Malta

Strategic geographic location at the center of the Mediterranean has given the Maltese Islands a long history and greater importance than their diminutive size. The three islands are home to the oldest buildings on earth, and more historical remains per square mile than anywhere else on earth. Small size, good tourist infrastructure, and English proficiency (English is a co-official language) make independent touring easy. In the main island Malta, history dominates any itinerary, although the island offers other add-ons: good restaurants that cook eclectic Mediterranean fusion, a clutch of beaches, the best scuba diving to be had in the ...

Strategic geographic location at the center of the Mediterranean has given the Maltese Islands a long history and greater importance than their diminutive size. The three islands are home to the oldest buildings on earth, and more historical remains per square mile than anywhere else on earth. Small size, good tourist infrastructure, and English proficiency (English is a co-official language) make independent touring easy. In the main island Malta, history dominates any itinerary, although the island offers other add-ons: good restaurants that cook eclectic Mediterranean fusion, a clutch of beaches, the best scuba diving to be had in the Mediterranean, and summertime festivals associated with celebrations of Catholic parish saints. Valletta, the small capital city and a World Heritage Site, is the crowning achievement of the Knights of St. John, a fortified baroque town that’s full of palaces, churches, and museums. Gozo, the second largest island, has a different character altogether – it retains a rural ethos, and it has small towns with grand baroque churches that are spread across the island’s undulating rural landscape, as well as a spectacular coastal landscape of cliffs and a few sandy beaches. Comino, the third island, is a small barren isle home to just four inhabitants.

About the Expert

Victor Borg has authored whole guidebooks to Malta and Gozo for Time Out and Rough Guides, and has contributed to other guidebooks on Libya and China, where he lives.