what date are you going? Helen T is going to Malta for a week so if she gets back before you go I'm sure she'll have lots of info for you, including what the weather's like. I think she goes around the 5th April.

We're going on 11th April for a week, so most likely she'll still be there. I'll look forward to looking at her updates and sharing my own when we get back though !
I've just been looking at Trip Advisor, and pleased to say there is plenty of info on there as well. X

Hi suncatcher - we get back on the 12th, so not quite in time to give you any info. I was hoping that the weather would be warmer than what it is though

Hi

We go to Malta every February to catch up with my parents while they are there on holiday.

We always stay in Qawra/Bugibba area and have returned recently from the Soreda Hotel which is a couple of streets back from the seafront at Qawra.

I don't know what it is about Malta but I can never get my bearings on the direction I'm travelling and even though they drive on the same side of the road there as they do in UK and here in Cyprus, it's totally put me off hiring a car. Saying that, the bus service from Bugibba bus station (10 minutes walk from Qawra) is superb. You can buy a day return ticket for 2.60EUR per person and go anywhere on the island for that.

I can thoroughly recommend taking the Two Harbours boat cruise from Sliema seafront - not the Captain Morgan boat. Take one of the small brightly coloured Latini boats instead. They can get into parts the bigger boat cannot access. I've put some footage here on my blog and there's a link on that post to my photos from this February on my Flickr account: http://wp.me/p1uja5-1nz

We travelled to Marsaxlokk on the bus this time and I've put a few bits of info on another thread on here: http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=154517&start=60 (It starts with "Bus to Marsaxlokk from Bugibba/Qawra - update") and there's some more info on posts after that if you follow the thread about the new Arriva bus routes.

We've been going every year now for about 7yrs and haven't had the need to hire a car at all. We always go to Valletta and Sliema by bus, have taken a day excursion to Gozo (we paid 10 EUR per person for the tour) but you have to pay for your own return ferry crossing which was a little over 4EUR per person but was an excellent day out. Also been to Mdina and Mosta all by bus from Bugibba bus station.

The only difference now is the routes aren't quite the same. Before, we could take a bus to Sliema and then catch the bus at the same place we got off to come back. Now, the bus travels on to Valletta so it's a bigger bus and the stop is on the opposite side of the road.

Shell
Limassol, Cyprus

Thanks so much shell for taking the time to post such a detailed and helpful reply. The information about the buses is particularly helpful and we've decided that we are going to use public transport to get around the island rather than hire a car.
The trip you mentioned from silema seafront sounds great and just the sort of thing we would like to do when we're there. Thanks for that. We will check it out when we get there.
I'll take a look at the other threads you've linked to as well. looking forward to reading them and planning what we're going to do while we are there.
One other thing, we would like to eat out a couple of times for dinner,. We usually do this when we are going all inclusive anyway, but it will be my birthday while we're there, so i would like to eat out somewhere a bit special. I like most foods, but really love italian and Seafood. Is there anywhere you could recommend. doesn't have to be in Qawra, as long as we can take a bus/taxi to get there and back

Thanks again.

Hi Helen. Yes we are hoping for some warm weather too. Dont expect it to be boiling but low to mid 20's would be great

suncatcher

Unfortunately, I can't really help you with restaurants as we've always gone on half board basis and stayed at the same hotel as my parents so we could spend some quality time with them, which meant eating dinner with them each evening.

There is a restaurant at the top of the street where Trollees supermarket is but I forget the name. It's on a corner and the entrance is on the side with the bar being on the front. I think it's near the Mavina Apts and has a good name but we've never eaten there.

We did want to try the Mongolian BarBQ which was on the seafront but it closed down before we got the chance. We've been to the Mongolian in Manchester and also in Bergen, Norway and thoroughly enjoyed both so it was a sad day for us....

I'm sure there will be some other members who can help with this one!

Shell
Limassol, Cyprus

We got back yesterday, and thoroughly enjoyed our week in Malta.We will definitely be going back . I'm going to post a hotel review in the next few days. Catching up with up with my holiday unpacking and washing at the moment