If I noticed a person on a relationship app with “chasing sunsets” as an curiosity on his profile, I’d instantly swipe left (reject!). Yet right here I’m, sprinting throughout a Mars-like limestone outcrop in time for sunset — the fourth I’ve watched in as many days.
Such is the seductive, transformative nature of Gozo, Malta’s ludicrously photogenic little sister. A forty five-minute ferry hop from Malta, Gozo is typically described as “the new Ibiza”, thanks to those sunsets, cartoonishly blue water and sun-bleached cliffs. With Ibiza too expensive for Gen-Zers in inventive or tutorial fields, and Jet2 and Ryanair flying to Valletta from Edinburgh and Glasgow, Gozo appeared value a strive.
Villa Rothwell is a mid-range rental property positioned in northern Malta close to the city of Mellieha
Of course, should you’re flying into Malta it could be perverse to not spend a while on the fundamental island itself. However, a phrase of warning: Malta’s roads might be hilly and slim. Inching tentatively round bends in our Toyota (employed with flights via reserving.com), I silently thank the rental gods I’ve employed an automated — unsure my hill-start expertise might have dealt with a guide — and try to absorb the views of dry, scrubby hillsides and glowing bays, all the whereas annoying the zippier native drivers ready impatiently behind us.
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Golden Bay and the adjoining Riviera Beach are identified for his or her iron-rich clay and historic limestone formations
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Another phrase to the smart (truly two phrases to the smart) should you’re visiting these elements: Oliver’s Travels have greater than 30 mid-range properties on Malta and Gozo, from conventional farmhouses to cliff-edge villas. “Why do ordinary?” is their strapline and, judging from Villa Rothwell (three nights’ self-catering from £1,383), our base in Malta’s quieter north, it’s no idle declare. Perched a ten-minute stroll from fairly Mellieha city, the three-bedroom villa has modern decor, its personal pool terrace and the elective providers of the chef Alan Warren Cefai, who delivers a meal of moreish smooth cheese, selfmade ravioli and a shocking rabbit stew (the nationwide dish), alongside anecdotes about the island’s historical past.
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Villa Rothwell is a brief drive from two of Malta’s most interesting seashores, Golden Bay and Riviera Beach, each a particular burnt orange hue because of the iron-rich clay and historic limestone. It makes for a splendidly putting distinction with the impossibly azure sea, the place we snorkel for hours amongst tiny fish as the solar units cinematically out to sea.
The Blue Lagoon is a cove on the uninhabited island of Comino, located between Malta and Gozo
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On our final day on Malta we rise early for a ship journey to neighbouring Comino island (£35 for adults, yippeemalta.com), a limestone oasis that is uninhabited save for one lodge (and daytrippers like us flocking to the Blue Lagoon, a cove so vivid it seems Photoshopped). At first I’m a bit tetchy when music comes out of the boat audio system: “Why couldn’t we just listen to the lapping waves?” But the Eighties playlist ultimately wins me over, particularly once we are provided complimentary cups of glowing rosé.
The Maltese gothic church of Ghajnsielem close to Mgarr on Gozo
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Located in the ferry port city of Ghajnsielem, Villa Gozo Garden options six bedrooms, a pool and sizzling tub
After our quick keep on Malta, we catch the ferry to Gozo, decamping to Villa Gozo Garden (4 nights’ self-catering from £1,732), a six-bedroom villa set in mature, splendidly shaded gardens planted by the house owners’ grandparents. The villa is in the ferry port city of Ghajnsielem — so inside strolling distance of retailers, cafés, eating places and even seashores. Not that we wander far at first, waylaid as we’re by the pretty gardens and beneficiant pool, the place we spend hours taking part in very newbie volleyball whereas the ref screens affairs from the sizzling tub.
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On Gozo, although, gorgeous swimming spots abound, and earlier than too lengthy we’re drawn — as most guests to the island ultimately are — to the Blue Hole close to Dwejra. A 60m-deep tube carved out over millennia by wind and waves, the Blue Hole seems like one thing out of Pirates of the Caribbean. Even the sea of selfie sticks can not spoil the magic of plunging into the electrical blue pool simply as the sky ignites with the first glow of sundown
Wied il-Ghasri is a slim coastal gorge on the island of Gozo — excellent for a farewell swim
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My cranky aspect does briefly re-emerge the subsequent day at Wied il-Ghasri gorge, the place some {couples} have arrange a speaker by the rocky path main all the way down to the water. But after a farewell swim via the slim waterway taking in the view of the sea past, my associates and I be part of the {couples} for an impromptu salsa dance session — earlier than a last crepuscular climb, in fact. Sometimes, simply generally, music can add to a spot of pure magnificence. And generally, simply generally, it’s OK to speak about chasing sunsets. Maybe I ought to give these boys on Hinge a second likelihood.
Blanca Schofield was a visitor of Oliver’s Travels (oliverstravels.com), Visit Malta (visitmalta.com) and Booking.com. Fly to Malta from Glasgow and Edinburgh from £70 return (jet2.com, ryanair.com). Ferry fare to Gozo is about £4 for a foot passenger (gozochannel.com)
