The ultimate girls’ trip to Malta

Malta is a small island country in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Italy and north of North Africa. To me, that sounds like a long way away, however, when my housemate suggested it for our ✨ post-uni girls’ trip ✨ I was surprised to find out it’s only a 3-hour-and-15-minute direct flight from London Southend Airport. Knowing that – and that the average price of an Aperol spritz is €6.50 – was enough to convince me and my three best friends to book our annual summer girls’ holiday there. 

So, if Malta has taken over your TikTok feed this summer – like it has mine – and you aren’t after a five-night bender in Paceville, here’s a breakdown of how we spent a short week in Malta. 

Hotel 

I would recommend staying in St Julian’s or Silema, both of which are in the central region of Malta. Although the central region is home to the beloved Paceville (we tried and tested it and would recommend, but only if you’ve just finished your GSCEs), it’s also home to a lovely marina, aesthetic restaurants and gorgeous swimming spots!  

We stayed in a boutique hotel, just off Balluta Bay, and we all agreed that basing ourselves in central was the best decision, as we could get to both sides of the island within just 30 minutes. We decided to go for a boutique hotel, as they seemed to be closer to the hustle and bustle of the bay – and meant we could walk to the beach and restaurants. Talking of getting around – Bolt is always the answer. We couldn’t believe how cheap our rides were when travelling around the island – we paid €16 for 4 of us to get to a beach club, which was 30 minutes away! 

I would also recommend choosing a hotel that includes breakfast because a) you can end up spending less money on food b) it forces you to get up and out of the hotel before 10am when you’ve had one too many cocktails the night before… 

Food 

I was so surprised at how varied the cuisine options were in Malta – we had traditional, Italian, sushi and seafood restaurants, all within walking distance of our hotel. And we mostly found that eating out in Malta didn’t cost you an arm and a leg – we normally paid around £30 per meal for a starter, main and glass of wine or a cocktail.  

We didn’t pre-book any restaurants before arriving in Malta, so all our choices were based on places that just looked busy on the night (always a good sign) or that we’d found on TikTok. From our experience, I would go more with the first option – especially when it comes to eating out in Valetta. Valetta’s the capital city of Malta and is rich in history, culture and architectural beauty (including the infamous Stairs Triq Sant’ Orsla, which I did queue to get a photo on).  

An example of a TikTok flop was Pastaus – a pasta restaurant in the centre of Valetta. Its TSP (TikTok Selling Point) was the fact that the menu was split up into picking what pasta you wanted and what sauce you wanted to build your own dish. A plate with every kind of pasta you can think of was brought to your table to help you choose. But tbh, the pasta at the table entertained us for about three minutes – the food was extremely mid and not worth the money we paid for it. So, take that as your lesson to not pick a restaurant just because it got a million views on TikTok… 

A restaurant I would recommend is Aaron’s Kitchen, a Michelin Guide restaurant in Valetta. I know that sounds very fancy, but it serves the best traditional food, with a very reasonable price tag. If you’re after amazing service – this isn’t the place for you – but with a lively atmosphere and large menu range, I would book in advance! I had the lobster (off the specials’ menu) and it was delicious – I just wish I’d saved space for dessert because I was eyeing them up as the waiters walked past.  

When looking around Balluta Bay, there are loads more restaurants along the seafront here, too. We did a few walk-ins, which were all affordable, tasty and had great service. One we did book was Peperoncino, as it was busy every time we walked past and had a lovely outside seating area. It’s a family-run restaurant that combines the best of Maltese, Sicilian and Italian cuisine. Unfortunately, we were too late to book an outside table, but the inside was just as lovely. Our waiter was so friendly, offering us tips and tricks for the rest of our time on the island – and bringing out some complimentary bread and olives with our first round of drinks. I had the calamari fritti to start and the Tuscan sausage linguini for main, which were both 10/10. My friends all said they wished they’d gone for the same main as me – the food envy was real! 

Nightlife 

As I mentioned, this was not a party holiday… But at the ripe age of 21, we felt it was only right to give the Paceville strip a chance to try and prove our preconceptions wrong. And I can confidently say my expectations were exceeded… just not in a good way. The strip was chaotic to say the least, with people trying to grab your attention to buy tickets for their club. One highlight was that we met a lot of funny people as our night went on – if there was one place I would go again it would be The Dubliner – an Irish bar at the heart of the strip. 

An event we were really excited for, and booked weeks in advance, was CDM Sundays at Café del Mar Malta. Café del Mar is a beach club that turns into an evening club on Sundays. It’s known for panoramic sunset sea views, good music and a stylish crowd. We got a Bolt from our hotel, which was cheap as per, and got to the venue just before 8pm, so we could capture the sunset for some IG snaps. It also meant we could have some pre-drinks before we left! We pre-paid for our event tickets, which meant we got to skip the queue and get a free drink on entry, too.  

My friendship group are always down for a drink and catch-up, so I think we have the knowledge to recommend a good cocktail or two… NAAR Restobar in St Julian’s was our favourite, but you do have to book if you want to sit right by the sea. It was a bit more expensive than other options in the area – worth it for the view and atmosphere, though. Cocktails averaged about €15 but came with all the frills. My go-to was the ‘Pink Lady’, which had a creamy texture and came with edible glitter (an immediate win!)  

Places to visit 

We had all agreed we wanted a chill holiday this year, so we spent lots of time at our hotel’s rooftop pool. Sidenote – Malta’s sun was noooo joke, make sure you are re-applying your factor 50 a lot. We did a few walks to the bays in St Julian’s to get our sea-swim fix – I loved the fact there was no sand ‘cos that is not my vibe.  

There was one popular swimming spot in particular that we planned to go to – and got up early to beat the crowds. St Peter’s Pool is a picturesque bay on the northeastern tip of the Delimara Peninsula in Malta. It had crystal-clear water and fun diving spots. Keep your eyes peeled for the TikTok-famous diving man – I had a love-hate relationship with watching him because the dives were getting riskier as the cheers got louder. We got there for 9am and had a good two hours of peaceful swimming before everyone else came piling in. We also went on a weekday, as a receptionist at our hotel said it can get even busier on weekends, as the Maltese locals visit then, too.  

We booked a snorkelling cruise through First Choice Experiences that took us to the Blue Lagoon and the Crystal Lagoon. I really recommended booking a boat that departs from St Paul’s Bay because although it’s a longer drive to the harbour, you beat all the other boats to the Blue Lagoon, as it’s then a quicker journey across the sea. We also booked the 10am slot, which was a big debate as I can’t resist a sunset cruise… But it was so worth it because as we were moving onto our next stop, we could see how  busy the next cohort of tours were.  

If Malta sounds like a bit of you, start piecing you trip together with our deals and get that Group trip locked in! 

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Author: Jenny Smart (she/her)
Last updated: 27/08/2025