Is this itinerary realistic?

10 comments

1. dont bother with Jesus tree. its in a middle of a busy road, long walk and without pavement, with cars speeding at aroundm80km/h and frankly not sure if its still there.

   Bus from airport to Rabat is around 1 hour technically, but by the time you factor in bus delays, closed roads, traffic, and random driver breaks, you;re looking more at 2 hours realistically. Better to take a 20minute Uber.

   Sorry didnt bother going beyond day 1.

2. I’m only going to comment on travelling times, if you will be visiting between now-late June expect longer travel times between 6:30-9:00 and a bit of rush between 14:00-15:30, school hours. April 8th to Aptil 20th may be hectic at different times due to secondary school exams (O-levels).

   If the trip to Gozo falls on a public holiday close to the weekend there may be traffic to/from Gozo.

   Otherwise it seems you have set reasonable timeframes.

   Edit: Day 2, 3 Cities: 2 hrs 45 mins may not be enough if you will be visiting places like the Inquisitors’ Palace, Maritime museum and the like.

3. Day 1 is fine,

   Day 2 i would suggest more time in Valletta, 3 hours isn’t really enough, I think you need double this time to visit the places you listed there, and some are just not worth visiting like for example number 22 and 23 on your list. Valletta may not be a big city but its very densely packed with attractions, and i would assume you’d stop for a quick lunch so realistically you have around 2hours walking Valletta.

   To get to 3 cities from Valletta its better to use the ferry service than going by bus, faster, same price, and won’t be stuck in traffic, south area of malta is very densely populated and thus leads to traffic jams which could be annoying since you’re on a new tight schedule. Also 3 hours for 3 cities is not nearly enough in my opinion, doable but you’d be on a tight schedule.

   Day 3 I’m not sure, it kinda makes sense but at the same time i’m not too familiar with the areas, however i would focus more on Zurrieq and Ghar Lapsi instead of Qrendi. Qrendi is just a tiny village, beautiful yes but Zurrieq is where you should be at. The On foot victoria lines seems a little out of place to be honest.

   Day 4, Marsaxlokk is cool, Marsaskala is cool, Zejtun is a bit extra in my opinion.

   Day 5, Gozo, try and go super early, the more time there the better. Azure Window doesn’t exist anymore, Xewkija is a normal residential place with an Industrial Estate, unless im missing something i don’t think you should be going there, same with Ghajnsielem. The must visit place is Tal-Mixta Cave and go there when its still light, you won’t regret it. Victoria is nice too and Ghasri is a very cute old style village with great views. No need for a sleepover, Ferry takes 30 mins to cross from Cirkewwa to Gozo and back so it shouldn’t be too hard to manage the day.

   Day 6 seems fine, I’d add Bugibba and Qawra Aquarium maybe.

   Day 7, see you soon.

   2 Things i would recommend, If you are able to rent a car i would do so atleast for the Gozo day trip, will save you tons of time.

   Do better research of what exactly you want to visit. You mention Valletta but Valletta is not a simple task, every corner has something interesting that you may or may not be interested in, just walking around doesn’t do Valletta justice In my opinion.

4. Looks a bit too intense to my liking.. but it’s just me

5. Skip St Paul’s bay and if the weather is nice you should see Comino and Gozo as well, you can easily fit everything you mentioned in Malta in 7 days its very small and transport is quite good. Ferry fee and schedule is generous and often

6. Jesus tree is now upgraded with led 🙂

7. **Day 1.**

   * Arrival 11.30
   * 🚌 Airport – Rabat (1 h)
   * Scrap the tree (nothing to see and quite dangerous) and go have a look at the St Pauls Cathedral, Palazzo Falson, maybe Mdina dungeons/experience

   **Day 2.**

   Morning

   * 🚌 Rabat – Valetta (43 m)
   * Valetta (3 h)
   * Valletta is packed with historical sites, museums and again check the St Johns Cathedral, Lascaris war rooms, Barrakka gardens, war musuem etc.
   * Lunch

   Afternoon

   * 🚌 Valletta – Isla Bus Terminus (37 m)
   * After having a look in Senglea/Isla consider walking directly to Birgu/Vittoriosa by the sea. You can also try and checkout Fort St Angelo if avilable
   * Senglea to Tarxien is kinda too far to walk it so its better to use eCabs/Bolt/Uber

   **Day 3.**

   * 🚌 Rabat – Dingli (18 m)
   * Include the Hagar Qim temples (temple is older than the pyramids and the stone henge) which are really really close to Blue grotto
   * Again walking to Qrendi will take you a while, consider eCabs/Bolt/Uber
   * Mosta
   * Rotunda

   **Day 4.**

   * Marsaxlokk (consider Ghar Dalam which is a historic site and close by)
   * Marsascala
   * Zejtun

   **Day 5.**

   * Gozo is quite small and very easy to navigate
   * The Azure Window (doesnt exist anymore)

   **Day 6.**

   * I would consider a hop on/hop off bus or a different route into Valletta, pretty sure day isn’t going to be enough

8. In Rabat I would also go to the St. Paul’s or Sant’ Agatha ‘s catacombs.

   Instead of using the bus to go to the three cities you could catch the ferry if it’s in operation.

9. If you have any funds at all, just use a Bolt/eCabs/Uber or even a regular taxi. On trips of under 5km, if you’re paying for two in the bus anyways, you’ll save money by using Bolt for example, compared to the bus, and depending on the amount of busses that won’t stop (if they’re full, and they often are) you’ll end up saving 1-3 hours of time you could spend enjoying the island.

   Especially Bolt is crazy cheap and has superb promos, most of the ones I mentioned have welcome offers for new customers and you’ll end up saving a bunch of money and time if you use all of them

10. I’d recommend bolt taxis or similar to get around quicker than waiting for a bus, they were excellent when I was last there in October