Choosing a destination for your holiday is not always easy. Finding a good location for your accommodation is one of the first steps that people take when booking their vacation.  What about the other aspects? What are the locals like? What language do they speak? Is English enough to get yourself around? How would all these questions be answered in the case of Malta?

Maltese people are very welcoming and helpful to all the island’s visitors. They speak Maltese, which is a language with strong Arabic influences and is the only Semitic language that is written in the Roman alphabet. English is the second official language in Malta and Italian is widely spoken as well.

Weather is one aspect that influences people to travel. Summers are regularly dry and very sunny, while winters are mild and windy. Since Malta was declared by International Living as the country with the best climate in the world, just stop and think for a second what a great time you can have if you visit this beautiful island.

In Malta and Gozo driving is on the left and international driving licences are accepted. Public transport has good connections wherever you want to go around Malta or Gozo. If you want to travel to Gozo, you will have to take the Gozo ferry which operates daily, every 45 minutes and takes approximately 20 minutes to cross to Gozo. The International Airport is located in the middle of the island. So, whether you choose to use public transport or a taxi, it should not take you longer than 1 hour to arrive at the place of your accommodation.

Although Malta is a small island, you may get lost in the narrow streets of Valletta and Mdina. Luckily, you will find numerous tourist information offices where you can obtain a map or discuss your itinerary with someone in charge.

Certainly you will want to try some traditional Maltese food while you are here. A few things that you should definitely try are:

• the traditional pastizzi snacks – pastries filled with ricotta cheese or peas
• gbejniet – local sheeps’ milk cheeselets
• galletti – Maltese crackers
• timpana – traditional baked pasta
• imqaret – date pastries

These are some tips about Malta and Gozo that can guide you during your holiday. Make sure that you take with you a good guidebook about Malta and Gozo and look up any other interesting tips. All that is left is to book your ticket to Malta and put into practice whatever you have planned to do.