Malta's Blue Grotto vs Capri's Grottos

[Almagetty]

We will be visiting both Malta and Capri during our cruise in June. We have already booked a boat tour around Capri that will take us to visit the various grottos there. If anyone has been to both, can you please offer opinions on whether it is worthwhile to visit Malta's Blue Grotto or if our time would be better spent seeing other sights? We plan to hire a taxi to visit Mdina, the fishing village, and possibly the catacombs at Rabat before ending the day in Valleta with the intention of seeing the cathedral there and the gardens.

[marylizcat]

I have been to both, though a very long time ago. If I remember rightly, they were fairly similar, so on the same cruise it might be better to do something else in one of the places. Why don't you google some pictures of both grottoes and compare.

[Almagetty]

Thanks for the response, Marylizcat. I appreciate your input. I'm leaning towards doing other things in Malta. There are so many places to choose from! :)

[Sauer-kraut]

The grotto in Malta is not far (we walked it) to the ruins at Hagar Qim (?) so you'll get to see a lot in a short time. The ruins are great there, although most of the original stones are in the musuem in Valleta the setting is quite interesting.

 

As for the boat trip, the water is really interesting there

[Almagetty]

I hadn't considered the ruins at Hagar Qim. You've given me something to think about.

 

And to think that when I first started researching, I thought there wouldn't be a whole lot to see and do in Malta! :rolleyes:

[Zukini]

I hadn't considered the ruins at Hagar Qim. You've given me something to think about.

 

And to think that when I first started researching, I thought there wouldn't be a whole lot to see and do in Malta! :rolleyes:

 

Our May cruise, originally scheduled for Egypt, has substituted Malta as a port stop. I've made arrangements with Touring Malta for a full day tour with a licensed tour guide. We considered touring some of the sites on our own, but we figure we'll get a lot more out of it if we have someone to explain things to us and put everything in context.

 

I can't give them a recommendation, as we haven't toured with them yet, but I thought you might be able to use the itinerary we worked out as a jumping off point for your own travels. I certainly will post a review when we get back, but that won't be until the first week of June, so it may be too late to be useful to you.

 

Anyway, here's the itinerary. Note that we had to make reservations and pre-buy the Hypogeum tickets.

 

0830hrs pick-up from Cruise Ship

0900hrs - 1015hrs. Mdina Medieval City

1045hrs - 1115hrs. Hagar Qim Temple

1120hrs - 1200hrs. Blue Grotto

1220hrs - 1330hrs. Marsaxlokk Fishing Village (also used as lunch break)

1400hrs - 1500hrs. Hypogeum

1530hrs return to Cruise Ship

 

Hope that helps!

[Almagetty]

Thank you, Zukini, that actually helps a lot! I'm copying and pasting your itinerary. We won't be going to the Hypogeum on this trip, preferring instead to visit the Co-cathedral and the Upper Barrack Gardens in Valetta, but the rest of your day sounds like just what we had in mind (now that Sauerkraut put Hagar Qim on my radar ;) ).