4 Days in Malta - Valletta, Mdina, Rabat, Gozo & More!

This time last week we had just arrived in beautiful, sunny Malta. My in laws had kindly offered to look after the boys so Adam and I could go and celebrate our anniversary of being together 20 years (we met at school when we were 14) and have some quality time together and honestly, the whole trip felt like we were on our honeymoon, it was absolutely amazing! 

This was the second time we've been away together on holiday since having the boys - we'd been to Dubrovnik in Croatia for 4 days in 2018 to celebrate our 30th birthdays and we always talk about how special and incredible it was, in fact so much so, that we wondered if we'd really be able to top it! But Malta was definitely on par and we've come home from Malta with THE MOST incredible memories!

The Embassy Valletta Hotel

We stayed at The Embassy Valletta Hotel for our trip after finding it online and being completely wow'ed by the stunning views and rooftop pool. Adam and I love a modern, hotel with a wow factor and since these sorts of holidays don't happen often, we like to treat ourselves and it honestly was such a treat.

On arrival, the views blew us away as did the hotel room which was so modern, spacious and clean. I honestly think The Embassy Valletta Hotel offers the best views of Valletta, especially so at night when it's dark and the city is lit up. We spent one of our afternoons on the sun loungers at the rooftop pool overlooking the views, sipping on a cocktail and it really felt like a total dream!

We were given Prosecco on arrival at check-in and we found the staff to be super helpful and friendly throughout our stay. The cocktails were amazing and there was plenty of choice. The only criticisms that we had was that the room we were initially given was overlooking the street and it was incredibly noisy at night in to the early hours of the morning, so much so that we had to move rooms. But there was no issue moving and reception were very quick to get it sorted. And the other thing was that we'd booked directly and told we'd receive a free cocktail for doing so, but we were given a voucher for a non-alcoholic cocktail on arrival and reception wouldn't change it. The staff at the bar however were much more understanding and said they would make us a cocktail free of charge. But other than that, the hotel was AMAZING and I'd definitely recommend it! 

Valletta

Valletta is the capital of Malta and it has so much charm and so many places to visit! We absolutely loved just wandering the streets and taking different turns and discovering new places we hadn't seen before. I love how old and quaint the streets feel but also how picturesque they are too. I really enjoyed sitting out in the sunshine in the streets having a drink / lunch / dinner and we found some lovely places that I'm so glad we visited. 

One of my most favourite places in Valletta for dinner was San Paolo Naufrago which is an Italian restaurant with outside seating along the steps. The setting is absolutely beautiful and there are fairy lights all above you which in the evening is so romantic and pretty! The food was so tasty (as was the wine!), we had bruschetta for starts and cannelloni for our main and the portion sizes were fantastic! It's very popular so I'm glad that we booked early and actually managed to get a table.

A visit to Upper and Lower Barrakka Gardens is a must - they are both SUPER picturesque and pretty. It was nice to just sit and a have a drink and soak in being there at Upper Barrakka Gardens. If you visit, there's a lift between both places so you can avoid the long uphill walk. The lift costs a euro or so. 

Another place we had an includible meal at was Naan Bar, an Indian restaurant. The food was out of this world and we felt so well catered for as vegetarians. In fact, I'd say throughout Malta we had plenty of good options as vegetarians! 

Mdina & Rabat 

Mdina used to be the capital of Malta a long time ago, but is now known as the silent city. It was used a filming locations for some of the Game of Thrones scenes which we loved as we are fans of the show. It's absolutely beautiful and we really enjoyed the 'walled city' feel to Mdina. 

There are incredible views from Fontanella Tea Garden, where we sat and had a cocktail overlooking the stunning views. 

And our favourite place for dinner was Coogi's restaurant, where we had the most flavoursome ravioli and mushroom pasta and the nicest bottle of wine. I absolutely love that they have their own resident cat that lives there too - a ginger cat named Taco! 

Rabat was also worth visiting and is only a 10 minutes walk or so from Mdina. We actually went to Rabat first on the bus from Valletta. We stopped at a lovely cafe called CHALK and had a vegan sandwich, a beer and an Aperol Spritz. We managed to get a seat on the balcony and it was such a lovely spot! 

After that we visited St Paul's Catacombs, which was really interesting! I can't believe how long the catacombs are, they go on for miles and miles! It was utterly fascinating! 

Gozo

We actually missed the last ferry to Gozo by 1 minute on the day that we decided to go to the island. Our bus pulled up just as it set off!! So we took a bus from Valletta all the way to the north of the island where there were more ferries going to Gozo. In hindsight, we should have planned our day better and made sure to get on the ferry from Valletta because the bus took 2 hours and was jam packed! But we finally arrived and got the ferry across to Gozo. In Gozo we took a BOLT taxi to Victoria as we'd had enough of buses by then and we went and got a pizza to share and a drink. After that we went to explore the Citadel which was so worth a visit as it was full of history and the views from the top were beautiful. It was also free to look around. 

We had planed on doing a boat trip around the islands and hoping to see the Blue Lagoon, but we ran out of time quickly and only had an hour before our ferry back to Valletta. However, one of the men running the boat trips very kindly said he'd take us to see the blue lagoon, drop the other people on the boat off as planned and then turn round and bring us back so we'd catch our ferry on time. 

It was the closest we'd get to a boat trip and seeing the Blue Lagoon so we went for it and I'm really glad we did. The water at the Blue Lagoon was the bluest I've ever seen, it was so lovely! Plus we got the entire boat to ourselves on the way back which gave us the perfect opportunity to take a photo of the beautiful eternity ring that Adam gave to me whilst we were in Malta to celebrate 20 years together and 10 years married. I absolutely LOVE the ring, the symbolism behind it, the fact that it has a sapphire on (which is my birthstone) and the fact that he gave it to me in Malta where we had made such wonderful memories. 

I can't quite sum up without making this blog post longer and longer what an incredible trip we had and how special it was! Malta definitely has a piece of our heart now and is a holiday we will talk about and remember forever more. 

You can watch our Malta video here:

Thank you for reading. 

  Alex xo