On my second to last stop while backpacking Europe with my best friends after college, we went to the little island of Malta! This island was so beautiful and also so unique from the rest of Europe that we visited.
We stayed here for three nights and four days, which was enough to give us a good taste of Malta and explore different parts of the island. I would’ve loved to stay for a week to explore more of the islands nearby!
In this guide, I’ll share my itinerary for spending three nights in Malta, along with the location I recommend to stay in and the best day cruises to take!
Day 1:
First Impressions of Malta
Lunch on the Port in Senglea
First Evening: Dinner at an Italian restaurant
Day 2:
Day Cruise to the Blue Lagoon
Apero in San Pawl il-Baħar
Dinner in Birgu
Day 3:
Breakfast at the Cutest Outdoor Café
Free Time to Check Out a Museum
Saint Peter’s Pool
Last Dinner in Malta: Best Pizza!!
Day 4:
Catching our Flight to our Last City: Budapest!
Day 1: Arriving in Malta and First Impressions
We arrived in Malta from Rome around 1pm on a Tuesday and took their public transportation to our AirBnb in the little peninsula of Senglea on the more eastern side of the island.
The public transportation is really easy to use here and for the most part was very reliable. The only issue we had was acclimating to the fact that they drive on the left side of the road! You wouldn’t think this would be that big of an issue, but we missed a few buses because we were waiting on the opposite side of the road for the bus going the opposite direction!
My first impression of Malta was that I have never seen any place like it before. The architecture is nothing like the rest of Europe. They hold a lot of influence from Sicily, Britan, and Arabian countries, thus developing their architecture style called Maltese Baroque. This style was developed from the Baroque architecture back in the 17th and 18th century. To put it simply, they used mostly limestone to build the island, leaving Malta with an almost Egyptian feel due to the sandy and beige colors from the limestone.
My second instant impression was that Malta was so quiet. It was a complete 180 from being in Rome, one of the most touristic places on Earth. Walking through the streets to our AirBnb, we heard absolutely nothing. Maybe a car here and there, but the streets were peaceful, and there weren’t loud neighbors or events going on. It was a nice change of pace to have tranquility.
Good to Know: Based on where we stayed in Senglea, it was much quieter than other parts of the island. If I go back to Malta (and I hope I do!), I would probably stay in Valletta because there is more to do in this area, including historical sites, museums, and more of a lively ambiance!
Lunch on the Port
After checking into our AirBnb, we were quite hungry so we looked up nearby restaurants. We found this one called Arroy-D Malta which was a Mediterranean restaurant and decided to try it!
Their food here was amazing. We ordered their hummus dip for an appetizer, and I’ve never had better hummus. Plus, their pita chips were freshly made and still warm when they were served to us. For my meal, I had their falafel wrap and it was also really good!
After lunch, we took the afternoon to get a few things we needed, like toiletries and snacks to have at the AirBnb. We were all pretty tired so we wanted to take it slow our first day so we could really enjoy our time here the next two full days.
That afternoon, I ended up taking a long nap that brought us right to dinner! It was only supposed to be like 30 minutes but I didn’t wake up haha. But it was perfect because then my friends talked with their families and boyfriends, so we were all rested amd ready for dinner.
First Evening in Malta
For our first dinner here, we chose an Italian restaurant called San Giorgio, which was on the peninsula just next to ours. It was so nice having the streets so quiet as we walked at night. It felt refreshing to not have a constant buzz of other people around us. Something we didn’t know we needed!
When we walked in, it really felt like a locals spot because the tables were all having a great time and talking it up with the servers! Here, I ordered their pasta carbonara and it was fantastic. Normally if I don’t have cacio e pepe, you can find me eating carbonara. It’s the best. And for dessert we of course had to try their tiramisu!
At the end of our meal, we almost felt like we needed to leave because it was their closing time. But as we ordered our tiramisu, the table next to us just opened another bottle of wine so we knew we had lots of time to relax!
Day 2: Day Cruise to the Blue Lagoon
For our first full day in Malta, we decided to take a day cruise to Comino Island and the Blue Lagoon. We happened to book these tickets the night before, but this is probably something you’d want to book more in advance for the best prices!
Our tour came out to $32.13 per person. We had budgeted $50 for food and $50 for activities each day, so this came in below our budget! Especially since this cruise would take up most of the day, we came in at the end of the day with money left over which always feels good.
We went with this tour that left from the port of San Pawl il-Baħar, or Saint Paul’s Bay, on the northern part of Malta. To get here from where our AirBnb was in Malta, we took 2 buses and budgeted an hour and a half just incase of any mishaps. And it’s a good thing we did because we ended up arriving at the port just minutes before they left! We had gotten confused when transferring buses which side of the street our bus stop was on since they drive on the left side of the road.
Before we got on the cruise, we stopped at a Maltese bakery stand and I picked up this snack that resembles an empanada but much more crispy and flakey. I’m actually not sure of the name and I can’t find it online! But it was filled with refried beans and it was seriously so good. I wish I had gotten two! Also it was literally under 1 euro for this!
Comino, the Blue Lagoon & Caves Cruise
Our cruise was a 7 hour trip that started at 10am, and took us right up to the nose of different caves along the way to the Blue Lagoon. We had the option to spend a few hours at Comino Island or stay with the docked ship at the Blue Lagoon, and we chose to spend the afternoon at the Blue Lagoon so we could enjoy swimming in the turquoise waters.
I had never seen water this clear before, so spending the afternoon at the Blue Lagoon was an actual dream.
Emma and I also decided to do the speed boat tour they offered when docked in the Blue Lagoon, which further explored some of the caves. The speed boat captain was super talented because some of the caves were very tight so he had to be very precise when navigating in and backing out!
For lunch, they had a bar where we could order burgers and drinks. The food wasn’t super high quality, so it’s probably best to bring your own lunch on board. Though their drinks were super fun. You could order any of their cocktails in a pineapple for 10 euros, and then have 5 euro refills in the same pineapple. It was such a cute idea!
After we had lunch on the rocks, we went swimming for a while. Though you have to be careful because there were tons of jellyfish! Rohini and I both got stung, Emma made it by without!
The people working the cruise warned us ahead of time and said these jellyfish weren’t poisonous because they didn’t have a black center. They were also prepared with a solution to spray on us after we’d gotten stung. The stings were a bit painful, but it went away after a while and we were just left with a scar to remember the experience.
The day cruise was such a fun activity and I’m so happy we decided to do it! We didn’t even have plans to do a big excursion like this until the night before; I’m glad we didn’t have everything planned out ahead of time to allow for moments like this.
Apero in San Pawl il-Baħar
By the time the cruise made it back to the dock in San Pawl il-Baħar, it was about 5pm so we decided to have something small to eat before making the bus trip back to our AirBnb.
We sat down at this restaurant right near the dock, called Cibo Pizzeria, and it was the perfect spot because we still had a view of the sea which enjoying our food. We split a focaccia and it was so tasty! I definitely recommend coming here at least for the focaccia.
Dinner in Birgu, Night 2
By the time we arrived back to our AirBnb in Senglea, we were ready for dinner so we freshened up real quick before walking to the peninsula next to Senglea called Birgu to try out a Vietnamese restaurant. This restaurant had a ton of great reviews so we figured we’d switch up from having Italian!
The restaurant is called Taste of Vietnam and has the cutest warm ambiance inside. When you walk in, you’re immediately greeted by the owner in a small but cozy entrance, and there’s seating on the main floor and also upstairs.
We started off with their spring rolls and wontons for an appetizer, and then for my main meal I had their fried rice with chicken. Everything was so good!
After dinner, we went back to our AirBnb since it was pretty late and we were exhausted from spending the day under the sun!
Day 3: Saint Peter’s Pool
On our third day in Malta, we slept in a bit and then had brunch at this super cute cafe that was just a ten minute walk from our AirBnb. We had walked by it before and saw people enjoying their coffee on the large steps next to it, so we wanted to check it out!
The cafe is called Date Art Cafe and has unique options for brunch that you don’t see at every cafe. I ordered their shakshuka for my breakfast because I’d never tried it before! And then Rohini, Emma and I split the sweet perogies for a little dessert after.
Everything was so tasty! I was especially surprised by the sweet perogies since I’d only tried them as a savory dish before.
After lunch, we spent the next few hours chilling at the AirBnb because it was the first day that I could apply for my Au Pair Visa for France! By mid-afternoon, we were ready to go out and explore, so we decided to check out a swimming hole / cliff jumping spot relatively nearby.
During this time, I would suggest checking out one of Malta’s many museums! I wish we had more time to take in Malta’s history, but I’ll just have to go back. The museum I really want to see is the Malta at War Museum!
Saint Peter’s Pool
Visiting Saint Peter’s Pool was definitely a unique find and I’m so happy we discovered it. It is located southeast of where we stayed in Senglea, and took about an hour by bus and by walking to reach it. It was secluded from the rest of the island and really felt like a locals’ spot!
On the bus ride there, I picked up a pastizzi for a little snack on the road from Jeff’s Pastizzeria right near our AirBnb. If you come to Malta, you absolutely have to try a pastizzi! It is a classic Maltese street food made from what seemed like a flakey filo dough, and is normally stuffed with ricotta cheese or peas. It was so good! But also a bit hard to eat on the bus since it was so flakey.
Once we got off the bus, we had about a 15-20 minute walk until we reached Saint Peter’s Pool. Eventually you will start seeing locals coming from it, along with signs, so you will know you’re in the right spot.
Saint Peter’s Pool is the perfect spot to go cliff jumping, enjoy the sound of the rushing waves, and relax under the sun. We had all planned on jumping in the water, but by the time we arrived the tide had come in and was very strong, so we just enjoyed watching others jump in.
There was a group of 6 or 7 guys that kept doing crazy jumps into the water which was so entertaining to watch. You could tell they were locals and knew the tide well!
As the sun started to set, we headed back to catch the bus so we didn’t get lost in the dark. We were able to see the sunset over the island which was really cool!
Last Evening in Malta
When we made it back into our town of Senglea, we got dressed and headed to dinner in the peninsula of Birgu.
The original restaurant we wanted to go to was actually closing, so we ended up at Sottovento. I had their Sicilian pizza with soppressata, Sicilian sausage, gorgonzola cheese, and olives, and it was probably the best pizza I’ve had in Europe. Their reviews on Google are only 3.9/5 stars, which normally I prefer restaurants 4 stars or higher, but I really liked it here and would go back!
Day 4: Catching our Flight to our Last City: Budapest!
The morning of our flight to Budapest, we packed up our AirBnb and left with plenty of time to catch the bus to the airport. However, we were confused once again with the buses, and hopped on one that took us in the wrong direction! The next one to pick us up from where we were would have been in 30-45 minutes, so we decided to call a Bolt (their version of Uber) to the airport. They actually don’t have Uber there!
The Bolt was super reliable and came in 2 minutes, and then in another 15 minutes we arrived at the airport because the island is tiny!
I was worried we’d miss our flight, but it all ended up working out smoothly!
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog for backpacking on a budget in Malta! I hope you learned something and feel excited for your upcoming trip.
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Under The Sun 
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