If you go to Malta to explore the Island and not to lay down at the beach in the sun a week is just enough. Out of the Summer Holiday Season it's quite cheap. I stayed in a nice Hotel in St. Paul's Bay and there were plenty of empty rooms.

Nice excusions are:
- Blue Lagoon (my favourite) combined with a roundtrip along the coast of Malta by boat.
- Jeep Safari on Gozo. This is a full day. Warm lunch is included.
- The city of Valletta. Of course by an old Maltese bus.
- The Silent City Mdina with it's 9th Century defense bastion. You can walk or take a bus from there to the Dingli Cliffs. These cliffs drop 250m into the sea.
- The fishing harbour of Marsaxlokk. From there you can take a boat to the Blue Grotto.

The weather:
I went to Malta in November and had some warm days (20 degrees Celcius and higher) but also some colder days with a bit of rain. So take some warm clothes with you.

Visitors to Malta all too often miss out on the rich culture and history of the place. This history is concentrated in an incredibly small area and is accessible to all.

A must for all visitors has to be the incredible temples of Hagar Qim, Mnajdra and Ggantija (in Gozo) dating back to a civilisation 5,000 years before Christ.

To sum up, I agree with OceanSailor, you can go to Malta out of the holiday season, pretty month anytime of the year. Because of its rich culture, you will always find something to do, and if you're a bit lucky, you might even get some sun all year round.

What kind of budget would you reckon is required to enjoy say, a week on Malta and really see most, if not all, of the important locations?

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Pjotter

We are visiting Malta for a week in July, and are really looking forward to it. Talking of cost- we have booked a villa on the north coast, which is suitable for 6 people, and is costing around £1,500 with flights. Of course its self-catering, but we will have our own pool, and we managed to get free car hire by searching around.

Thanks for all the helpful advice too - I can't wait to go!