"Crossroads of the Mediterranean" a Malta Travel Page by Anthro

If you're interested in culture and ancient monuments, then Malta is for you. Although my college roommate was from Malta, I never even heard about this little country before I met her. Even though she invited me to visit her many times while we were in college in London, it took me 7 years to finally come here. I decided to visit Malta when she got married. I guess that was a perfect chance and opportunity to finally make the journey. I wish I went when I was in London years ago, versus waiting until recently when I had to fly from San Francisco instead!! What a long trek, but once I got there, it was worth the 14 hours of flying. Have you ever been to a place and you feel so comfortable in it? Well, that was how I felt when I was in Malta. I could move here and feel right at home.

If interested in going to Malta, I would recommend seeing the Malta Experience in Valletta first. (www.themaltaexperience.com tel: 011+356+21243776) This is a multi-media exhibit that explains the history, culture, and sites of Malta all within a 45-minute video. This is perfect for the time-restraint traveler because you can see the sites then pick and choose what sounds the best for your timeframe.

A must-see for any traveler is the ancient temples of Tarxien, Hagar Qim, and Mnajdra, or if you have time to go to Gozo, the sister island, the Ggantija temples are there, all of which are the oldest freestanding monuments in the world.

The best thing about Malta is the price and close proximity of everything. Most admission fees to heritage sites and museums are around LM 2, which equates to about 6 USD.

There is a wide range of room accommodations for any budget, but my pick was the Rafael Spinola Hotel in St. Julians (www.rafaelspinolahotel.com tel: 011+356+21374488). From late May to early June, I paid about 25 USD for a double room which was a great bargain.

This 3-star hotel was centrally located to Paceville, the nightlife center of St. Julians, close to bus routes to the capitol city of Valletta, restaurants, beaches, banks, and shops.

What I discovered is that I could get to any point on the island all within a half hour bus ride. Transportation is efficient and attractions are well marked. You cannot get lost in Malta!

Furthermore, nearly the entire population speaks English, so for the multi-linguistically challenged travelers, Malta is a great place for people afraid to open up a language translation dictionary. Because of a common language, I was able to travel freely throughout the country with very little problems at all. Malta is also a safe and progressively improving country.