We often go to Qawara and Buggiba when we travel to Malta. the area seems to have all we for and the fact it has its bus station we could reach anywhere in the island at a good price , The promanade walk between the two is very popular and the weather is ok. The sea is warm , now what else could you want .

hi to you stace..ditto to bombers comments........regards..john-doe....

Only problem with Bugibba / Qawra is that it always seems a bit grubby, we find Sliema to be much more civilised and cosmopolitan and much more suited to our particular tastes and lifestyle, however I'm sure that wherever you go you will enjoy it, Malta is such a unique and wonderfull country it has something for everyone.

Regards
Sliema2

I agree with Sliema2, but then again like him I'm a bit bias because we have lots of happy memories about past times in Sliema. As it happens this August, we are staying at the Coastline Hotel in Salina, which is just down on the main coast road from Bugibba / Qawra and the simple reason is that they have lots of good parking space, and we want to hire a car. Last year we found it a nightmare trying to park up in Sliema and the traffic wardens were all over the place like a rash!

We've stayed at the Coastline before and found it a cracking hotel with really friendly staff. From previous experiences it's easier to get to Gozo (and our favourite Ramla beach!) from the Coastline and we found it relatively easy to nip back and forth to Sliema, which we'll be doing anyway. Nevertheless we will always go back to Sliema especially since it's so handy to get into Valletta with its wealth of culture, and if I was going to consistently use the buses I would definitely base myself there,

Hope this helps,

Trev

I would also recommend Sliema area. You will have access to boat trips, buses into Valletta and beyond and a range of restaurants, bars and shops.

As for beaches, well Sliema doesn't really have one apart from a long rocky ledge which is fine I suppose if you don't want any sand or shelter from the sun!

For a fee you can get daily or weekly access to some of the 4* hotel pools. The Westin Reef Club is very good - spacious, large pool, small sandy beach and access to the sea if you want to snorkel or swim. It also has bars, a restaurant and ample shades and sun loungers. You can pay a monthly fee for access which works out at 2LM per head or a weekly tariff, or even a daily one. After 3pm is much cheaper and quieter but the mornings are good too. They're open until the end of October.

For the best beach, hire a car and head for Ramla Bay on Gozo!

Ramla Beach Gozo - well sdwill that just happens to be our favourite beach of all time - it took us years to find this bit of paradise!

Trev

Well Trev, we've always believed in a lot of exploring, particularly with 3 kids to keep occupied!

Maybe I shouldn't encourage the crowds though

Susan

Hi Susan,

Actually I strongly agree that we shouldn't encourage the crowds though I really think that this beach is just a bit too far out of the way and it's only seasoned Maltaphiles and residents that would be going there. In the past when I never drove on the Island we used to book organised trips to Gozo. This usually included a meal and a tour around the Island. However, the nearest any of these trips ever took us to Ramla beach was to the overlooking hill where Calypso's cave is and never on to this lovely beach!

Trev

Last August we stayed in Gozo and then Sliema. Gozo (Grand Mgarr)was fantastic, quite quiet but you can still head to a few pubs and the hotel ran trips. If you hire a car you can get around the Island easily. We only Hired Jeep for 2days and that was plenty. We also had a lovely cruise to the blue lagoon.

As we'd been spoiled by Gozo Sliema didn't take our fancy as much. It was still ok and certainly alot more to do, pub wise. Our Hotel (can't remember name) was on the Promenade near the boat trips which was quite handy. We had a lovely moonlight cruise on the schooner, the Captain was a real character.

Have a good holiday.