travel

Travel to and within Malta can either be great fun or a nightmare - it is really a matter of how you think about it. Below we give you some basic information but to get more use the links on this page or the column to the left.

air

The flight from the UK takes about 4 hours and costs from £35 to £350 depending upon the time of year, airline and level of comfort that you choose. The four scheduled carriers at present flying into Malta International Airport at Luqa (pronounced loo-er) are Air Malta, British Airways, Easy Jet and Ryan Air.

Air Malta offer the greatest choice of UK ports of embarkation including Heathrow and Gatwick. British Airways only fly once per day from Gatwick, Easy Jet also fly from Gatwick and also Manchester and Ryan Air have a service from Luton and also from Dublin.

When you get to the airport you can be picked up by Freddy who will deliver you to the door (see the paragraph called "car" below).

drive

It is possible to drive out to Malta from the UK and we have done it. It takes three days, with or without a boat on a trailer behind, and is not as bad it may sound. It is however financially justified if you have two or more people in the car and intend to use the car on the island for a month or more. The ferry from Sicily to Malta is a fast catamaran which runs daily from Pozzalo under the flag of Virtu Ferries.

on the island

To get around on and about the island you have a number of choices:

your legs

These underused appendages will come into their own in Zejtun, the other towns and countryside. Our part of town is made up of very narrow lanes so even if not traffic free it is certainly traffic slow. You are able to get everything you need to survive by walking to fetch it whether it be bread from the bakers or the paper from the "Fantasy Man". There are many tracks and footpaths throughout the island but beware of the hunters. For more information on walking through the islands visit the site of the Maltese Ramblers.

bicycle

Not brilliant cycling territory but nevertheless there are a couple of bikes you could use to get around that little bit faster. This is the form of transport that we use in the cooler "shoulder" months.

buses

These are the staple form of transport for longer distance travel throughout the island. At 25c per trip they are well used, interesting and safe enough to pack the kids off to Valetta on.

car

A car will give you greater flexibility to visit places. We use a local garage owned by Freddy to rent a car at the rate of LM7 per day (£11) per day. His cars are basic, you can forget power steering for a start, but at £11 per day and a fantastic service who cares?

boat

There are some great trips around the island with the tour boats or if you are a confident sailor we have a Cornish Shrimper which could be made available for some of the best sailing in Europe.