Malta or other

Hi there, There's quite a few threads on staying in Italian monasteries. Here's one, with more threads inside the thread! My question to one forum member was, 'How are the beds?' (Apparently they're fine.) Some have curfews. Hope it's helpful! https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/monastery-stays-in-italy

Have you ruled out exploring Catalonia? So many gorgeous towns, so different from Barcelona, and without losing time to another flight. You could dip over the border into France as well. See if Girona or anywhere in that vicinity looks interesting.
I am not sure if the Azores fits what you are looking for (though happy to be proven wrong). If the flights work out to make it very efficient, six days is a nice amount of time for Malta, but I always choose to exhaust the close by possibilities first, good luck—late May is a wonderful time to be in the Mediterranean!

I will say I only visited Azores one early March. It certainly is less touristy as far as the towns. One island may be to9 few for 5 or 6 days but by May weather and interisland travel will ge more frequent and reliable. It does cater to a more nature seeking traveler, but you can still see the natural wonders on organized group tours for the 'light' version. You will still need to pack for all weather's, however.

My experience with Malta is that is "touristy". It is a small set of islands with tourism being a main economic sector. Add to that the large ex-pat community, and it seems everyone you meet is from somewhere else. It is still an interesting place, worth a trip certainly, but accept it for what it is.

The Azores might not be much better, but you can get out of the touristy areas at least if you want.

I am a bit with some others, why not just explore more of Spain? Zaragoza, Bilbao/San Sebastian, Valencia/Murcia, even Madrid, offer lots of options, or if an island, maybe Majorca.

We spent 5 nights in Malta and it was too long. We are also not beach people so that leaves much of Gozo out. We were so excited for our visit but it just didn’t deliver for us.
I would also suggest visiting more of Spain. We visited 2x spending 5 weeks in total and plan on another trip there soon.

Im also not thrilled with malta.

If Malta and tge Azores are tge type of thing you are thinking of, then my vote is Kotor, Budva, Sveti Stefan, Stari Bar, Ulcinj. One or all or a couple.

Barcelona to Podgorica is about $60 on Wizzair

Spain has so much to offer. Spend your extra days somewhere in Spain. e.g. Madrid, with day trips to Toledo, Avila, Segovia, El Escorial, etc., plus all that Madrid itself has to offer; Andalusia, with Sevilla, Cordova, and the Pueblos Blancos such as Ronda, and the magnificent Alhambra. None of these are in the beach areas. All were impressive and comfortable and relaxing!
So many areas full of beauty, history and art, from the Roman ruins to the 20th century.
Their high speed train (AVE) is really nice for moving between areas.

Back in 1998 we rented two rooms for the four of us (young adult kids) at a convent not far from the Spanish Steps in Rome. It was plain, clean and comfortable, en suite, with a simple breakfast included (coffee, bread, fruit, cheese), and very inexpensive. (We were on a pretty strict budget back then.) Our only regret was that it had a curfew, which kept us from the later dinner times usual in Rome. The beds were comfortable, and we had nearby covered parking for our car, which we took out only once during our Rome stay (to visit the Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa.). Parking was not connected to the convent, but we did get the info about it when booking our convent stay. Bonus, for me, was being able to attend early morning daily mass with the sisters in their chapel. I would stay at a convent/monastery readily again, but would not get one with a curfew.

Well I guess tastes vary. We spent about 12 days in Malta/Gozo, and wished we could have been there longer. And we absolutely loved Gozo, and we are not “beach people” (we are the opposite), and we never went to a beach while we were there (we did go SCUBA diving one day, which was good — for the Mediterranean).

If you have an interest in history, the place is just dripping with it, like few other destinations. Natural beauty aplenty (though you need to get outta the capitol city to find most of it, and beyond the reach of the public transit system, so a car and steely nerves behind the wheel will help).

Yes, Malta gets mass tourism aplenty, from daily cruise ships and package tourists seeking a cheap beach, expat pubs (mostly from the UK). But that’s pretty well contained and if you want to avoid the worst of that, it’s not difficult. I found the cultural mix fascinating (a mashup of deep southern Italy, Victorian Britain, and North Africa).

OP says they have just “5 or 6 days” which might yield as little as 3 or 4 full, non-travel days on the ground. IMHO that’s not enough to do justice to any of the places they’re floating. All are worth at least a week, more if you can swing it. Flying from place to place eats days.

Agree with David from Seattle 100 percent.
Valetta and Mdina are both very beautiful and certainly there are lots of tourists. We wander the back streets to avoid them and there were always interesting things to see. The Three Cities are beautiful and peaceful.

We have been to Malta twice and also found it an interesting mix of cultures. And hardly any North American tourists which was cool. And lots of good Italian food!

For natural beauty, it is well worth going to the Blue Grotto. Nearby Haga Qim is an amazing archaeological site, and Weid Iz-Zurrieq is a beautiful little town. The area around Ghajn Tuffieha has some amazing scenery.

On Gozo, there are places of natural beauty (in addition to beautiful beaches) but also some remarkable historical sites (The Citadel in Victoria and Ggantija Archaeological Park). Biking along the Sanap cliffs where wild fennel grows was one of the most beautiful places we have ever been.

David points out after travel maybe you have 4 days. Then my vote is California Hotel at Sveti Stefan stay in Budva with a day tour to Kotor or stay in Kotor and do the day tour towards Budva either way with a winery or two. Maybe an olive plantation or a hillside village.

Completely EDITD sorry

I’m sure Montenegro is great, and I’ve enjoyed a daytrip to Kotor myself, but I wouldn’t personally fly from Barcelona halfway across Europe for four days of wineries, olive groves and Mediterranean coastal scenery, when there’s a lifetime’s worth of those things nearby in Spain or just across the border in France. But to each his own.

Slate, it’s hard to argue with you. If all you have seen is Kotor, you need to return. You would be surprised at how much diversity exists in such a small country. But this is why the suggestion to the OP, it just checked his boxes:

We are contemplating Malta or the Azores …

The coast of Montenegro is a similar natural environment to Malta and the Azores
It is about the same flight time as Malta and about an hour closer than the Azores.

Love food … wandering the streets and staying away from touristy areas.

It’s a different diet. But local wine, local brandy, local prosciutto (you can even visit a curing house and see it hanging), local cheese, a few local specialties like Burek and Ćevapi and of course plenty of fresh fish and oysters.

Tourism is a fraction of either Malta or the Azores. Kotor can get a bit busy, but that can be a day trip because its worth seeing but for the stay, maybe Stari Bar or Budva where you can wander streets and see ancient architecture.

We are not beach people.

While places like Budva and Ulcinj do have beaches they don’t define the reason for going. But the view across the Adriatic is quite beautiful.

We … would like to spread our wings to explore different cultures.

Okay, BINGO, this is a good step on the way to a new world. Are you tired of church insides? You haven’t been to a Orthodox Church, it’s like nothing you have seen in the West. Montenegro is Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim. So, all three tend the shops and restaurants … especially when you get closer to Ulcinj. You can be looking out on the Adriatic from an ancient Venetian fortified city in the morning and in the mountains two hours later.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1z4-CwCkZCAlH36M42Ul_r9Ae1Dq3xYO_?usp=drive_link

We are attending a wedding in Barcelona end of May, 2027

So the end of May or early June? Perfect time. Good weather, even fewer tourists.

Again, thank you for all the advice given above. I am intrigued by the Montenegro suggestion and may sway our plans in that direction.

Because we can only do a big trip once in a while, we want to explore countries we have not yet discovered.

Thank you again all your knowledge and advice is appreciated

Colleen and Harry

In that case, virtually anywhere reachable with a direct flight from BCN is an option, more important, I’d choose one with a direct (or close) flight home—no sense in not maximizing time with so many options.

valadelphia, based on your suggestions my second choice would be Budapest. But you knew that I 😅

Wizzair or Ryanair nonstop from Barcelona in 2:30 and Air Canada non-stop to Toronto.

Montenegro is definitely a different culture and really beautiful. We have friends from Kotor and will visit them in 2 weeks. You will not be disappointed.

My favorite lunch stop. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CdtE47nz5-augpA5JgbzOx64z3UADxc4/view?usp=drivesdk.

And
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ETWPq5Od2SFK15_KUvhj_T9e7fh3HhhK/view?usp=drivesdk

Well, if you want a really different culture, then go to Morocco! It's close enough to Barcelona that you won't waste days traveling to/from there, and the culture is verrrrry different. I would rule out many of the other suggestions just because of the travel time.