Reasons why you should visit Malta

Although customarily known as “the land of sun and sea”, Malta is very rich in culture and has so much more to offer than just the beautiful sandy and rocky beaches, adorned by crystal-clear seas of the Mediterranean. 

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

Let’s get one thing straight from the off – Malta is an absolutely fabulous little country. What it lacks in size it more than makes up for in terms of things to do, places to see and experiences to, er, experience.

 

For those of you who know little about this group of islands, here is a little background. Firstly Malta is compact. The entire country has a surface area of just 316 km². But rather than work against it, this small size just serves to make visiting Malta a more intense experience with everything accessible to everyone from everywhere.

 

The country is made up of three islands with Malta the largest, Gozo second and the tiny island of Comino wedged in between its two larger neighbours.

 

In terms of history, Malta has plenty of it with 7,000-year-old temples which outdate the pyramids and Stonehenge. There are also numerous fortified cities around the island, a legacy of the country’s long association with the knights.

 

Due to its geographical location at the heart of the Mediterranean, Malta has always been popular with the bigger European countries – a popularity that often involved people invading and occupying it.

 

Today, however, Malta is a totally independent country and fiercely proud of it. A member of the European Union, Malta’s economy is increasingly based on the service industry boasting, as it does, a fine pool of human resources. Information Technology is playing an increasing role in the Maltese economy as are industries like language teaching and call centres.

 

In terms of climate, Malta is what you would describe as typically Mediterranean. Hot, Long sunny days make up more than half the year with a summer that lasts for anything up to six months. And winters aren’t exactly cold either although they can be a bit on the damp side.

As cities go, the Capital City Valletta is one of Europe’s most famous. Built over 500 years ago it is often described as a city ‘built by gentlemen, for gentlemen’ and has recently been made a World Heritage Site signifying its cultural importance. When you walk into the city expect an explosion of activity, colour, noise and confusion.

Apart from being Malta’s capital, Valletta is also the commercial and political centre and is filled with hundreds of shops as well as a vast daily market. For the more discerning visitor there is plenty of history and culture to get your teeth stuck into.

 

The local currency is the Euro, which was introduced in January 2008 replacing the Maltese lira. The time zone is central European – in other words GMT+1 and the official languages are Maltese and English.

 

Malta is also a very religious country with the vast majority of inhabitants Roman Catholic. So no great surprise then that there are enough churches scattered around to allow you to visit one every day for a year without ever going to the same one twice.

More than anything else though, Malta has one superb unique selling point – its people. You have to go a long way to find a more kind, warm and welcoming collection of individuals.

                 

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR