Malta, the small European island with the never-ending summer. Sun, sea and parties all year long. Sounds good right? Well, I went to Malta for 5.5 months to find out if Malta really is the paradise it claims to be and I ended up with a list of reasons why you shouldn’t visit Malta.
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If you take one look at my Instagram page, you would believe every statement above is true, but social media is not always what it seems. No one likes to see me complain for 5.5 months straight. I honestly tried my best to find the best parts of Malta, but I have to say, it became quite the struggle.
I just don’t like Malta!
Let me start by saying everyone is different and everyone likes different things. These are just my personal vendettas with Malta.
Malta is very overcrowded. I grew up in the second most populated country in Europe, The Netherlands. The Netherlands has a population density of 500 people per square kilometer. Malta triples that with 1600 people per square kilometer. If you’ve ever taken a look at a map of Malta you will see not much of the island is populated. About one third I would say. All those people are just crammed in that tiny bit of land.
There is just no peace to be found on this island. While there is quite a bit of ‘nature’, most nature is just farm fields. The parts with actual ‘nature’ are visited by many tourists, yes, even in off-season. The reason why I put nature in quotation marks is because you can hardly call it nature most times of the year. The summer dries everything out, so the entire island turns into a dry, brown, depressing mess.
Then there is construction everywhere, all the time. Can you imagine the noise? Malta is a very old country and it shows. They built everything a long time ago and many buildings are long overdue for a reconstruction.
Most buildings aren’t very beautiful anyway. They don’t match together at all. The first building is recently renovated, the next doesn’t even have all it’s walls. There is no beautiful details, no character, no nothing.
Some of the streets are just quite disgusting. People are scrubbing the sidewalks in front of their house because there is so much pigeon poop. There is trash everywhere. The trash system, unfortunately, lacks a lot. And you can imagine what construction leaves behind.
No one can drive. I have seen more (almost) car crashes than ever before. I have honked my car horn more times than I can count. There are many people who never had driving lessons. No really, driving lessons were not required at least 40 years ago. Can you imagine??
I made a post about driving in Malta, just in case you’re still brave enough to try. I’m living proof it IS possible to drive in Malta without having to make an insurance claim.
Now onto the more subjective reasons.
I’m just not an ocean person. For various reasons. I just really hate getting the salty water in my mouth. If you ever find me in the ocean, better believe I will do everything to keep my head above water. The salt in the water makes your skin and hair incredibly dry as well.
I’m not a fan of jellyfish either. There are so many in Malta. Most of them don’t sting, but that has no meaning for me. They just move sooo slow and I’m not fast either. We WILL touch at some point. No thank you!
And on top of that, I’m incredibly sensitive for sea sickness. I even got pills for it. Unfortunately, Malta has loads of boat services. Trust me when I say, I get a little queasy from a 5 minute ferry between two cities.
In combination, boat tours, diving or surfing lessons are just not in my cards. And to be honest, there is not much else to do on this island.
And then, last, but not least, cockroaches. In summer, they are everywhere. Yes, even inside. And I was terrified. I made my fiancé promise to keep the door to our room closed at all times when no one was inside. Not even for 5 seconds. Those f*ckers are fast! Luckily, we had pest control come over so we would only find dead, or almost dead cockroaches.
Read more: How To Get Around In Malta
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Now, these are all my personal reasons why I think you shouldn’t visit Malta. On my Instagram you will find loads of things to do and see in Malta that I did like or, at least, could imagine other people liking.
I personally know some people who enjoyed Malta. Some even come back whenever they can. The question if you’re going to like Malta can only be answered by you, but don’t say I didn’t warn you!
