Malta? I’ll be back
Miranda Seymour reveals why fans of this magical Mediterranean island keep returning every year
Awish to return is the best compliment a tourist can offer. Asking friends about Malta, I discovered they’d all become regular visitors to this tiny, beautiful and heroic island perched south of Sicily at the centre of the ancient trade routes of the Mediterranean.
One of the island’s fondest fans is a former British pilot who first arrived there during the Second World War, when Malta – a British naval base won the George Cross for bravery. Chums joke he’s still looking for the leg he lost in Valletta’s Grand Harbour.
He just says he loves the place. So does Meghan Markle, who came here in 2015 to check out her Maltese ancestry and found herself wanting to stay.
A three and a half-hour flight from Ireland, Malta features year-round sunshine, delicious food and an amazing history, dating back 3,600 years.That’s a whole thousand years before the first pyramid. Bombed to smithereens during the Second World War, the capital Valletta has finally been restored to picture-perfect glory, ready for its reign as this year’s European City of Culture.
Elegant old townhouses have been converted into boutique hotels. We stayed at Ursulino, where a roof terrace offers views across the enormous harbour to the ancient city of Birgu.
Ferried over in a gondola at dusk on our first evening, we joined crowds exploring Birgu’s narrow streets by candlelight. All electricity is turned off for this one night in the October Festival when house-owners open their doors, musicians rove the streets and actors stage impromptu plays.
It was like stepping back in time to when the Knights of St John took refuge here. Exiled from Rhodes, Birgu was where they first built their lavish palaces during the three centuries they governed the island, defending it from naval attack by the Turks in the Great Siege of 1565, a battle you can safely relive onscreen as part of the well-designed Malta Experience.
There’s no escaping Malta’s heroic past. Every day, cannons fire a salute across the harbour to honour the Knights. One of the world’s biggest and most comprehensive armouries, spreading out along a vast corridor of the Grandmaster’s Palace in Valletta, displays an aweinspiring array of weapons from that famous siege.
Any visit to Malta should include a trip to the ancient city of Mdina, the backdrop to movies such as Gladiator and Troy, and TV’s Game Of Thrones. Visiting film stars love to wallow in the laid-back luxury of Mdina’s sumptuous Xara Palace Hotel.
Take time to enjoy the lovely views over the Mediterranean from the towering Dingli Cliffs. The little fishing harbour of Marsaxlokk – be thankful all the islanders speak flawless English – boasts a cheerful outdoor market where you can buy lace, silver earrings, salted capers (don’t) and even a fresh tuna head, neatly severed for you by a fisherman’s wife.
The side trips add colour and fun. But Valletta is where you’ll want to idle time away, strolling down caféfilled streets while you discover more about Malta’s amazing past.
Restaurants played a large role in our five-day visit. My favourites were the outdoor cafe-style eating places centred around one of the two main streets that run the entire hilly length of Valletta. There was plenty of time to sit and watch the world go by, including the unforgettable spectacle of four Segwaymounted policemen coolly rolling past as the advance guard for their president’s black Daimler.If you want to be sure of a welcome abroad, look no further. Not only are the locals welcoming, there’s a huge Irish diaspora there and many of them are married to locals. And they have massive celebrations for St Patrick’s Day too.