ENG -- Malta - Valletta

The main city of the island, according to the number of tourists it attracts, and, at the same time, the capital of the country, is Valletta. We visited it in the first full day of our holiday in Malta and on Christmas Day. From Sliema, where we had the accommodation, you can easily reach Valletta by bus (No. 13, 13A, 14, 15, 16) or by ferry. Unfortunately, on the first day the wind was heavy, the waves reached the promenade, and the ferry did not work. Because of the wind, the temperature was about 12 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, on Christmas day, at least in the sunny places, it was pleasant to wear only the T-shirt, the temperature even reaching 20 degrees Celsius. We've even seen people in summer clothes on the streets on Christmas day.

Arrived in Valletta we started walking down the narrow streets with old buildings but with balconies and colorful doors.

The first touristic objective we visited was the Grand Master's Palace. The ticket costs 10 euros and includes visits to the State Rooms and to the Palace Armoury. A portable audio guide with over 100 points of interests is included in the ticket price.

The inner courtyard of the palace with oranges

Inside the palace

A group of Maltese knights

Then we walked down the main street of the tourist area of the city to Upper Barrakka Gardens, a place at a considerable height above sea level where you can enjoy a spectacular view over the Mediterranean Sea, a part of Valletta, but also of neighboring cities: Vittoriosa, Senglea and Conspicua, also known as 3 Cities.

From Barrakka's upper gardens, below the promenade, every day at 12.00 and 16.00, you can watch a cannons show.

From there you can use the panoramic elevator to go down to the harbor where you can take a walk to the Valletta Waterfront, a promenade with shops and restaurants. Going down with the elevator is free, but for going up you have to pay 1 euro. 

Other gardens which worth to be visited are Lower Barrakka Gardens. The view is not as spectacular as the view from Upper Barrakka Gardens, but it is a very good place to rest after a walk with many climbs and downhills on the narrow streets of Valletta.

Once the dark of the night came, the celebration lights in the center of the city reminded us that, despite the high temperatures, we visited Valletta during Christmas.

Thank you for reaching the end of the article. In order to be informed when we publish new articles on this site, but also to see posts that are only on facebook, we invite you to like our facebook page by accessing this link : Doi plimbareti.

To read about our first impressions in Malta, you can click this link : Malta in December.

ENG -- Malta in December

If you are looking for warmer places to spend the holiday in December you can take into consideration Malta. We decided to spend last Christmas there. In this article you can read about our first impressions in Malta and in the next ones you can read about different places we visited by our own on the islands.  

We could not believe that this small island is Malta

After a few hotels reserved and canceled on Booking, we found the best option for us, a studio in Sliema with sea view, Labranda Rocca Nettuno Suites. The location is very good, close to the bus and ferry stations. Not all the rooms have sea views, but the view is the one below:

Being located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, like many other places in Malta, in Sliema you can take a romantic walk along the cliff to admire the sunset.

From Malta International Airport to different places of the island there are special buses (express lines) with fewer stops and normal buses. The price for a ticket is 3 euros for the express line and 1.50 euros for the normal line. It is preferable to take the express line because the buses on the normal line are full of locals traveling from one part of the island to the other and you will not have enough space for the luggages.

If you are thinking about renting a car you have to take into cosideration that the cars have the steering wheel on the right side and should be driven on the left side of the road.
Or you can use local buses, as we did. A ticket costs 1.50 euros (winter fare) and is valid for 2 hours (including changing the bus if needed). From Sliema there are direct buses to Rabat, Mellieha St Julian's, Cirkewwa or Valletta. The timetable is displayed in each station and there is an application called Tallinja. He did not help us in planning the route, but he indicated the time until the next bus arrived at the station we were waiting for.
There are also drawbacks for traveling by bus, such as: you can not be able to take it if it is crowded, it do not always respect the time of arrival and you have to wait for the next bus that sometimes could arrives in 30-45 minutes, and in that situation the validity of the ticket (2 hours) could expires and you have to bouy a new one. We checked all the listed drawbacks but all of them was part of our Maltese experience.

Another option to travel between Sliema and Valletta is the ferry. The trip is much more enjoyable and shorter than the one by bus. The price is 1.50 euros (using the public line), and the crossing takes 5-10 minutes.

You can also use the Hop on - Hop off buses to travel between different places of the island. We did not go with them, but we saw offers at 10 euro.

Thank you for reaching the end of the article. In order to be informed when we publish new articles on this site, but also to see posts that are only on facebook, we invite you to like our facebook page by accessing this link : Doi plimbareti.

To read about the places we visited in Malta, you can click on the following links: Valletta, Mdina and Rabat, Marsaxlokk, Popeye Village si the island of Gozo.

Vacanta de Craciun si Revelion sau 1 Decembrie in Amsterdam - zboruri dus-intors de la 99 euro

Daca nu v-ati facut inca planuri pentru vacanta de Craciun si Revelion sau daca doriti un city-break de 1 Decembrie, puteti alege Amsterdam. Mai jos gasiti detalii despre zbor si informatii referitoare la cazare.

Vacanta de Craciun si Revelion: 24 decembrie - 1 ianuarie 2019: 99 euro pentru zbor dus-intors operat de KLM. Acelasi pret este valabil pentru orice data de intoarcere intre 28 decembrie si 1 ianuarie. Detalii gasiti pe site-ul lor (https://www.klm.com/) sau dand click aici.
Cazare : pentru perioada 24 decembrie - 1 ianuarie preturile pentru o camera dubla pentru 2 persoane, intr-un hotel de 3 stele cu rating bun pe Booking, incep de la 860 euro (54 euro/pers/noapte). Detalii cazare: click aici.

Vacanta de 1 Decembrie : plecare 1 decembrie - intoarcere oricand intre 4 si 7 decembrie: 99 euro pentru zbor dus-intors operat de KLM. Detalii gasiti pe site-ul lor (https://www.klm.com/) sau dand click aici.
Cazare : pentru perioada 1-4 decembrie preturile pentru o camera dubla pentru 2 persoane, intr-un hotel de 4 stele cu rating bun pe Booking, incep de la 184 euro (31 euro/pers/noapte). Detalii cazare: click aici.

Daca cele 2 variante nu v-au convins, puteti gasi pe site-ul KLM multe altele :

Daca ati gasit o varianta de cazare care v-ar putea interesa, dar nu ati luat inca o decizie, puteti citi cu atentie conditiile de anulare si, daca poate fi anulata fara nici un cost, o puteti rezerva acum si aveti timp sa decideti pana la data la care poate fi anulata gratis. In acest fel, veti fi siguri ca nu va fi rezervata de catre altcineva sau ca pretul nu va creste.

Articolul contine oferte de vacante pe care le puteti organiza pe cont propriu. Ofertele prezentate sunt cu titlu informativ. Preturile sunt valabile la momentul publicarii si pot fi modificate de catre furnizorii de servicii. Pentru a beneficia de oferte puteti folosi linkurile din articol sau sa accesati direct site-urile companiilor. Datele alese de noi pot fi modificate in functie de dorintele voastre.

Daca vreti sa fiti primii care beneficiaza de ofertele gasite de noi va invitam sa dati like paginii de facebook : click aici.