We get picked up by a shuttle bus and head straight to the airport. After just 2.5 hours of flight time, we arrive slightly hungover on New Year's morning around 9:00 am at our destination Malta. We are greeted by pleasant temperatures and historically rich ground... and thankfully a cold Coke at the airport.
Along the Promenade from Sliema via St. Julians to Paceville
After arriving in Malta, we check into our Hotel Windsor and stow our luggage. We take a quick nap, then pull ourselves together and stroll leisurely along the promenade through Sliema via St. Julians to Paceville, enjoying the magnificent view of the sea. The walk takes us a relaxed 2 hours.
On the way back, we stop at a snack bar on the promenade and are pleasantly surprised by how delicious the food is.
We are fascinated by the beautiful, partly very old houses lining the streets and the vintage buses, most of which date back to the 1960s. They were originally banished from England. No one could have predicted that in this island climate they would prove virtually indestructible, continuing to serve faithfully as vintage classics.
A Walking Tour Through Valletta - Malta's Capital
Friday, January 2nd:
We take a 1960s bus to Valletta, the capital of Malta. Unfortunately, the old buses in Malta have since been retired for environmental reasons.
We walk down the main street and visit St. John's Co-Cathedral and the Grandmaster's Palace (Palace Armoury).
Around 4:00 pm, we want to visit Fort Elmo, which is already closed. In fact, pretty much everything closes around that time. So it's advisable to start early enough.
We decide to take a horse-drawn carriage ride around the city for EUR 30 and have most of the attractions shown to us.
At the small harbour, we hop on the water taxi (sponsored by Lowenbrau) and take a ride directly to Sliema, where we let ourselves be tempted into some shopping.
