Discover ever sunny Malta
Extraordinary Maltese archipelago. Three main islands. Rocky formations, azure gulfs, beautiful views. Historic monuments dating thousands years back. Little towns with numerous churches and steep, narrow streets. The kingdom of trekking and water sports. Small, inconspicuous country from the outside. Full of real wonders of nature, heritage of mankind and smiling residents from the inside.
Maltese islands form the tiny archipelago situated in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea, 75km south from Sicily, which is inhabited by friendly Maltese people. For thousands of years it has been invaded and ruled by the biggest ancient (and more contemporary) empires. Civilisation footprints originating from 7000 years b.c and some of the world oldest buildings, like Megalithic Temples, have been present here since then. In 1964 it was proclaimed as an independent country and officially named as the Republic of Malta. The country belongs to the Commonwealth.
The main three islands of the archipelago are Malta, Gozo and Comino. Most of inhabitants live on Malta island with the majority concentrated around Valletta – the capital of the country.
Here people live slowly, enjoy the sun and nice views of the surrounding Mediterranean Sea all year round. They speak English perfectly (as it is one of the official languages) and make their living from tourism. Maltese hospitality and social connections are welcoming and strong. People do matter here. Locals regularly meet in public places such as pubs, cafes and enjoy togetherness by conducting friendly chats, singing or simply cherishing their food.
Simplicity in the purest form is seen every step along the way. Favourable geographic location, climate and interesting history make the whole archipelago attractive for the development of the tourism industry. The main tourist values consist of attractive beaches, warm crystal sea and healthy food. The main factor of the country’s attractiveness is all-year-round sun and this is why we picked this destination as a perfect place for yoga holidays.
Malta island main regions
Valletta
The city is the main administrative, commercial, transportation and tourism centre. It was proclaimed as the capital of the country in 1571. It’s truly a remarkable place. Its landscape is characterised by narrow steep streets and colourful balconies. It is adorned with beautiful baroque architecture which has been listed on the UNESCO list with some buildings dating back to the 16th century, with St John Cathedral as the prime example. The city has been recognised for the historical and cultural value.
Valletta is the smallest capital city in the European Union (only 6,5 thousand inhabitants). It was originally built as a fort with bastion walls surrounding its perimeters by the Knights of Malta (Knights of the Order of St. John, or Knights Hospitaller). It is a fortified peninsula overlooking two natural harbours (Grand and Marsamxett), situated on the higher ground. Due to its small size you can get anywhere around the city on foot. There are a few places that you should visit. One of them is the Upper and Lower Barrakka Gardens, a quiet peaceful location providing panoramic views of the Grand Harbour and Cottonera area. If you take a ride in the Upper Barrakka Lift at 12pm or 4pm you will get a chance to see the firing of the guns at the Saluting Battery. The lift can take you down to the Valletta Waterfront and enjoy spectacular 360° views of Malta. Similarly, Hastings Garden is where you can rest and admire a panoramic view of Marsamxett Harbour.
For a little bit of shopping experience you should visit Merchants Street belonging to the city’s longest and most interesting commercial streets with few offside little streets with churches and quirky shops. For those who like admiring scenery a walk over the St. Elmo Breakwater bridge is a perfect choice which guarantees a memorable view of the Grand Harbour.
Sliema & St. Julians
The area of Sliema, St Julians and their neighbourhood is one of favourite spots for locals and tourists alike mainly because of a mix of things to do, places to stay and eat and the overall atmosphere. Sliema is a very cosmopolitan town with plenty of restaurants, bars, cafes and shops. Its seafront is popular with locals watching passerbys and shopping. St Julians is a young town renowned for its nightlife and large variety of restaurants. Its St George’s Bay is a sandy beach holding Blue flag status since 2010. Both towns are known for great food, nightlife and boat trips. They are not a remote, quiet place ideal for deep contemplation, however provide a great chance for socialising and networking with others.
North West towns
This part of the Malta island is full of little towns and villages offering good opportunities for holiday fun including sandy beaches, water sports, boat trips, birdwatching, horse-riding and walks along the dramatic coastline. Golden beaches can be found in this part of Malta backed by hills and with soft sand underfoot. Remote clifftops in Ras il-Qammieh (Malta’s westernmost point) with incredible views of Gozo and the sea will take your breath away and leave you feeling like you’ve reached the end of the world. The area is the heartland of the farming community. You can choose one of eco tours to meet local farmers working to organic and sustainable principles on their eco farms to produce fresh healthy food.
Mellieha
This once rural village has become a tourist town with a laid-back, local feel. Mellieha Bay has the longest and most popular sandy beach in Maltese Islands, with soft white sands, shallow warm waters and water sports opportunities. Close to it, you will find the Ghadira Nature Reserve which is the area of shallow ponds surrounded by scrub and temporary home for many migrating birds. Mellieha lies on the Marfa Peninsula which is considered as the wildest corner of Malta. It offers access to quiet and sheltered beaches and pleasant nature walks along the coastline.
Central Malta
This region encompasses history, architecture and scenery greatly represented by two towns: Mdina and Rabat. Also, the Dingli Cliffs feature Malta’s most magnificent scenery. Sixty metres high cliffs fall into the crystal sea sharply and walking trails offer unforgettable views of the Mediterranean and peaceful space to dive into inner-self. If you are looking for traditional Maltese culture and tranquil holidays this is the perfect place.
Mdina – The Silent City
Malta has got beautiful majestic towns with unique history and climate. One of them is the former capital – Mdina, often referred to as “The Silent City” thanks to massive walls and peaceful shady streets. It is Malta’s atmospheric ancient walled town that sits on the hilltop and overlooks large parts of the country. It’s a small tranquil town, nevertheless rich in history, surrounded by stone walls, with ancient honey-coloured buildings and narrow streets. You must visit remarkable medieval frescoes in catacombs and see one of Europe’s largest church domes there. The citadel of Mdina has been fortified 1000 years BC by Phoenicians who built this protective wall and called the place “Malet” which translates as “place of shelter”.
Rabat
Located south to Mdina, Rabat is a charming town with narrow streets and wooden “galerijas” (Maltese balconies). It gives the feeling of being completely local but it has a great number of points of interests such as labyrinthine catacombs, prominent churches and beautiful mosaics.
Nearby Rabat, you can admire spectacular Dingli Cliffs, named after the Maltese architect Tommaso Dingli. This is the highest point in the whole Maltese archipelago (circa 230 metres above the sea level) offering excellent views of the coastline and tiny island of Filfla. About a 30-minute energetic walk from Rabat will lead you to Buskett Gardens – a largest tree grove in Malta. The gardens were planted by Knights as a hunting ground. Nowadays, gardens became a popular spot for local Malteses where pine, oak, olive and orange trees offer relaxing shady picnic sites in summer and orange-scented walks in winter.
South Malta
This region of Malta is known for food, prehistory and coastline. Hagar Qim and Mnajdra prehistoric temples are situated on cliffs making them one of the most thrilling and breathtakingly locations on the map of the country dating back more than 5000 years. There are also natural attractions in the southern coast including secret places such as the Blue Grotto, Ghar Lapsi, St Peter’s Pool or Il-Kalanka Bay and caves with the most famous Ghar Dalam full of remains of prehistoric animals.
Marsaxlokk
This quaint place is the picturesque ancient fishing village Marsaxlokk, popular with colourful boats “luzzu”, gently swaying on low waves and wafting the pleasant smell of fresh seafood. This is the perfect location for a peaceful walk around the scenic coast and harbour. It can be also attractive to tourists due to its secluded and untainted swimming zones.One of the best places to go for fresh-off-the-boat seafood and home to 70% of the Maltese fishing fleet. Nearby St Peter’s Pool is a superb swimming place formed as the natural lido in the rocks with sizable areas of flat surface for sunbathing. Ghar Lapsi (meaning “Cave of Ascension”) is another natural lido situated in a little limestone cave with crystal blue water. If you want to immerse yourself in complete silence, surrounded by mother nature and having access to mesmerizing views, you should certainly visit this area.
Malta’s idyll – Gozo
In search of calm, crowd free and a bit idle places it is worth visiting Gozo – a little island in the sun, concentrated with fascinating history, rich with culture and crafts. It is a joyful and charming place, full of tiny villages, fairy-tale hillocks with open spaces and spectacular cliffs, hiding glittering coves.
It’s just a great location for a calm yoga retreat. Packed with a wide variety of experience and tourist attractions, sleepy and laid-back Gozo offers a perfect spot to breathe out and relax. Nineteenth-century poet Edward Lear made up new words to describe the beauty of the Gozo landscape: “pomskizillious” and “gromphiberous”.
Residents of Gozo really look after maintaining its original genuine character and sustainable growth. This unknown spot on the map can help you catch a deep breath, delve into practising yoga, meditation and spiritual self-development. Gozo is a particularly known destination for underwater exploration and other water sports. Active visitors will face countless opportunities for mountain biking, kayaking or invigorating clifftop hiking. On top of that, you can spend some quality time and relax in the local ecological farm or villa. These local farms create an ideal place for accommodation providing yogis with a sheltered living environment where they are assisted in re-entering society with a firm start.
Gozo will surely allow you to rest at the heart of virgin nature. You can pick one of sandy Matlese beaches, for example popular Ramla Bay which is the biggest sandy beach in Gozo. Its exceptionally distinctive golden-reddish sand makes it the best place for swimming and totally different from all others in Gozo and Malta. Ramla beach has been listed on a Natura 2000 site for its unique features. Nearby the beach, you would find some historical treasures like Roman relics or Calypso Cave.
History enthusiasts should not miss out on megalithic Ggantija Temples situated in Xaghra, where they can find various historical sites. The Temples are said to be the oldest in the world. Fifteenth-century Il-Kastell fortress towering above Victoria (capital of Gozo) belongs to Malta’s finest attractions. Ta’ Pinu is the most popular shrine in Gozo. This sanctuary is a place of great devotion and is of national importance. Xewkija is the oldest village in Gozo. Its distinctive landmark is the Rotunda with the third largest dome in the world.
Explore the blue marvel of Comino
The exceptional place in Malta is Comino which is inhabited by only a handful of people. It is almost an empty island, with literally one hotel available. It’s breathtakingly beautiful, ringed by caves and sea cliffs. Comino is a very small (and therefore peaceful) island midway between Malta and Gozo. Most tourists visit it for a day trip, usually to go camping or hiking across the island. Comino has crystal clear sky-blue water and the one and only Blue Lagoon. It is the small strait which became popular thanks to its intact underwater paradise. Water is so blue and intense as if you’ve stepped into an over-saturated postcard. Named after the plentiful cumin, Comino is thick with wild herbs and flowers and that’s why it has been classified as a wildlife sanctuary.
Comino is a nature reserve and a bird sanctuary, and most importantly – free of cars. A peaceful walk along the rough coast will guarantee you great views of both Gozo and Malta islands. If you are looking for a quiet place for meditation, Comino is definitely worth a visit.
Dive into turquoise waters
Malta is a land abundant with wonders of nature. You will find here beautiful rocky arches and bridges, water caves and one of the European highest cliffs. All of them have been curved by the strength of natural elements for thousands of years. What makes it more attractive is marvelous beaches (a choice of both sandy and stony available) and warm sunny days enabling the extended communion of the human being and environment. It is the stunning nature that plays first fiddle attracting tourists from all over the world.
All three islands will provide you with various opportunities for physical activity, including trekking amongst admirable panoramas and ideal conditions for snorkelling and other water sports. Diving lovers will be enticed by islands’ ambient turquoise and crystal waters, abandoned shipwrecks and mysterious venues like Blue Hole. It is a tiny sea lake, 15 metres deep, famous for perfect qualities for diving and admiring the unexplored underwater world. Malta is a unique diving destination, one of the best in Europe thanks to its calm, non-tidal nature of the sea surrounding the archipelago.
Mankind heritage
Besides incredible natural wonders, Malta boasts the possession of the world’s oldest archeological relics. First traces of human life in Malta date back to 7000 years bc. Archeologists have found human-made pottery aged 5000 years in the Ghar Dalam cave. The most significant and precious monument is the group of a dozen or so megalithic temples which were built around 3600 years bc. They are the eldest standing monuments in Europe and one of the oldest in the world.
Footsteps of the long history are visible everywhere in Malta. You will find ruts eroded in the stone surface in many places of islands. They are called “Clapham Junction” and run in every possible direction. Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is another ancient and mysterious site in the country. “Hypogeum” translates from Greek and means “underground”. It’s a three-storey subterranean necropolis created about 2500 years bc. Archeologists still don’t know much about the purpose of this place so it remains an undiscovered riddle. To visit it is like stepping into a mysterious and silent world providing you with astonishing experience.
Practical information
Malta is an incredibly small country with the total area of only 316km2.
You can easily get to the country by plane or ferry (from Sicily). The national airport is situated in Luqa town, 5 kilometres from the capital. There are daily regular ferry cruises between Gozo and Malta islands. The public transport is well developed and reliable.
The Republic of Malta is part of the European Union. In order to cross its borders you will only need a valid passport or ID card. You will be able to communicate in English easily as everybody speaks this official language. The currently binding currency is Euro.
Malta is a country packed with lots of sun, mesmerizing views and beautiful cliffs, happy people and helpful friends. You will also enjoy historical sightseeing amongst countless monuments, churches and basilicas. In spite of the high number of tourists visiting the country, you will effortlessly find a place for your yoga retreat, full of peace and natural sounds of waves crashing against rocky shores. Both Malta and Gozo have few ayurvedic centres where you can spend relaxing time. It’s an amazing tiny authentic archipelago on the Mediterranean Sea. A small paradise on the Earth.