Day 4: Blue Grotto, and Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples
On your fourth day in Malta, I recommend visiting Malta’s Blue Grotto in the morning, and then the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples. The temples are a short walk from the Blue Grotto, so you only need to get the bus at the start and end of your day.
Malta’s Blue Grotto – Boat trip
Start your day with a boat trip to Malta’s Blue Grotto. If you follow the path downhill from the bus stop/car park area, you can easily see the stall where you can buy boat tickets for the Blue Grotto. And then keep walking down the slope to the small boats.
The boat trip takes about 20 minutes. It’s a great way to get close to the beautiful cliffs in this area.
The small boat goes inside some of the caves as well.
The Blue Grotto in Malta gets its name from the blue water here. The angle of the cliffs means that the water looks even more blue in places here.
Malta’s Blue Grotto – viewpoint
After seeing the Blue Grotto from the water, it’s definitely worth walking to the viewpoint to see it from above. There’s a great viewpoint that’s about a 10-15 minute walk from the area with the boat trips. It’s a bit uphill to start with, but the sea views are worth it.
The Blue Grotto viewpoint was one of my favourite places in Malta. I took so many photos!
Seafood lunch at Malta’s Blue Grotto
After enjoying the viewpoint, you can walk back towards the bus stop/boat trip area to the collection of buildings here. It’s a great place to get some lunch. I definitely recommend visiting the restaurant called Coast @ Cassarini. It’s an amazing seafood restaurant. You can sit outside on the roof terrace and enjoy sea views while you eat.
I had grilled octopus, cooked with white wine and garlic. It was so fresh and so good. I also had squid ink and truffle arancini, which were also amazing.
Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples
After lunch, you can walk to the nearby temples. The two temples, Hagar Qim and Mnajdra, are part of the same archaeological area. It’s about a 15 minute walk from the Blue Grotto to the temples. It’s a really easy walk – you just follow the road. There’s a pavement to walk on, so it’s safe and easy to walk from the Blue Grotto to Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples.
These two temples date back to between 3600 and 2500 BC. These temples are even older than the famous Stonehenge in the UK. They’re really well preserved.
No one really knows what these temples were used for. You visit a museum first, which tells you as much as anyone knows about these temples. And then you can walk around the limestone temples. You can still clearly see where the doorways, rooms steps of these temples. It feels like stepping back in time, and it’s fascinating to think of the people who walked here nearly 5000 years ago.
Sicilian Restaurant and evening walk in Sliema
In the evening, you can spend a bit more time enjoying the evening and night life in Sliema. There are some great restaurants here. I really liked the Sicilian restaurant called Anciovia. Maltese food is heavily influenced by Sicily, and you can find a lot of excellent Sicilian food in Malta. I had swordfish pasta which was delicious. This restaurant also did the traditional Sicilian dessert called cannoli, which is pastry filled with sweet ricotta. The food here was great.
Sliema is a great place to walk in the evening. You can go for a lovely walk after dinner along the water’s edge.
The boats look beautiful in the dark, and it’s really relaxing and peaceful. I felt really safe walking here in the evening.
Sliema also has a great selection of bars and nightclubs, so you can enjoy the nightlife here as well.
Day 5: Mdina and Rabat
On your final day exploring Malta without a car, I recommend heading to the cities of Mdina and Rabat in the centre of Malta. Mdina used to be the capital of Malta, and it has lots of interesting history and Arabic foundations. You can easily get to Mdina by bus from lots of places all over Malta.
Mdina Gate and streets
As soon as you arrive at Mdina, you’re greeted by the huge, impressive old city gate and old city walls It’s a really grand entrance.
The streets of Mdina are really pretty. It’s a small city, so it’s really easy to walk around. There are horses pulling carriages if you want an alternative way to see the city.
St Paul’s Cathedral and Cathedral Museum, Mdina
The cathedral in Mdina is really nice. This huge, Baroque cathedral is really impressive from the outside.
To go inside, you buy a combined ticket for the cathedral and also the cathedral museum. Both are really interesting, with the beautifully ornate rooms in the museum.
The cathedral itself is huge and very decorative.
View from Piazza del Bastione
You can get amazing views right across Malta from Piazza del Bastione. This square, just a short walk from the centre of Mdina, is a great place to visit.
Mdina is almost in the middle of the island of Malta. So from this viewpoint, it feels like you can almost see the whole island.
Mdina Torture Museum
For a slightly different museum in Malta, check out the Mdina Torture Museum. This museum graphically tells and shows you all about medieval torture that would have happened in Mdina. There’s lots of read, that gives graphic details of different torture methods and the punishments for different crimes. And if the text isn’t disturbing enough, there are wax figures and models that show the torture.
The Mdina Torture Museum is a bit gruesome, but it’s also interesting. It’s fascinating to learn about the less glamorous side of medieval history. It can be easy to walk around a beautiful medieval city like Mdina and think that it’s just a pretty city and it must have been lovely to have lived here in medieval times. But the torture museum reminds you that life wasn’t always so pretty and glamorous in medieval times in cities like Mdina.
Lunch in Mdina
There’s not a huge selection of restaurants in Mdina, but there are several places where you can get a nice lunch. I recommend Coogi’s Pizzeria. You can get meat-y pizzas with Maltese sausage. Or there are pasta dishes as well.
Rabat and St Paul’s Catacombs
After lunch, you can walk from Mdina to nearby Rabat. The town of Rabat isn’t quite as pretty as Mdina, but it’s still nice. The biggest highlight in Rabat is St Paul’s Catacombs.
These ancient burial chambers were used by early Christians, and date back thousands of years. It’s fascinating to walk around. There are lots of steep steps down, narrow passageways and low ceilings. But some of the chambers are huge and really impressive.
Sliema hotel pool and sunset
For your final night in Malta, make sure you spend a bit more time at your hotel pool. A rooftop pool is the perfect place to watch the sunset and reflect on all the amazing experiences of you five days in Malta.
Hope you enjoy exploring Malta without a car, with my ultimate 5 day itinerary! Make sure you also check out my guide to the best restaurants in Malta. If you like Malta, check out my guides to some other beautiful destinations in the Mediterranean, such as one week in Sicily without a car, Italy’s Cinque Terre and Portofino. You can also visit the French Riviera and sail along Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast.
