There's more to Malta: a fascinating family holiday

Think Malta is just another Mediterranean island with sun and sea? Carol Muskoron says think again...

Sick of being dragged to what he described as 'empty' Greek islands, my husband demanded that we went somewhere 'interesting' for our family holiday this year. We did. Malta is incredible. So incredible that the kids and I were lured away from the the sun and the sea to explore the island with him.

 

We travelled with First Choice Holidays and had arranged to stay in the Dragonara - a five-star hotel in the town of St Julians, about six miles from the capital, Valletta. It's worth pointing out that Malta is only 18 miles long, so it's relatively easy to get to any part of the island.

 

The Dragonara is delightfully plush - it has two great pools, which the kids adored and where they made lots of friends and drank lots of milkshakes. The hotel is set on the edge of the sea and doesn't suffer one bit for not having a beach - instead the owners have built an extraordinarily comfortable lounging area with luxurious sofas and easy step access down into the sea.

 

There was a dive shop on the front and we hired snorkels and fins and spent hours floating right there with the beautifully colourful fish. There was also a watersports section where you could arrange dives and paragliding - my daughter was very tempted by the paragliding but it looked terrifying to me.

 

We spend the first day sunning ourselves and when, on the morning of the second day, my husband took off for Valletta we decided to tear ourselves away from the water and go with him.

 

Valletta is an incredible town, surrounded by fortifications. It also has some stupendous churches. The most stunning is the Cathedral of St John, which is one of the finest Baroque churches in the world. It is filled with the most elaborate marble decoration and mosaics. Even my children - aged 11 and 13 -  were stunned. We happened to visit the town on one of the many saints' days. As a result the streets were filled with brass bands and local youngsters. We all loved it.

It is incredibly easy to get around Malta. There is a fleet of ancient yellow buses, most of which were imported from Britain and Canada and are around 50 years old. They are complete boneshakers, but they are great fun, very cheap and the local people are fiercely proud of them. We took one of these buses to Valletta and it was such fun that we continued to whizz aropund the island on them throughout the week.

 

There is so much history in Malta - and it's evident everywhere. The Spanish gave the island to the Knights of St John. It was then taken by Napolean. The English then pushed out the French and ran the island until the 1960s. The local language is a bizarre mix of Italian, French and Arabic. Everybody speaks English and people from Britain are made very welcome.

 

To get out on the water, we decided a boat trip would be a good idea. The largest cruise firm is called Captain Morgan and it runs a whole host of excursions. We took a trip around the harbour and saw the famous forts, which were beseiged by the Ottoman Turks in 1565. The trip took off from the port of Sliema - and when we were dropped back we went for lunch at a delightful spa hotel called the Fortina (with five restaurants to choose from in the most wonderful grounds).

 

One day we went by bus to the old capital, Mdina, which is known as the ‘silent city' because there are very tight restrictions on cars. We took a charming ride in a horse-drawn carriage around the ancient town.

 

Most nights we ate in St Julians which is full of family restaurants - the Italian ones were particularly good. We had breakfast at the hotel every day in the Terrace Restaurant - I would have a swim, dry off and come and help myself to the beautiful buffet with its sea view.

 

Probably our favourite excursion was a night coach trip to one of the local saints' day celebrations in a small hill town - the trip was organised through the hotel. The celebrations were incredibly noisy. There were three brass bands, dozens of street stands and the cafes were all packed. The local church was covered in red cloth and the bells rang constantly, a statue of the town saint was carried by crowds of local people. And every few seconds there was a loud bang as a firework went off. It was a brilliant experience that we'll never forget, creating the kind of atmosphere that Disney parades just don't quite reach for me.

 
One night we ate in the hotel's fine dining restaurant, Quadro - I thought the kids would hate it and would be baying for pizza; unfortunately they loved it and now bay for mussels in white wine.

 

Sadly we didn't get to see half of on the island, even though it's small. Nor did we visit the neighbouring island of Gozo, which is a short ferry ride away and is apparently lovely. We'll definitely go back again to take in more of the beautiful weather and culture.

 

On the last day, I gave in to my daughter daughter and went paragliding. If you could see the look on my face in the picture above, you'd know that it's the look of sheer happiness. It was wonderful up there - so quiet. And it was the perfect end to a truly perfect family holiday.

Find out more

First Choice offers seven nights at the Westin Dragonara Resort from £679 per person, based on two adults and two children staying in two twin rooms departing from Gatwick on June 22 2010. To find out more about this holiday, or to make a reservation, call First Choice on 0871 200 4455, or visit www.firstchoice.co.uk/malta

 

 

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