Malta Tours- Hal Saflieni Hypogeum?

[suzannecruisecritic]

Anyone done a shore excursion that includes the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum in Malta? It's offered on our July HAL cruise on the Koningsdam and sounds very interesting to us but is very expensive and I can't find any reviews online to give us some perspective. Please let me know if you might have any info. Thank you 🙂

[MeHeartCruising]

17 hours ago, suzannecruisecritic said:

Anyone done a shore excursion that includes the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum in Malta? It's offered on our July HAL cruise on the Koningsdam and sounds very interesting to us but is very expensive and I can't find any reviews online to give us some perspective. Please let me know if you might have any info. Thank you 🙂

 

I'm not sure if you're question is more about whether the Hypogeum is worthwhile to visit or not, then I think the response would have to be YES it should be visited if you have time and interest in the topic.  It's a site that is well known and of historical significance.  Entry tickets sell out well in advance of entry day.  Entry is limited to small groups (10 people per hour) at a time which limits the number of people who can visit each day.   It was sold out on the day of my cruise stop in Malta, so I was not able to do a visit.  There is quite a bit of info on TripAdvisor about the site.

 

It is a UNESCO World Heritage site...  https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/130

 

If your question is more about the actual cruise line excursion, I am unable to comment on that.  A visit can also be done on-your-own using buses or taxi -- probably for a lot less.  One post on TripAdvisor indicates a 35 euro entrance fee for the Hypogeum.  So that's the portion of your excursion to compare to.  

Edited April 23, 2019 by MeHeartCruising

[suzannecruisecritic]

1 hour ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

I'm not sure if you're question is more about whether the Hypogeum is worthwhile to visit or not, then I think the response would have to be YES it should be visited if you have time and interest in the topic.  It's a site that is well known and of historical significance.  Entry tickets sell out well in advance of entry day.  Entry is limited to small groups (10 people per hour) at a time which limits the number of people who can visit each day.   It was sold out on the day of my cruise stop in Malta, so I was not able to do a visit.  There is quite a bit of info on TripAdvisor about the site.

 

It is a UNESCO World Heritage site...  https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/130

 

If your question is more about the actual cruise line excursion, I am unable to comment on that.  A visit can also be done on-your-own using buses or taxi -- probably for a lot less.  One post on TripAdvisor indicates a 35 euro entrance fee for the Hypogeum.  So that's the portion of your excursion to compare to.  

Thank you so much for your feedback! It seems that the cruise lines' tour operators may have pre-purchased many of the Hypogeum tickets for the day we'll be in port as the cruise line has lots of availability for this tour but the Hypogeum website shows little availability for the hours we will be in port. The cruise excursion includes Hypogeum, Hagar Qim, the national museum and lunch for $269 which is one of the most expensive tours available on our itinerary. So we'll do a little more reading up on this and the other sites in Malta to help us decide what we might enjoy most. Again, thank you for taking the time to give me your thoughts on the Hypogeum 🙂

[MeHeartCruising]

Yikes! $269 is a lot of money.  I'd also struggle with the decision on this one.  Good luck with your research and making your decision.  We thoroughly enjoyed Malta even without visiting the Hypogeum.  We booked a taxi for 3 or 4 hours at a fixed price and saw Mdina, The Moste Dome, The Presidential Gardens, and Rabat before spending the rest of the day exploring Valletta on foot and walking back to the ship via the Barraka Gardens.

[cruisemom42]

I have visited the Hal Saflieni hypogeum a few years ago, but did it on my own. It's quite easy for a cruise passenger to do so. I reserved my ticket in advance, and used a taxi to get to the place, since I had read that it could be a little difficult to find the entrance if you take the bus (which is a cheap alternative). Sure enough, it's in a very residential area and looks like any other door into a house until you get close enough to see the plaque...  I did take the local bus back.

 

At any rate, I enjoyed it but cannot say I'd pay the going rate for the ship tour.  I tend to like my ancient sites to be a little less dramatically 'enhanced', but I'll grant you that the hypogeum is quite unusual.

 

I've also visited Hagar Qim and the Tarxien Temples (which are both outstanding prehistoric sites) and the Archaeological museum which is lovely but small and tends to get overrun with people when large tour groups arrive.

 

By the way, for returning visitors, there is also a very nicely excavated Roman house (the Domus Romana) just outside the main gate leading into Mdina. It's almost hidden -- I really had to look for it -- but a very interesting complement to time spent in Mdina if you're looking for something else to see....

 

http://heritagemalta.org/museums-sites/domvs-romana/

 

[suzannecruisecritic]

7 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I have visited the Hal Saflieni hypogeum a few years ago, but did it on my own. It's quite easy for a cruise passenger to do so. I reserved my ticket in advance, and used a taxi to get to the place, since I had read that it could be a little difficult to find the entrance if you take the bus (which is a cheap alternative). Sure enough, it's in a very residential area and looks like any other door into a house until you get close enough to see the plaque...  I did take the local bus back.

 

At any rate, I enjoyed it but cannot say I'd pay the going rate for the ship tour.  I tend to like my ancient sites to be a little less dramatically 'enhanced', but I'll grant you that the hypogeum is quite unusual.

 

I've also visited Hagar Qim and the Tarxien Temples (which are both outstanding prehistoric sites) and the Archaeological museum which is lovely but small and tends to get overrun with people when large tour groups arrive.

 

By the way, for returning visitors, there is also a very nicely excavated Roman house (the Domus Romana) just outside the main gate leading into Mdina. It's almost hidden -- I really had to look for it -- but a very interesting complement to time spent in Mdina if you're looking for something else to see....

 

http://heritagemalta.org/museums-sites/domvs-romana/

 

Thank you so much for all the feedback! It’s so helpful to hear from someone who has been to all of these sites. I love archeology and could spend all day seeing ruins but the rest of my family seems less enthusiastic so we may only make time for one of the sites and I’m glad to hear that you liked a variety of them. Unfortunately our day in port in Malta will have three large ships in port so I expect everything to be crowded and am thinking that setting up transportation or a private tour that includes one of the archaeological sites may be a good option to make good use of our time there and will still be less expensive than booking all of us on the cruise ships archeological tour which is quite steep at $269pp. 

[cruisemom42]

8 hours ago, suzannecruisecritic said:

Thank you so much for all the feedback! It’s so helpful to hear from someone who has been to all of these sites. I love archeology and could spend all day seeing ruins but the rest of my family seems less enthusiastic so we may only make time for one of the sites and I’m glad to hear that you liked a variety of them. Unfortunately our day in port in Malta will have three large ships in port so I expect everything to be crowded and am thinking that setting up transportation or a private tour that includes one of the archaeological sites may be a good option to make good use of our time there and will still be less expensive than booking all of us on the cruise ships archeological tour which is quite steep at $269pp. 

 

If you do decide for just one of the sites, the Hal Saflieni hypogeum would have the most "wow" factor for family members who aren't necessarily archaeology buffs. If the tickets for that cannot be obtained (and they are VERY limited, only so many per hour), then the Tarxien temples -- which are in the same neighborhood -- would be my second choice. They are impressive and there is a bit of information available on site as well.

 

Hagar Qim, while archaeologically very important, is less easy to understand without a guide or some study. I was lucky enough to visit the site with one of the archaeologists who excavated it, which made it a real treat. Absent that, I'm not sure your family will be so impressed with it (although there is a small museum beside it that is helpful.)

Edited April 24, 2019 by cruisemom42

[suzannecruisecritic]

Thanks again for the valuable feedback! We've decided that one archaeological stop would be optimal for our family and want to leave time to see some highlights in Valetta and maybe Mdina too since we have a long port day. Most of the Hypogeum tickets for our day in port were sold out already (more than three months away!) but I was able to get my own tickets for my family on the official website at a doable time and I found a tour guide recommended here on this site who could do a private tour of Malta and Mdina and also drive us to the Hypogeum at the designated time 🙂. 

[MeHeartCruising]

3 hours ago, suzannecruisecritic said:

Thanks again for the valuable feedback! We've decided that one archaeological stop would be optimal for our family and want to leave time to see some highlights in Valetta and maybe Mdina too since we have a long port day. Most of the Hypogeum tickets for our day in port were sold out already (more than three months away!) but I was able to get my own tickets for my family on the official website at a doable time and I found a tour guide recommended here on this site who could do a private tour of Malta and Mdina and also drive us to the Hypogeum at the designated time 🙂. 

 

Sounds like a great plan.  Enjoy.

[The Beaver]

Hello

 

As far as the visit of the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is concerned ( was lucky to get my own tickets also from the official website instead of using the cruise shore excursion) I would like to know whether one needs to wear warm clothes to visit the underground site since we will be there on September 10th.

 

Reason I am asking is because I have visited caves and other structures underground in Europe where it gets cold if one is in short sleeves or T-shirts. 

 

Thank you .

[suzannecruisecritic]

5 hours ago, The Beaver said:

Hello

 

As far as the visit of the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is concerned ( was lucky to get my own tickets also from the official website instead of using the cruise shore excursion) I would like to know whether one needs to wear warm clothes to visit the underground site since we will be there on September 10th.

 

Reason I am asking is because I have visited caves and other structures underground in Europe where it gets cold if one is in short sleeves or T-shirts. 

 

Thank you .

We were just there a few days ago and the temperature was comfortable (not particularly hot or cold) and the area you are allowed to visit is small so it’s not like other caves where you’re walking for extensive distances. Enjoy!

[The Beaver]

18 hours ago, suzannecruisecritic said:

We were just there a few days ago and the temperature was comfortable (not particularly hot or cold) and the area you are allowed to visit is small so it’s not like other caves where you’re walking for extensive distances. Enjoy!

Thank you Suzanne for this info.

We didn't want to bring along warm clothes on that day as we will be visiting Mdina in the morning and our tickets are for the 13:00 visit.

[suzannecruisecritic]

44 minutes ago, The Beaver said:

Thank you Suzanne for this info.

We didn't want to bring along warm clothes on that day as we will be visiting Mdina in the morning and our tickets are for the 13:00 visit.

We did the 13:00 visit as well. It was very hot outside in Malta last week (90F or more outside) but the Hypogeum lobby and the archeological site were a comfortable temperature for me in a short sleeve shirt and capri pants. I found the site quite interesting although a bit smaller than I expected. One quick note that you might like to know in advance: the Hypogeum did not allow us to bring any bags, purses, phones, cameras, etc with us inside. We had to leave all of our belongings (except our wallets which we could keep in our pockets) in a free locker they provided. We very much enjoyed Mdina where we went after the Hypogeum for a late lunch. We did Valetta in the morning and saw the main highlights there (St John’s Co-Cathedral was extremely crowded but worth a visit). Hopefully the crowds will be thinner for you since it will be later in the season. One point about visiting Malta that we wish we had known ahead of time... our ship (HAL Koningsdam) docked at a terminal of the pier that was 20 minutes away (by car or water shuttle) from the main cruise terminal area. Since we had our day neatly planned out around visiting the Hypogeum at precisely 13:00 it would have been nice to know that in advance; maybe you can ask when you’re onboard your cruise ship to be sure you know in advance where you’ll be docking (hopefully the main part of the terminal which is walking distance to much of what you’ll want to see in Valleta).