Experience the thrill of flying an airplane! and other Malta Off The Beaten Path Tips

Yes, in Summer, the Malta School of Flying offers 30-minute or one-hour flying lessons over the beautiful Maltese islands or else you can opt to fly from Malta to Sicily, Italy, Tunis or Greece and back or spend some time abroad as well. They have three aircrafts available, a 2, 4 or 6 seater. Visit their website for further information.

Leave a Comment

Phone: 79705877
Website: www.maltaflying.com

If you are in Mellieha, between Nov and May I’m sure you would enjoy a walk at the Ghadira Nature Reserve. Here you can easily see various species of birds such as Coots, Kingfishers, White Wagtails etc, and also various species of wild ducks like Mallard, Wigeon, Shelduck etc. (For a more detailed list log onto the website below). Besides these, here you can also see wild rabbits, weasels and chameleons.

The Ghadira Nature Reserve is located besides Malta's most popular sandy beach in Mellieha and visitors, guided by BirdLife Malta volunteers, are given an interesting on-site information about the beauty and variety of nature along the nature path.

It is open to the public between Nov and May, on Saturdays and Sundays ONLY, since during the week it is reserved for school students. The opening times are between 9.30a.m. & 3.30p.m. in Jan & Dec., while from Feb – May and Nov it opens from 10.30am to 4.30pm. There is no entrance fee but donations would be most welcome. Public Transport to and from Valletta: Bus 44, 45.

Leave a Comment

Website: www.birdlifemalta.org/ghadira.htm

I haven't done this, I don't know if it's because I'm scared or because it's very expensive.... or for both reasons!!! Anyway, you can do this at the Mediterraneo Marine Park in Bahar ic-Caghaq, for Lm45.00! This includes a wet suit and life jacket, transport, towel, flip flops and refreshments. You have to book in advance as well.

Leave a Comment

Phone: 21372218, 21372249
Website: www.mediterraneo.com.mt

Filfla is a small uninhabited islet which makes part of the Maltese Archipelago. It is just 5 km south of Malta and has an area of just 60,000 m². In 1343 there was a chapel built inside the cave but it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1856. Until 1971 Filfla was used for target practice by the British Army and then it became a bird reserve in 1980. Fishing is prohibited around it and if you wish to go diving near it you have to get permission from the Malta Maritime Authority. This photo was taken from Dingli Cliffs.

Leave a Comment

According to legend, when the Apostle Paul was being taken to Rome, in around A.D. 60, the ship carrying him was caught in a storm and was wrecked on these islands. The event is commemorated by the statue of St Paul on this island. The islands are located at the north-west side of St. Paul’s Bay. I took this photo from Selmun, Mellieha.

Leave a Comment

Enjoy a walk around the beautiful countryside of Selmun.

This beautiful baroque-styled palace was a summer residence for the wealthy nobles in the 16th and 17th century and it is very similar to the Verdala Palace in Buskett, Malta. This palace also had a chapel, dedicated to Our Lady of Ransom and some time ago, another chapel was built about 300 metres away from its original location. In this chapel there is a painting of Antoine de Favray, which was originally in the chapel in the Selmun Palace.

During the Second World War, a British Fort (Fort Campbell) was built just about 1km away from the Selmun Palace. There are still the ruins of this fort.

Just behind the palace there is a hotel.

Leave a Comment

If you go to Mellieha, you will see one like this near the main roundabout as soon as you arrive there. If you may wonder what this is, this is a girna that was used in olden days by farmers. The girna is a single room built of stones left unplastered and was built by farmers for their needs. Today however, they are almost completely abandoned but you can still see some of these small stone huts in the Maltese countryside.

Leave a Comment