Malta Favorite Tips by hopang Top 5 Page for this destination

Non EU Citizens

Favorite thing: If you are a non EU citizen purchasing a package tour which includes hotel and transfers from an EU country visiting another EU country such as Malta, it is advisable to let your travel agent know that you are a non EU citizen so that they can inform their counterparts in the country that you are visiting.

Malta is one of the few countries in the European Union that do not have a separate passage that leads directly to the baggage section for EU arrivals. All passengers must pass through immigration checkpoints. If you are holding a non EU passport, you have to queue up at immigration counters for non EU citizens to have your passport checked and stamped by immigration officials. The queue may be quite long depending on the number of international arrivals.

We had a bad experience at Malta International Airport. We are Malaysian citizens purchasing a package tour which included hotel and transfers to Malta from Sweden. Unfortunately there were several international arrivals from non EU countries about the same time we arrived in Malta. We ended up queuing at the immigration counters for almost an hour. Our tour guide in Malta thought that we were not coming and left the airport. We subsequently took a taxi from the airport to our hotel by our own. It cost us approximately 20.00 euros. Fortunately we were able to claim back the taxi fare from our tour agent in Sweden. The inconveniences can easily be avoided by letting your travel agent know that you are non EU citizens!

Tourist Information Offices in Malta

Favorite thing: The following are details of Tourist Information Offices on the main island of Malta:-

1) Vallettta, capital of Malta -
Address: 1, City Arcades, City Gate, Valletta.
Tel: +356 2291 5440
Fax: +356 2125 5844
Opening hours: Between 9.00 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. from Mondays to Saturdays, and between 9.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. on Sundays and public holidays.

2) Malta International Airport -
Arrivals Lounge, Luga.
Tel: +356 2369 6073
Fax: +356 2182 2072
Opening hours are between 10.00 a.m. and 9.00 p.m. daily.

You can obtain free guides and maps from the tourist information offices when you arrive at Malta. Pocket Malta (photo 1) is an excellent guide book with the compliments of Globeground Malta. Going Places by Bus in Malta and Gozo (photo 2) is an excellent holiday guide which contains the bus route numbers and free map of the Maltese islands. Make sure you get these copies when you visit the tourist information office in Malta!

Shops closed on Sundays and Public Holidays

Favorite thing: Remember to bring along all your essential items if you have to travel to Malta on a Sunday or a public holiday. Almost all shops, department stores and shopping malls close on Sundays and public holidays. We forgot to bring along our toothbrushes and toothpastes to Malta. As a consequence we had to search for a sundry shop along the Promenade from Sliema to St. Julian's after approximately three kilometer walk!