Malta with penny at 4 months

So we thought as a first family holiday, we would travel to Malta from where we live in Vienna. We chose Malta because it wasn’t too far away (2 hour flight from Vienna) and it seemed pretty westernised and if anything happened, a lot of people spoke English. However, we wanted to keep a sense of adventure to it so we decided to stay in two different places. The first 3 nights were spent in Gozo and the remaining four, in a place called Mellieha, north of the main Maltese island. We chose Mellieha because it had a beautiful beach right next to our accommodation and we thought it would be great to have some time at the beach and Penny could show off her swimming skills she has been practising at swimming lessons. Unfortunately for us, the weather wasn’t exactly beach weather. Quite the opposite actually! I realise we were unlucky as it was beautiful weather the week before, and lovely the week after as well. Typical!

Beautiful streets of Gozo

Upon arrival, we picked up our car rental, which was a nightmare in itself and we had to wait 2 hours in a queue at the airport. We booked with Goldcar and I won’t be recommending them- I probably should have checked the reviews out before-hand! We drove to the ferry terminal- about a 45 minute car journey to Cirkewwa and boarded the ferry to Gozo, which took 20 minutes. Gozo was beautiful and we had this amazing Airbnb with a pool. Mike’s parents were staying with us for a couple of nights and were arriving the day after, and it was big enough for the 5 of us. We stopped off at Lidl to pick up some groceries to last us for the next few days. Because of the long wait at the airport, our time was completely off at this point and it was past Penny’s usual bedtime so she was WIRED and so cranky!! Still, we arrived and she went straight to bed whilst we stayed up for a little longer toasting ourselves over a beer for having made it in one piece and without a murder!

Beach at Gozo

At the top of the hill

The next couple of days was spent venturing to Ramla Bay, which was a lovely sandy beach and we climbed up a massive hill, that looked easier than it actually was, to see sweeping views of the rugged coast-line. There was also an ice-cream stand that served one of the best ice-creams I’ve ever tasted. We also explored Victoria in Gozo; a lovely old town with winding alleys and the beautiful Citadel that we were able to wander around for free. Luckily, our 2 days in Gozo were full of sunshine so we definitely made the most of it. ​

Canon shots at Gozo

Comino island

We got up early to get the ferry back to Malta and move accommodation. We had read that this would probably be the last sunny day for a bit, so even though it was a bit of a mission to pack up and move Airbnbs, we really wanted to visit Comino island and the Blue Lagoon. Apparently so did the rest of the tourists in Malta! We got a fantastic boat journey from Cirkewwa to Comino island and climbed up away from the tourists, burger stands and pumping music, and sat on the rocks sunning ourselves for a couple of hours. ​

Family time on Comino island

Popeye village just before the rain

That evening, we sat on our balcony with a stunning sunset, Penny fast asleep after a busy day out on the sea, and we couldn’t believe the weather was going to turn the next day. But my God it did! The rain bucketed down from about 7am the next morning and didn’t stop for the entire day. I decided we should just simply dress for the weather and head out. Mike disagreed so we compromised and tried to visit the National Aquarium. The traffic was horrific and a 20 minute journey turned in to about 45 minutes. We spent about 10 minutes sat in the car-park waiting for the rain to weaken a bit but it didn’t so we jumped out and ran. However, we hadn’t banked on the fact that everyone else would also be visiting! (It was number 1 on TripAdvisor’s list of things to do in Malta when it rains.) The queue was enormous so we gave up and drove home again! An epic fail there. The rest of the day was spent entertaining Penny and watching TV!

​For our last two days, we explored Valletta and Mdina. Luckily it wasn’t raining quite so bad. Both cities were beautiful with wonderful view points and places to stop and have a drink and a bite to eat. Parking was a bit of an issue and we definitely should have left much earlier than we did (easier said than done with a 4 month old baby) but there were buses that went to both cities regularly. Whilst we brought the travel buggy with us, the baby carrier was much easier to use in Valletta on the cobbled streets and steps. Mdina would have been better for buggies and we saw a number of them, but we brought the carrier that day and it was fine. 

Cute coffee shops

Wandering Mdina

Valletta

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Things we did well:

• Booked Airbnbs. This meant we could eat and drink at our own place without worrying about Penny’s bedtimes being compromised.
• Brought both the carrier and the travel buggy. We also brought the car seat as well, though we could have easily rented that with the car. We used the GB Pockit Plus with adaptors that fitted the Maxi Cosi car seat. Worked a treat at the airport. We checked in the car seat and the travel buggy folds up so small, we just put it in the overhead lockers on the plane. We used the Ergo 360 carrier and that basically stayed wrapped around one of us the entire time.
• Brought with us Penny’s tent to sleep in. She naps in this at home so she’s used to it. It has black out blinds, a mozzie net, and folds up super small so fitted in a suitcase. It takes a couple of minutes to set up and put down and meant that she got great sleep wherever we stayed.
• Only took 2 days worth of nappies. We got the rest out there easily enough.
• Only packed 2 toys- the Lamaze firefly and Sophie the Giraffe! I used a piece of ribbon to attach it to a chair, blanket out, and instant playmat. Sophie was useful as Penny’s in the run up to teething time!
• Got those amazing packing cubes! Genius! You can see what’s in them and you don’t need to unpack as such, just get out the cubes. They hold loads in them also. I managed to pack all of my stuff and Penny’s in to 8 packs, including towels and sleep suits.

Things we didn’t do so well:

• Booked accommodation in Mellieha. Whilst this would have been great if it was hot and sunny, there wasn’t a lot to do and was quite a drive to each place. If I was to re-book, I probably would have stayed in Valletta where there was more access to shops. Or stayed in Gozo- I loved it there.
• Brought 2 heavy boxes of formula with us. There’s a Waitrose, Lidl and lots of other places to get food easily.
• Didn’t read the reviews for the car hire company and booked with the cheapest. Gone are the days when going for the cheapest was the best option!