Malta - suggest an itinerary or tour, pls

Malta is easy to navigate on your own (no need for a tour). The bus system out of Valletta goes just about anywhere (less frequency to true out of the way sites, some of which are quite interesting). For me, Valetta was a great location as the main base due to all the nearby attractions and the excellent transport connections. I bought a multi day bus pass that worked out well.

Have you done any research on Malta? My advice: get a Bradt Travel Guide to Malta and Malta Lonely Planet book and read up on all the things you can see there. There are quite a lot (my favorites were Mdina, Rabat, Naxxar, Valetta, and some archeological sites spread throughout). Consider also going to Gozo (by ferry), it has its own feel and interesting sites. My regret is I don't stay there for a few days, but I was in Malta for a shorter timeframe. I don't know how searchable it is but there have been many Malta posts on this site. If you need lodging recommendations, just PM me (I used booking.com to find a nice place to stay). If I were to go again for a longer trip, I would stay half the time in Malta (either Valetta or one of the Three Cities) and the other half in Gozo (probably a farm house stay of some sort, or in Victoria).

I was in Malta several years ago with a group and our local tour guide was Miriam Mercieca and she was excellent in every way. Her email was [email protected]. While you can see a lot of Malta independently, it's well worth taking a guide for a day here and there. I also saw very reasonably priced day tours advertised. We were based in Valletta for our 5 intensive days, but with 10 days, plan to spend a couple nights in Gozo and 1-2 in Mdina and/or one of the fishing villages, Marsaxlokk is lovely, well, they all are . . . when it's sunny.

A few years ago we spent two weeks in Malta, basing ourselves in Valletta. We stayed in an excellent Apartment which I would highly recommend. From Valletta, it was very easy to take the public bus everywhere we wanted to go.