5 Things You Didn’t Know about Malta
When I planned our trip to Malta, I was pretty much expecting an island beach location, just walking to the beach and lounging around. I had no idea (since I didn’t really do any research) that it was more like a state from Medieval times that just happens to have incredible water activities. These are 5 things I didn’t know about Malta and you might not either!
The country is a blend of Arabic, Italian, and British culture.
The architecture all has hints of arabic to it with the colors and arches and decorations. Almost everyone on the island speaks really great English, which we have come to never expect when traveling. And the food is the perfect blend of Arabic and Italian, with delicious pastas, seafood, cheese and olives just to start.
The snorkeling/scuba is awesome.
Most times when we plan beach vacations there isn’t anything to see under the water, or we just don’t want to know what is lurking under there. The waters in Malta are so clear and blue that you just can’t help but want to dive there. If you read my post on things to pack, you already know that I insist on this!
They drive on the wrong side of the road
The British influence cannot be seen any stronger than by the fact that they drive on the left side of the road. The driving is a true blend of the cultures – the roads are as bad (or worse) than Italy, the drivers are as crazy as the Middle East, and they are all on the wrong (left) side of the road to top it all off! Oh, and most of the cars are manual and somehow when we booked I didn’t get an automatic. It was pretty insane and we were not prepared for it! Luckily we made it through unscathed (physically at least lol).
They filmed Game of Thrones here
I honestly kicked myself when I realized at the airport on the way home that they filmed Kings Landing and Daenerys and Khal Drogo’s wedding in Malta! We normally think of Croatia when we think of GoT so I was totally shocked when I realized we had missed some opportunities in Mdina to see places they had filmed! We are huge GoT fans but clearly haven’t done enough research on filming locations (we also had this happen after we left Seville aka Dorne).
It’s actually 3 islands
Malta is actually made of three separate islands, Malta, Comino, and Gozo. While the islands themselves aren’t large, the crazy roads make it take a lot longer than you would think it should looking at a map. From our hotel in Valletta, Malta, it would have been an hour and a half to drive to Gozo (including the car ferry). Considering what I already mentioned about the roads, we decided to opt out of that drive. If we had been in Malta for another day, we would have probably done a day trip to the two islands by boat so we could have time to stop and see them all. The main attraction on Gozo was the Azure Window (as seen in Daenerys and Drogo’s wedding) but the Arch actually collapsed a couple years ago so it doesn’t really stand out compared to all of the many stunning sights. If you stay longer than a weekend though, you should definitely make the journey north.
Malta was an awesome trip and these little surprises only added to the journey! I hope you get a chance to make it there.
Did any of these surprise you? Let me know in the comments below!
Xx
Kali