Valletta, Malta port

My dh and I are going to be on Celebrity Equinox and stopping at Valletta, Malta on Oct 12. Does anyone have any great private companies or tours that they would recommend? I see there are only a couple of tours being offered through Celebrity. I am interested in the Blue Grotto tour but curious if there is something else that is better. Thanks :o

My dh and I are going to be on Celebrity Equinox and stopping at Valletta, Malta on Oct 12. Does anyone have any great private companies or tours that they would recommend? I see there are only a couple of tours being offered through Celebrity. I am interested in the Blue Grotto tour but curious if there is something else that is better. Thanks :o

We sailed the Equinox last Sept and stopped in Malta.

Loved, loved, loved it!

We decided to do a DIY day there after so many long excursions.

We got off the ship, walked to the right and took the lift to Upper Barakka Gardens. Cost was $1 euro pp.

After walking around, we headed over to St John's Co-Cathedral and marveled at the beauty and history of the church which features Caravaggio's beheading of St John. When you lay your admission, you are given a headset which explains everything inside the church and the history of the Knights of Malta, Afterwards, we got a gelato, shopped at the numerous stands that sold very affordable jewelry and souveniers, walked and took in the buildings still scarred from the unrelenting bombing from WWII and thoroughly enjoyed our day.

Please be sure to get up early that day as you sail into the harbor. It's a sight to behold.

Did you know that it is considered the most bombed country on earth? In addition to the Maltese flag, they fly the King's George Flag. An honor bestowed on them from Great Britain for their bravery during the war.

Have a wonderful time and enjoy Equinox. My favorite ship to date.

This was our guide for our day on Malta last fall….. WOW

http://www.maltatourguide.com/malta_private_tours

What a day !!!! Joan was amazing. Full of info on everything we saw. Very personable and easy to converse with.

She even had our driver stop and she ran down the street to get us a Maltese treat !!!! They were wonderful with my MIL who is not real mobile had a travel wheelchair.

I would use Joan again in a heartbeat and can recommend her with reservation!

Enjoy Malta - it was much better than I expected …..

Thanks to both of you for the great info!

We did a ship tour of the segway along Dingli Cliffs and I blogged about it. Not sure if you will find this information helpful, but here is how that tour went. Hope it helps! Karen

http://oslertravel.blogspot.com/2014/08/day-5-malta.html

We got off the ship and there was a open top tour bus at the dock. We did the hop on hop off tour as well as the included boat tour of the harbour. Both were very good. That was two years ago this fall.

We liked Malta so much that we are going back next month for a 10 day independent stay as part of an extended land trip.

The arrival in and the sail away at night was gorgeous, wasn't it? I felt like I really didn't get much history about it (but the segways were great, especially if you had teens. ) I'm looking forward to a return visit as well!

Karen

Malta is indeed a fascinating island. There are a lot of prehistoric remains there, including the famous underground burial site, the Hypogeum, which is a World Heritage site. You need to book well in advance for this, as numbers are limited.

To clarify what celebrity said in her informative post, the award given to the people of Malta was the George Cross medal. The actual medal and the letter from King George VI can be seen in the Fort Elmo War museum in Valetta. The red and white Maltese flag has the design of the medal woven into a corner.

Thanks so much everybody! I've written done lots of tips and info:o

Don't get the ship tours they are a rip off. On our ship HAL they charged $60pp just to take you to Mdina and pick you up 4 hours later.

We were going to get a taxi to Mdina (4 of us) but were met by a tour guide as we exited the port (there are taxi's lined up). We told her where we wanted to go.

For 60Euro you get a taxi for 3 hours. We were very pleased with our driver (Luciano) and had the most amazing day.

He did explain that it wasn't a tour but he would tell us about things he knew. We went to a beautiful park the to the Mosta Rotunda. From there he took us to Mdina where we walked around at our leisure. You could spend many hours here.

We then went to Rabat. There are catacombs there but we didn't go in as time was limited. He dropped us off at the Upper Barrack Gardens then we walked around Valletta. We then got the lift down and walked back to the ship.

We had a fantastic day. The only thing I'd change is to make the day longer. Th taxi drivers should be happy to extend the day.

There was one complaint about this trip bu someon on this forum. They said their driver didn't have good English despite them asking for someone with English.

But at 15Euros each that was cheap. We tipped our driver well as we though we got a very good deal.

BTW - the St John co-cathedral in Valletta is AMAZING. Don't forget to get the free headset as you go in.

Iancal could you please tell me what city you stayed at while in Malta this Sept? We didn't get to see Valletta because it was Sunday but I heard Mdina is very beautiful and ancient. My dh and I are thinking of going back there as well.

Thanks.

Iancal could you please tell me what city you stayed at while in Malta this Sept? We didn't get to see Valletta because it was Sunday but I heard Mdina is very beautiful and ancient. My dh and I are thinking of going back there as well.

Thanks.

We stayed at the Victoria Hotel in Sliema, Malta. Not far from the bus stop going in both directions. Did a bus tour to the other island booked through the hotel, it was a nice day trip. I found the hotel to be very nice, and we walked along the water around the bay and ate dinner over there on a few occasions. Breakfast buffet was okay, a big mix of British items and continental offerings.

I was really happy with the hotel, the room was larger than I had expected. I believe we booked a package deal -- flight/hotel and I got to choose the hotel, we paid extra for the airport transfer though.

I enjoyed my week in Malta immensely, we took the busses everywhere! Its a great public transportation system. Go into Valetta and from there you can go to any point on the island.

On another thread, I wrote about the Lacaris War Museum. Near the gardens in Valetta. Very good tour if you have interest in WWII history.