My day in Valletta

On my recent cruise on board the stunning MSC Preziosa we had a day in the port of Valletta in Malta. I have been to Malta before but been across the bay in St Julian’s Bay and only been into Valletta on day trips so was looking forward to going back and seeing the city. There was a group of 10 of us that all disembarked together and someone in the group who had been before to Valletta knew there were local buses that would take us to the top of the hill.We started to walk through the port and after about 5-7 mins walk we realised we had missed the exit to the port which had been right opposite our ship so had to turn round and walk back – in hindsight we should have taken this as an omen to go back on board and make use of the facilities on board, as our day was about to become a day we wouldn’t forget.Once we finally left the port we then walked along the outskirts of the port past the taxis and also the horse and carriages, until we came to the bus stop, One of our group asked if this was the stop for the local buses as we wanted to go to Valletta – the man selling tickets said yes this was the hop on hop off bus which would take us into Valletta and be 10 Euros each, we quickly decided to do this and boarded the next bus. It was only after the first stop someone noticed on the map we were going the wrong way and that we were on a tour of the Island which would end in Valletta !! Caroline asked the driver where we were going and he said it would take 3 hours to get to Valletta and that we were on the South tour !! Caroline explained to the driver this is not what we had agreed so the driver was very good and he stopped the bus at this little harbour, and spoke to a couple of boats who agreed to take us back across the bay (the ship was in sight across the bay) for 4 Euros per person, We all paid up and I was expecting some big boat to turn up but to my horror it was a fishing boat which was rocky when people stood or moved around – and completely freaked me out for the whole journey, one of the guys sitting next to me had its arm out ready to catch if I should fall. So across the bay we went with the little motor engine running and then oared into dock. Two of my colleagues were in another boat and the motor fell off half way across so had to be oared in half of the way.So an hour and a half later we were back where we started. Caroline got out money back from the bus company, so we then decided as it was now 12 pm to get in taxis – each taxi cost 10 euros so was much cheaper but we only had an hour before the shops closed for lunch.After a walk round town we found the pub where Oliver Reed died, and stayed for a couple of drinks as the heavens had opened and was pouring with rain. After the pub we had decided to catch the lift back down to the bottom of the hill. However then 3 of us saw these electric cars and decided we would take the car at 10 Euros back to the port. So that day we experienced bus, boat, taxi and electric car. If I call into Valletta again on a cruise, next time I will keep walking past the port and the taxis, horses and buses until I get to the lift which only costs 1 Euro return and will save a lot of time but not be as much of an adventure as this was.