Travelogue: Malta

Now that I have completed some preliminary information on how to plan for your trip, I thought I would jump into providing you some information on places I have gone, to give you some information on these locations from my point of view.  And these will be from my point of view, no matter how much I try to make the information general, it will necessarily reflect my experiences at these locations, based on my travel ideas (remember, I am cheap), on my travel companions (almost always a family of five), and my location (most travelogues will assume you are also in Eastern Sicily).  So, individual results may vary, void where prohibited, test in an inconspicuous location, and all other appropriate warnings...  Here is my first Travelogue: Malta.

Background:

Malta is a country located on a small group of islands about 50 miles south of Sicily.  The primary island, Malta, has the countries main attractions, as well as the international airport and port.  The second island, in terms of size, is a couple of miles to the northwest, called Gozo.  In between them is the third island, Commino, which is essentially uninhabited (only a few people live there full time).

Malta is a member of the Eurozone, meaning that their official currency in the Euro, and are a member of the Schengen Area, meaning that you do not have to go through customs to get there from Italy (or any of the other 24 countries which currently make up that area).  As a former British possession, they use UK plugs, not European or American style, drive on the left hand side of the road, and almost everyone speaks excellent English.

Malta is probably best known as being the former home of the Knights of Malta, who ruled the island from 1530 until 1800 (they technically leased it from the Holy Roman Empire for the price of one falcon per year, quite a deal), when it became a British protectorate, which it stayed until 1964, when it gained independence.

Getting There:

Being an island, there are two main ways to get to Malta: airplane or boat.  Air Malta flies several times per day from Catania Airport (which acts as their secondary base), and also has flights from other European and a few African cities.  All fly into the only airport in Malta, Malta International Airport (sometimes referred to by its old name of Luqa Airport, or by its location as Valletta Airport).  Other airlines also fly into Malta, but with less frequency.  One notable operator is the low cost Ryanair, which flies inexpensive flights from several of its locations, including Trapani.

The other option, and my preference, is to take a ferry.  The ferry leaves from Pozzallo, on the south coast of Sicily, and takes about an hour and twenty minutes to make the crossing (it is a very fast, very smooth, high speed catamaran ferry).  Pozzallo is about an hour south of Catania, and there is plenty of parking there at the ferry port if you do not want to take your vehicle.  Another option, if you do not want to take your vehicle, it to take the ferry company's bus from Catania, which drops you off and picks you up right at the ferry.  My preferred option, however, is to take my vehicle with me.  It costs about the same as a ferry ticket for a person, and gives me a lot more flexibility with my travel plans while on Malta, since I don't have to take taxis, or figure out the buses.  Additionally, it allows me a lot more flexibility when packing, as I don't have to worry about meeting any airline restrictions on what I bring or how much luggage I have.  Plus, arriving into Valletta Port by boat is just cool.  From the water, the whole city looks like a giant castle, and I always imagine what it would have been like to try to attack it in an old sailing ship, and how intimidating it must have been.  Even if you would normally fly, I would recommend taking the ferry at least once just for this view.

The ferry company is Virtu Ferries (www.virtuferries.com), and on their web site you can check on their schedule (at least one round trip per day, two on some days), find prices, and book your tickets right from your computer.  You print out your tickets, and don't have to worry about it when you get there.  Optionally, there is a ticket booth right at the ferry port, so you can buy your tickets there as well.  I just like knowing I already have tickets before I go.

Lodging:

There is an incredible range of lodging options on Malta.  Everything from super cheap hostels to exclusive resorts in private coves, with prices as high as $650 per night.  When I stay on Malta, I go for the lower end, and use hostelbookers.com to find a place.  I have been there twice, and both times have stayed at The Bugibba Hotel, where I get a two-bedroom apartment (sleeps five with a free additional bed) with a small kitchen and private bathroom for $25 per night (total, not per person)!  Now, this is not a luxury resort, and it is not newly renovated, but it is acceptable, if a bit dingy, and it is in a pretty nice part of the island.  Because my wife (who is a bit of a germaphobe) did not like the dinginess of the place, we did bring sleeping bags on our second visit, and laid them out on the bed, and she felt much better (another benefit of driving over on the ferry).  Bottom line, use the feedback on hostelbookers.com and tripadvisor.com to help determine if the lodging you are looking at will meet your particular standards.

Food:

Malta is known in particular for one type of food, and that is rabbit.  Any of the restaurants that specialize in local cuisine should have one or more rabbit dishes, and I have found them quite tasty.  In particular, we have been to Ta' Kris in Sliema (just north of Valletta), and have loved the food there.  Even my kids, who were hesitant to try a "bunny", finally did try it, and loved it.

Another food favorite of mine in Malta, surprisingly, is Chinese food.  We have had several good meals, and there seem to be a lot of Chinese Restaurants, particularly in Bugibba.  The one I particularly like is called Shanghai Cooking (you can find it right on the map in Google maps).  They do an all you can eat meal, where you order items right off the menu, and they make them fresh.  Do yourself a favor and have the lemon chicken, it is amazing.

Finally, for those of us used to a slightly larger breakfast than you can typically find in most of Europe, they have several places that specialize in "English Breakfast".  This consists of eggs, bacon, beans, tomatoes, toast, and tea or coffee.  You will leave full.  The place we go, right on the main plaza in Bugibba, charges about 3 euro for this large amount of food, and they serve it all day, if you would like.  Plus, you get to sit outside with a view of the plaza and the water, with no cover charge.  Gotta love it.

 ...... To be continued.......

Being There: Part 2 - Tours and Activities

So, you have made it to your travel destination of choice, and have your lodging and transportation all arranged.  You still probably want to see some things and do some activities.  I like to have a definite plan for what I am going to do/see, how I am going to get there, and how much all of that is going to cost, unless I am going to a beach resort somewhere, where my plan is usually:

1.      Wake Up

2.      Eat Breakfast

3.      Lay on the Beach

4.      Eat Lunch

5.      Lay on the Beach

6.      Eat Dinner

7.      Walk on the Beach

8.      Go to Sleep

9.      Repeat...

One of my first stops for info is one of the Wiki pages on the city.  I use Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) and Wikitravel (wikitravel.org).  The Wikipedia page will usually give you more detailed information about a place, but it is not focused on travelers.  That is why I also check out the Wikitravel page, even though it usually has substantially less information, it is focused on travel, like how to get there, how to get around once there, and what places you can see while there.

I then check out the TripAdvisor (www.tripadvisor.com) page for the city as well.  I check out the reviews people have posted on the places I am considering visiting.  People are often brutally honest in these reviews, so they are a good way to avoid those tourist traps that sound like they would be fun, but are really just there to separate you from your cash.

Next, if I am going to a major city, I like to check to see if they have a City Card program.  For those who are unfamiliar, most major cities (and even some smaller ones) have cards you can buy which will get you into many of the cities attractions for free (or a reduced price), and usually also includes free transport for a certain period of time on most all public transit.  Some cards are better than others.  Do a search using your favorite search engine for "city card" and then the name of the city you are traveling to, and you should be able to find out if that city has one.  Alternatively, many City Cards are linked from the web site www.europeancitycards.com.  Make sure you do some research, though.  As I said, some city cards are better than others, and make sure you know what you are getting, and how much you would spend if you did not get the card.  For instance, it is great that a particular card gets you free into 50 museums, saving you a potential 749 euro, but if you only want to go to one museum, it is probably not worth getting the card.  The card for the Naples area, called the "artecard", makes this incredibly simple.  Their web site (www.campaniartecard.it) lets you add all the locations covered by their card, one at a time, into a sort of shopping cart, and then does the calculations for you, to let you know which of their several card options you should buy, or if you would do better to go without the card.

Another option for seeing a city is a tour.  I am not a big fan of most tours.  I do not want to walk around with several dozen strangers like a herd of cattle.  However, I have taken a few, when it made since, and have mostly enjoyed them.  Budget friendly options, in cities where they offer them, are free walking tours.  We took one in Krakow recently, and it was very good.  At the end, you simply tip the tour guide whatever you think the tour was worth, and you can never get ripped off by a substandard tour operator.  You can check them out by simply searching "free walking tour" and the city name.

Whatever you decide on doing, make sure you understand a few things about those locations.  First, what days are they open?  It is no fun to show up at a museum on the day you have allocated to visit it, to find out they are closed on Wednesdays.  Similarly, know what the hours are, and if there is a time of the day when there access rules are different.  For example, at Auschwitz (concentration camp in Poland), access is free all day, but if you come between 10 AM and 3 PM, you can only enter as part of a group tour, which costs money.  If you want to take the tour, then that is fine, but if you show up at 10:30 to find out your choices are wait several hours, or pay 30 euro each for a tour, it could put a real crimp in your visit.

Being There: Part 1 - Lodging

I had a friend in high school who really like this girl, and he knew that she had a crush on Dolph Lundgren (for those too young or old to know who that is, he played the evil Russian boxer in Rocky III).  My friend was always pretty funny, and one day he told this girl "I look just like Dolph Lundgren in the dark."  I kind of have that same philosophy when it comes to lodging on vacation; all hotel rooms look the same in the dark.

That being said, the room does need to actually get dark, be clean, quiet, and safe.  A reasonably comfortable bed and a helpful staff are also helpful.  However, unless I am going to a resort, where I am going to stay at that one location for my entire trip, I don't need a fancy hotel room in a posh location.

My first choice when looking for lodging is hostelbookers.com, which, despite it name, has more than just hostels.  It also has B&Bs, guesthouses, apartments, campsites, and smaller (non-chain) hotels, plus hostels.  For those that are scared off by the hostel name, though, they are not just for kids backpacking with their friends.  Many hostels have private rooms, and are generally much less expensive that other lodging options, they just come with no frills.  Hostelbookers has reviews you can read for most of their properties, so be sure to check those out, as they tell you a lot more about the place than the owner's descriptions.  Low ratings (usually bellow 80%) are pretty much a death sentence for that place for me. 

Make sure you understand what you are getting, and what they will charge extra for, since some places will charge extra for towels, sheets, pillows, breakfast, or internet, and some will include all these for free.  The prices for those extras are usually reasonable (especially compared to the standard hotel fees), just make sure you understand what they are.  Also, some of these places have more restricted hours than a more standard hotel.  Make sure you can be there when they are open to check you in, or that you can arrange for them to be there when you can get there.  Many of these places are folks just renting a few rooms out of their house, and they are not professionals dedicated to your stay, so make sure they can accommodate any requests you may have, and not just assume they will be able to make it happen for you.

A second option when looking for a hotel is discount hotel booker.  I like alpharooms.com.  I like to compare them with hostelbookers to decide where to stay.  Hostelbookers usually wins, but on occasion alpharooms has come in lower for the same place.  There are other sites besides alpharooms, so just find one you like and use it to compare.

A third option is VRBO.com, which stands for Vacation Rental By Owner.  These are places even smaller than on hostelbookers, and are generally people with a vacation home who want to rent it out when they are not using it.  Particularly for longer stays, this can be a really good option, as it can be cheaper (but often has a longer minimum stay), plus it gets you out into a house in whatever city you are in, not in a hotel surrounded by other hotels, giving you a little more immersion in the culture of the place.  As with hostels, make sure you know what you are paying for.  Some places will charge a deposit, and some will charge you a cleaning fee in addition to your lodging costs.  Most are reasonable, just make sure you know what those are before you go, to avoid any surprises.

The forth option is just for people with an affiliation to the military (including civilian employees), and that is on base lodging.  In some places this can be a lot cheaper than staying off base.  Obviously, this only works if you are going to a place with a base, but can be an attractive alternative if you are.  Last Christmas, we stayed in a brand new three bedroom apartment on Ramstein Air Base (Germany) for $65 per night.  No way we could get anywhere near that on the economy.

The final option I am going to mention, also only for military, is the Armed Forces Vacation Club, at www.afvclub.com.  They have rooms (and sometimes apartments), usually at resorts, which are available for $369 per week.  You must book an entire week at a time, and they are available on a space available basis, but if you can take advantage of this, you could really save some money.

Getting There: Part 2 - Land Transport

Unless you are staying you whole trip inside an airport, you will not be able to fly the entire way to your destination.  Whether this is a bus, train, taxi, rental car, or your own vehicle, some planning can save you money and headache.

Driving your POV:  For short trips (for me, that is anything on Sicily), I simply drive, and obviously don't look into driving options.  Likewise, beyond a certain distance, I know that I am not going to drive (how far this distance is will depend on your own personal list of criteria).  However, there is that middle distance, where you will need to run the numbers.  Think about all the costs associated with either option.  For driving, this includes gas, additional lodging, ferries, and parking at your destination.  For flying, don't forget that you will still have to drive to the airport and pay to park there while you are gone, plus there are transportation costs at your destination (taxis, buses, trains, tours) that you may be able to avoid if you have your own vehicle.

I have traveled twice to Malta, and both times I have driven, taking my vehicle on the ferry out of Pozzallo.  I find it much more relaxing than flying, only takes about an hour on the ferry, and I like having my own vehicle there.

For information on ferry schedules and costs, I use directferries.com, except when booking the ferry to Malta, then I go right to the ferry company web site at virtuferries.com.

Transport from the Airport:  Definitely plan this part out along with your airline search.  Know when and where you will arrive, and what the options are for transport from the airport to your lodging.  Remember that buses and trains stop running at a certain time at night, and that schedules may be different on weekends and holidays.  Also, figure out the costs associated with each option.  Airport buses are often cheaper, but can take longer and run less frequently.  They may also drop you off pretty far from your lodging, requiring a second form of transport the rest of the way.  So, depending on how willing you are to figure out how to get around cheaply, you may be able to save a bunch of money.  This can be particularly true in cities where your airport is pretty far out of town (quite a few these days).

Rental Cars:  When considering how you will get out of the airport, look into renting a car for your trip.  On several occasions, we found that renting a car that we could use for our entire trip was actually cheaper than getting the airport bus, plus it gave us more freedom to get out to areas that were not convenient by other modes of travel.  If you are flying Ryanair, check into their deals through Hertz (accessed from the Ryanair web page).  We have gotten cars for surprisingly little.  Two weeks from Venice was just 250 euro, and a weekend in Jerez de la Frontierra (Spain) was just 14 euro (for the entire weekend).

Train:  In Europe, the train is always an option.  I however, have always found it to be at least as expensive as flying, so have not taken advantage of this option yet.  I always check, though, and have found raileurope.com a good site to check on schedules and prices.

Getting There: Part 1 - Flying

Before you can start your vacation, you have to get there.  This is one of the things I try to do as cheaply as possible.  I almost never judge a vacation based on my flight to get there (unless it is excessively bad).

A note:  I work for the US Navy at Naval Air Station Sigonella (NASSIG), in Sicily, Italy.  As such, I am eligible for two round trips each year on military aircraft on a space available basis.  Therefore, I will start with a quick description of that.  If you are not eligible for these types of flights, just skip the next section.

Space Available:  My first choice for travel to somewhere with an AMC terminal is space-available.  Now, this is generally only going to work if you are trying to travel to one of the bases that have regular flights from wherever you are.  For NASSIG, that includes Norfolk, VA; Rota, Spain; Souda Bay, Greece; and Ramstein, Germany.  Flights go to other destinations as well, but are less reliable (don't happen as often), and place you at more risk.  Don't take this type of flight if you have nonrefundable hotel reservations or connecting flights, since missing the flight could wipe out your savings, and maybe your whole vacation.  We really like to take this option to travel back to the states for the summer, since buying five round trip flight to the US can set us back $5000 or more, making waiting to get on a flight worth the hassle and time.

Ryanair:  If I am going to buy tickets to somewhere in Europe, my first search is always Ryanair.  They are very cheap, as long as you follow a few simple rules.  First, I have to drive to either Palermo or Trapani, since those are the only two airports on Sicily that they fly from.  These airports are two and three hours from me, respectively, which is a big consideration.  However, when I can get tickets to Pisa for 12 euro, round trip, it makes the drive worth it.  The second thing about Ryanair is that their ticket costs can vary widely, from as little as 6 euro each way, to hundreds of euro each way.  Ryaniar makes it easy to compare ticket prices for flights on different days of the week, and sometimes leaving on a Friday instead of a Saturday can save you big bucks.

The other thing I do to save money is to go where the tickets are cheap.  If you are determined to take a trip to London for Christmas, you will have to pay whatever the prices are for that week.  However, if you just want to go somewhere for Christmas, you can check a bunch of destinations, and pick one with lower fares for that week.  Right now, for example, a flight from Palermo to London, December 22-29, is 180 euro round trip.  Now that doesn't sound too bad, but you can go from Palermo to Marseille for just 80 euro round trip if you go from Dec 21-28; or Trapani to Rome for just 93 euro.  Maybe you still want to go to London, but if Marseille and Rome are on your list of places you want to go to, then maybe you pick one of them instead.  The key is that if you are flexible about where and exactly when you go, you can save money on travel, then go to London later, when that is the cheaper destination.

One key part of Ryanair travel is that it is only cheap if you follow their rules.  First, you have to pay an extra 6 euro each ticket as a service fee when if you pay by credit card rather than debit card.  Second, if you do not print out your ticket from home before you get to the airport, they charge you something like 60 euro to print it out for you at the airport.  Third, they have pretty high checked baggage fees, which get even higher if you do not pre-pay for it (15 to 30 euro for the first bag, depending on flight and time of year, for pre-paying, but 60 to 130 euro at the airport).  They have a strict 20 kilogram limit on checked baggage, and charge 20 euro PER KILOGRAM for exceeding that.  They allow one carry-on bag only (you can't even carry a purse or book as a second item, all must fit into a single bag), and the weight limit for this is 10 kilograms, or you have to check it at the gate (at 50 euro extra).  The carry-on also must meet strict size limits (55cm x 40cm x 20cm), or you will have to check it, and pay.  We have luggage that exactly meets the carry-on size limits (bought at IKEA for under 50 euro each), and always bring a small baggage scale to weigh our carry-ons so we don't get caught by surprise.  For a complete list of Ryaniar fees and rules, check out http://www.ryanair.com/en/terms-and-conditions#regulations-tableoffees.

One of the reasons Ryaniar can be so inexpensive is that they offer no free extras.  For the ticket price you get a seat and a single carry-on.  If you want to check any bags, you pay.  If you want a reserved seat, you pay.  If you want priority seating (get to the front of the line to board first), you pay.  If you want a soda or water on board, you pay.  On top of that, a Ryanair flight is like flying inside a SkyMall catalog, as the flight attendants go up and down the aisles selling smokeless cigarettes, lottery tickets, duty free chocolates and perfumes, calling cards, and snacks.

One thing to watch out for with Ryanair is that they generally fly into smaller airports, which can sometimes be much farther from the city that the better-known airports.  For example, when flying to Paris, Ryanair does not go into Charles de Gaulle or Orly, the two airports that most airlines use, but into Beauvais, which is about an hour outside of Paris.  On the other hand, in Rome, the airport they use (Ciampino) is actually closer into the city than Fiumicino.  Because of this, make sure you do some research on how to get into the city.

Skyscanner:  I try not to make any travel decisions without looking at the alternatives.  As much as I generally find that Ryanair is the cheapest way to fly, I always like to check out other airlines.  In the states, I used to use sites like Expedia and Kayak.  However, I have found that in Europe, these sites tend to miss the low cost airlines (like Ryanair).  Skyscanner, however, does include these European low cost carriers.  I use it to check out options from Catania (the nearest commercial airport to where I live).  Now, Ryaniar is usually the cheaper option, but sometimes I am willing to pay a little more to avoid the extra three hours of driving to Trapani or Palermo.

My Travel Philosophy

I am cheap.

Now, I don't mean that I will not spend money; I just mean that I want to know that I got my money's worth for what I spent.  I will spend the money to get into the museum to see The David in Florence, but I don't want to spend the money on the overpriced food at the place right across the street.  I would rather go a few blocks to get the cheaper (and probably better) food at the place that is not double charging just because it has the prime location right across the street from the "must see thing".

Sometimes this cheapness is paid for in extra walking, delays, getting a little lost, and some grumbling stomachs   However, in general, I have found it worthwhile.  We have had some of our best travel moments when we have gotten a little lost looking for that subway station or bus stop (I am almost always too cheap to take a cab; besides, there are few cabs that will take five people, so that causes problems even when we do want to), and ended up somewhere where we never would have planned to go, but which gives us an amazing opportunity to experience the real people of a city.

When we go to a city, we obviously have to see some of those "must see things".  You can't go to Paris and not see the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame.  However, my best memory from that trip was getting lost, wandering into a non-touristy neighborhood, and finding an excellent (and relatively inexpensive) Japanese restaurant.  No tourists, just us and the locals having Sushi and Yakisoba for lunch.

For this same reason, I prefer smaller bed and breakfasts or hostels to the larger hotels.  The people who run these smaller establishments are usually much more open about where to go and what to do to get the local flavor of the city, not just the stuff all the tourists go to see.  We stayed at an awesome bed and breakfast in Florence, and the owner's suggestions of where to go eat (where the locals go, not the tourists) were so helpful, I think it actually made our trip.  Another plus, these places are usually way less expensive as well, leaving more of your budget to get into that must see museum, or rent a car to go to a nearby town you may not have seen otherwise.

In my upcoming blogs, I will detail some of the specific places we have gone, where we have stayed, and what worked and what didn't.