DESTINATIONS ESCORTED TOURS |MALTA


FROM FAR LEFT: Valletta waterfront (top); Senglea; Ggantija Temples; Valletta’s Grand Harbour; Upper Barrakka Gardens (top); Victoria Gate PICTURES: Malta Tourism Authority/kelvinjay


of Maltese history reflected in his dynastic collections. “Look, here’s the box that contained chocolates given to my grandfather by Queen Victoria after fighting in the Boer War… and oh, that’s a portrait of my ancestor the 6th Baron of Budach, Giuseppe; he was something of a dandy,” says the marquis, warming to his task. We end with prosecco in the company of Kiku, his pet macaw, in his pretty walled garden. After a leisurely free day, we


reconvene to explore the medievally fortified Three Cities of Vittoriosa, Senglea and Conspicua, using novel means of transport far more pleasant than stupefying coach rides in the heat. I drive an electric golf buggy with a pre-programmed route, so-named a ‘Rolling Geek’, through Senglea’s ancient streets.


WOOD AND STONE But I prefer our slow spin by wooden dghajsa around what is surely one of the great harbours of the world, Valletta’s Grand Harbour. Dghajsa are the Maltese equivalent of Venetian gondolas. Our boatman, Geraldo, takes us close to the colossal, fortified city walls of


42 16 DECEMBER 2021


Our boatman takes us close to the


colossal city walls to hear the firing of the midday cannons of Upper Barrakka Gardens


Valletta to hear the firing of the midday cannons of Upper Barrakka Gardens, an old city tradition. But it’s the prehistoric monuments that truly make this tour special. Malta and Gozo possess 32 limestone stone structures – temples and tombs – built between 4100- 2500BC by a mercurial civilisation of which little is known. The 5,800-years-old Ħagar Qim temple’s lavishness makes Stonehenge seem positively dowdy. It’s an exquisite circular structure of carved blocks, accessible through trilithon entranceways leading to apses where priests performed rituals at free-standing altars. In one room 13 fat-bodied female structures were unearthed, thought to be fertility goddesses. On another day, we venture


by ferry to Gozo, Malta’s smaller less-crowded sister island. There we visit Ggantija, another Stone Age


megalith, built around 3600BC. Individual blocks weighing 50 tonnes form another mighty stone circle. “We’ve no idea where these people came from or why they disappeared suddenly around 2500BC,” says Agnes. The relaxed schedule also allows for long lunches, like that at an artisanal restaurant within the walls of Gozo’s most impressive citadel at Victoria. We tuck into a platter of homemade goat’s cheese, pickles, stoneground bread and local rustic wine, and in keeping with the unhurried ethos of the tour, there’s plenty of time to enjoy it.


SLOW AND STEADY Cox & Kings’ Spotlight tours currently feature Morocco, Umbria, Georgia, the Azores, Athens, Veneto, Aegean Turkey, Slovenia, the Basque country and Malta. If travel is to offer a more wholesome experience


post-pandemic and grasp the importance of sustainability, then I found this tour making positive strides in the right direction. Group sizes are typically 12, although mine was half that. There is little doubt that for the foreseeable future Covid-19 has put travellers off joining large groups, particularly if it involves being packed on to a coach.


Being based in the same hotel and never trying to do too much in the same day was also welcome. I was never back at the hotel after 4pm on any day. This gave me time to relax before heading out for dinner. Above all, focusing on greater detail by visiting just two or three sites each day helped foster a richer cultural appreciation of a destination that some might only recognise for its winter sunshine.


TW BOOK IT


Cox & Kings’ new 7-day Spotlight on Malta tour costs from £1,425 and includes return flights, transfers, tours, and B&B accommodation with some lunches included. coxandkings.co.uk


travelweekly.co.uk


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