Mesmerising Malta and the Grand Hotel Excelsior

Situated just a short stroll from Valletta, Grand Hotel Excelsior was our delightful home base during our recent visit to Malta.

Nestled on the Northern side of the Valletta peninsula looking over Marsamxett Harbour, the hotel commands beautiful panoramic waterfront views.

Our check-in process went smoothly and we were provided with a 2-room suite, ideal for our family of four. The room was well appointed although we weren’t lucky enough to receive a harbour view room – but these would be worth upgrading to if you’re splashing out on your special family vacation. You can still see the spectacular views from the outdoor pool area and the restaurant if you miss out.

I appreciated the little touches of detail such as the fresh cut flower in the bathroom. The king-size bed was very comfortable and room was spacious. We experienced a couple small hiccups with the in-room safe and toilet, but the friendly staff resolved these promptly. The only other niggle was the air conditioning temperature which was a little warm for Erin’s liking, but after a few maintenance inspections it seemed to be cooler. The kids enjoyed their own beds and the large bath.

The hotel facilities were truly top class. The included Wi-Fi access worked well all over the hotel and in our room, which is always important for us. The heated indoor pool was definitely the kids’ favourite feature. Several pylons with submerged platforms created mini islands in the pool for the kids to jump from and they stayed amused for hours. On each visit to the pool, Mia and Caius found other kids to play with.

The gym located near the indoor pool was packed with well-maintained fitness gear and TVs if you’re looking to break a sweat.

Thanks to jet lag, I woke up very early after our first night at the hotel so I took the opportunity to take a walk around the grounds as the sun was coming up. Everything was quiet. The outdoor pool and harbour views were spectacular, especially in the soft morning light.

My favourite aspect of the hotel was breakfast every morning. The buffet was filled with a wide array of tasty options including fruit, toast, pastries, cold meats, yogurt as well as hot breakfast selections like eggs, sausages, bacon, grilled tomatoes and more. The chef was happy to prepare eggs as desired, pancakes and waffles. I recommend trying the omelette which was top notch (I’m a bit of an omelette connoisseur). The wait staff were always attentive and friendly. And to match the delicious food, the views of the harbour was simply outstanding. The best possible way to start the day!

We celebrated Caius’ birthday while in Malta, and the hotel manager was extremely generous to organise a chocolate mousse cake delivered to our room. You can imagine how excited any 4-year-old would be with a giant cake that has his name on it – literally! The reception staff also signed a card for Caius - a really thoughtful and touching gesture which we sincerely appreciated. 

Even though the gateway of Valletta was only a 5-minute walk away, the hotel also provided twice-daily shuttles into the centre of town, and additional transport could be arranged for a small fee. When we needed advice on where to go around town, the knowledgeable concierge staff were happy to help.

If you’re planning a trip to Malta and want to experience the authentic, historic Valletta but with a touch of luxury and sophistication, then I would definitely recommend checking out Excelsior Grand Hotel.

Gozo With The Hop On Hop Off Bus - Plus The Azure Window (Part 1)

When exploring a new city, one of our favourite ways is with a hop-on-hop-off bus. It helps to acquire an overview (quite literally from the top of a double-decker bus) of the region, as well as valuable insight into the history and culture with live or recorded commentary. If our kids are tired, they can easily nap on a bus and we just cruise around doing a bit less hopping on and off.

There are essentially 3 ways of exploring Malta: hire your own car, take a public bus or taxi, and the hop-on-hop-off bus, of which there are 2 competitors. Driving in the built-up areas of Valletta could be risky or downright dangerous for the uninitiated. The roads are very narrow and local drivers seem to be wearing lead shoes. Public buses are cheap but don’t always reach the typical tourist spots you might be looking for. And a taxi would get you around, but costs a pretty penny. So the hop-on-hop-off bus option works out best. It’s reasonably priced, and reaches pretty much everywhere you’d want to see on a holiday in Malta.

We opted for 2 tours with the Malta Sightseeing bus – the island of Gozo and the South tour. Buying tickets is very easy with a sales agent at the main city stops (Valletta and Sliema), where most tourists would stay. Kids under 5 are free, which is even better value for a family with young children. You can also book your tickets online if you wish as well as download a copy of the brochure and timetable.

Planning your trip is essential because the relatively low frequency of buses and relatively large number of stops means that getting off on each stop (in 1 day) is impossible.  So pick your favourite 2 or 3 stops and stick with those. That may require a bit of research, or you could just keep reading the rest of this blog post and I’ll help you.

The first daytrip we did was in Gozo, which is an island north of the main island of Malta. A shuttle to the ferry terminal is included with the ticket price, but it must be booked at least 1 day in advance, so a little planning goes a long way (see the above brochure link for pickup times and locations). The round trip ferry tickets were purchased at the terminal and only cost €4.65 per adult and €1.15 per child. For some strange reason, you can opt to purchase the ticket on your way back, but I suggest getting it in the Malta terminal just in case you’re running late when trying to catch the ferry back from Gozo in the afternoon.

The ferry ride was fairly short, only about 20 minutes, and there was a range of snacks and drinks available for purchase. On a sunny day, sailing past Comino would make for some lovely snapshots.

Unfortunately our day held grey skies and stormy outlook so we opted to stay inside the warm cafeteria, where the kids napped on the lounge.

The hop-on-hop-off bus was parked outside the ferry terminal in Gozo and filled up quickly. So try to get off the ferry as quickly as possible in order to score a good seat.

With an hour gap between this and the next one, the staff were very attentive to calling in other buses when they realised how quickly the bus reached capacity. Unfortunately a full tour bus usually feels more like a normal bus than a tour one. The seats crammed, often leaves you standing, unable to tune into the commentary.

Our bus had seen better days. We love when our hop-on-hop-off tours include live commentaries and I don’t believe Malta Sightseeing offer this. There was an unusual lack of background music in the recorded commentary so you weren’t sure if the headphone jack was working (or not) for some time.  Since my headphone jack wasn’t working (probably the reason why it was one of the last seats available on the bus), I couldn’t hear the audio commentary at all. I noticed the buses on the South tour were much better maintained.

As the bus started off, it provided a beautiful panorama of Mġarr harbour as well as the chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes.

We had picked out 4 stops, but one of them – Calypso Cave – the bus driver drove past unannounced. Later when we quizzed him, the response was that the road was closed and someone mentioned the cave had partially collapsed. When researching the topic afterwards I found that the views from the cave lookout are breathtaking so if you can manage to get out of the bus and make the climb, the lookout would be worthwhile.

The other nearby stop we made was at Ġgantija temples (translated to “Giant’s Tower”), which is the oldest free-standing structure in the world – built around 3600 BC. What makes this even more remarkable is the construction was completed without metal tools and the wheel had not been introduced at that point. Entry to the complex was €9 per adult (children free) and included an indoor exhibit which sheds more light on the excavations. I spotted a small kids playroom, but we didn’t have time to stop and zipped through the ruins and made our way back to the bus.

€9 is quite steep for an entry price to a large piece of rock. It doesn’t really resemble much and you are going to really need your imagination for this one. But knowing how ancient it was and seeing the size of the rocks used to build it, certainly added to its mystery. The mystery deepened when we read how the inhabitants had all bafflingly disappeared.

We stopped in Victoria for lunch, which is the largest city on Gozo. After trying some local rabbit stew and taking a short walk past markets and churches, we jumped back on the bus.

Our last stop for the day was the Azure Window (Dewjra). This was definitely my favourite. The natural beauty in this area is breathtaking, however the magnificent natural limestone arch is eroding quickly and may not survive more than a few more years. So put it on the top of your to-do list in Malta.

The pitted weather-beaten rock along the beach gave an impression of being on the moon, and the kids loved pretending to be astronauts. There were several food vendors setup in the carpark so we grabbed a well-deserved ice cream before making our way back to the bus stop.

We reached the ferry terminal with plenty of time to spare and made our way back to Valletta via shuttle. If you’re returning to your hotel via a taxi or shuttle try nicely asking your driver (nicely) to stop past Popeye Village for a quick photo opportunity. It’s a quaint village built as a movie set and re-purposed as a tourist attraction. The colourful buildings are almost cartoon-like and this pic proved to be one of my most popular on Instagram during our Malta visit.

Come Read Part Two of our Hop On Hop Off journey in South Malta

Simple Pleasures: Flying Over Europe

Flying from Malta to Munich was never in the plans, but halfway through my flight I opened my window shade to something much more amazing than my TV show.

At first I thought I was looking at white clouds, until I realised the outlines were firmer, sharper and sketchy. Mountains! Endless miles of mountains, with snowy hats and grassy skirts. Like vanilla ice cream with that delicious, hard Ice Magic chocolate sauce.

How beautiful is it to fly over Europe? A special moment in time, which reminded me how I loved to travel.

Through a series of events I was flying from Malta to Munich, Munich to Athens while my family left later on a flight from Malta to Istanbul, Istanbul to Athens. Even though Athens is a mere 1-hour flight from Malta, it seems direct flights are only available on the weekend and, as we departed on a Wednesday, we had double the cost and double the time.

Flying without my family is a unique treat, as I snatched a window seat, which I’d normally sacrifice for my son or daughter. If ever I was to have a window seat this was the flight for it.

It’s an 871-mile journey to Munich and then back south on a 940-mile journey. Both flights were about 2 hours and 20 minutes. My first flight passed quickly. The Lufthansa flight was no Turkish Airlines flight. We have enjoyed flying with Turkish Airlines on our last flight to Malta and slightly spoiled with entertainment systems and even delicious food – gasp!

Lufthansa was a much older plane with no entertainment and rather average food. But all this was all forgiven and forgotten thanks to my window seat.

Munich airport was a fun place to stop for a few hours with loads of different things to see and taste, like nap pods and giant pretzels. 

On my second flight I sacrificed my last row aisle seat for a front row middle seat. The sacrifice paid off when sure enough the aisle passenger never arrived and I ended up with a front row aisle seat. Scored!

Sometimes when you look out the window of a plane you have a zillion thoughts filter through and you pluck one, magnify it, study it, store it and move onto the next. I have thoughts on crashing, of course, which I store rather fast then I dream about what’s happening below, who’s down there, what are they doing. I dream of my destination, I recall my origin.

Looking out the window of a plane is a form of therapy. To some looking out the plane window is scary and terrifying, to some it testifies excitement for the journey ahead, and to some it brings despair of the completion of a journey.

I felt all these things. I had disappointment that my time in Malta was over, but then I was heading to Greece, filled with anticipation. Staring out the window certainly opens a world of emotion and possibilities.

When was the last time you looked out the window?