The old capital of Malta
Mdina gate
Until 1530, with the arrival of the Knights of St. John to the island of Malta, Mdina had been the capital city. It's built on the highest hill in Malta and the city is enclosed by walls. The city is also known as 'Citta Nobile' (the Nobles' City) as the patrician families of Malta resided there. Mdina still has a resident population of about 300 people, their homes tend to be passed down through the generations.
The city is one of Malta's main tourist draws and I wanted to visit as well, a bit of research told me that it was possible to catch a local bus from the Valletta bus station to Rabat (the modern town next to Mdina) and then stroll up to Mdina itself. The buses in theory came every 10 minutes, let's just say it was a very loose 10 minutes!
My real life experience of travelling to Mdina
The bus station is easy enough to find, it's just outside the city walls. From my research I knew that I needed to catch bus 51, 52 or 53 at bay C2. Easy enough. I followed the signs and as luck would have it C2 bay was the furtherest from the entrance to the bus station! According to my research, there was supposed to be a bus at 10.10am, then 10.20am and 10.30am. It could have been that the 10.10 bus was early, the 10.20 didn't come at all and the 10.30am arrived on time so there was quite the crowd all wanting to board. We all piled on, you can pay the fare on the bus it was 2.60 euros. (Alternately you can prebuy a ticket, I always go for the simplest option, paying the driver was easier than locating a machine and working it out. Have the correct change would also be my tip.) It's the public bus so people got on and off along the way, the bus trip takes about 30 minutes, the major part through the suburbs of Valletta. Once at the Rabat stop (easy enough to know you've arrived as the bus climbs a hill and you can easily see Mdina and its walls.) everyone disembarks and then walks to the main gate, there are other gates to enter and exit as well.
The moat area between the external walls with the Mdina gate in the background.
I entered through the Mdina gate, at first thought that I would get a map to navigate. (I have a notoriously bad sense of direction!) But I had heard that Mdina was quite small so decided to risk it and wandered off to explore, it turned out that Mdina is very easy to move around in, and happily I didn't get lost! When it was time to leave I found the main gate without any issues.
My first surprise upon entering the city was that there were quite wide streets, I had gotten the impression that it was all narrow laneways which curved so you couldn't see anyone approaching. (There were these but also wide streets and squares) It was more spacious that I thought and there were vehicles permitted in the town, parking was in the squares.
I could see why it had been called the Nobles' City as many of the buildings reflected great wealth.
The main square (with parking!)
St Paul's Cathedral
St. Paul was supposed to have been shipwrecked on Malta and took shelter just outside the walls of Mdina so the cathedral is named in his honour. The cathedral and cathedral museum have an entry fee.
In my wanderings I saw a sign advertising a restaurant with great views, so another tip. When visiting places with crowds of tourists, always opt for an early lunch, you'll get a seat in your preferred restaurant. I followed the signs and ended up at La Fontanella Restaurant.
To take advantage of the views, they have built up areas on top of the building, there is also seating on the walls. I ended up on the top section as all the best seating along the wall (in the shade, I could have sat in the sun! It was a bit hot!) were taken. Grabbed a table that didn't have the best view, then people left from a better placed table so I moved to that. Finally a couple finished their lunch (so I stalked their movements and as they left I pounced, voila a table with a great view!!)
My view
Taken with a long lens.
You can see right down to the sea.
I'm pretty sure that suburban sprawl on the right is Valletta.
After a pleasant lunch and fuelled up, I was now ready to explore. Next to the restaurant there were viewing areas on the wall where you could get all the views and not have to pay for a lunch, I just wanted lunch with a view.
A local villa, it seemed to be a very popular site for selfies and that all important instagram shot. (A new phenomenon to me, all those instahopefuls posing for the perfect shot!) It took a while and some cropping for me to get a picture without posing people!
This street was what I had thought Mdina was, the street zigzags so depending on what angle you approach from you can't see anyone coming towards you.
Mdina is certainly well worth visiting, it does receive a large amounts of tourists so be prepared to dodge and weave to find some more peaceful spots. It's an easy trip from Valletta just using the public bus, no need to book an organised tour. The bus ticket is valid for 2 hours, mine had expired so went to buy another ticket and for some reason the return ticket was 2 euros, so cheaper than the morning. I would suggest that visiting early morning, when it's cooler and there are fewer people, an early lunch and then retire to your hotel pool for the afternoon (which is what I did!) is probably the most enjoyable way to visit Mdina. (Admittedly I didn't have a really early morning start!)
Until 1530, with the arrival of the Knights of St. John to the island of Malta, Mdina had been the capital city. It's built on the highest hill in Malta and the city is enclosed by walls. The city is also known as 'Citta Nobile' (the Nobles' City) as the patrician families of Malta resided there. Mdina still has a resident population of about 300 people, their homes tend to be passed down through the generations.
The city is one of Malta's main tourist draws and I wanted to visit as well, a bit of research told me that it was possible to catch a local bus from the Valletta bus station to Rabat (the modern town next to Mdina) and then stroll up to Mdina itself. The buses in theory came every 10 minutes, let's just say it was a very loose 10 minutes!
My real life experience of travelling to Mdina
The bus station is easy enough to find, it's just outside the city walls. From my research I knew that I needed to catch bus 51, 52 or 53 at bay C2. Easy enough. I followed the signs and as luck would have it C2 bay was the furtherest from the entrance to the bus station! According to my research, there was supposed to be a bus at 10.10am, then 10.20am and 10.30am. It could have been that the 10.10 bus was early, the 10.20 didn't come at all and the 10.30am arrived on time so there was quite the crowd all wanting to board. We all piled on, you can pay the fare on the bus it was 2.60 euros. (Alternately you can prebuy a ticket, I always go for the simplest option, paying the driver was easier than locating a machine and working it out. Have the correct change would also be my tip.) It's the public bus so people got on and off along the way, the bus trip takes about 30 minutes, the major part through the suburbs of Valletta. Once at the Rabat stop (easy enough to know you've arrived as the bus climbs a hill and you can easily see Mdina and its walls.) everyone disembarks and then walks to the main gate, there are other gates to enter and exit as well.
I entered through the Mdina gate, at first thought that I would get a map to navigate. (I have a notoriously bad sense of direction!) But I had heard that Mdina was quite small so decided to risk it and wandered off to explore, it turned out that Mdina is very easy to move around in, and happily I didn't get lost! When it was time to leave I found the main gate without any issues.
My first surprise upon entering the city was that there were quite wide streets, I had gotten the impression that it was all narrow laneways which curved so you couldn't see anyone approaching. (There were these but also wide streets and squares) It was more spacious that I thought and there were vehicles permitted in the town, parking was in the squares.
I could see why it had been called the Nobles' City as many of the buildings reflected great wealth.
St. Paul was supposed to have been shipwrecked on Malta and took shelter just outside the walls of Mdina so the cathedral is named in his honour. The cathedral and cathedral museum have an entry fee.
In my wanderings I saw a sign advertising a restaurant with great views, so another tip. When visiting places with crowds of tourists, always opt for an early lunch, you'll get a seat in your preferred restaurant. I followed the signs and ended up at La Fontanella Restaurant.
To take advantage of the views, they have built up areas on top of the building, there is also seating on the walls. I ended up on the top section as all the best seating along the wall (in the shade, I could have sat in the sun! It was a bit hot!) were taken. Grabbed a table that didn't have the best view, then people left from a better placed table so I moved to that. Finally a couple finished their lunch (so I stalked their movements and as they left I pounced, voila a table with a great view!!)
After a pleasant lunch and fuelled up, I was now ready to explore. Next to the restaurant there were viewing areas on the wall where you could get all the views and not have to pay for a lunch, I just wanted lunch with a view.
A local villa, it seemed to be a very popular site for selfies and that all important instagram shot. (A new phenomenon to me, all those instahopefuls posing for the perfect shot!) It took a while and some cropping for me to get a picture without posing people!
Mdina is also called the 'Silent City' as there aren't vehicles negotiating its streets. I would add a caveat, it's a silent city if you manage to escape all the tourists! It's a very popular tourist site, my suggestion is to walk around and explore as much as you can to experience that 'silent' part of it.
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