With an average of 3,000 hours of sunshine each year and just a short flight from the UK, Malta has long been a popular year-round holiday option. But far more than simply a place to go for some good weather, it’s now becoming a destination for upscale gastronomy, boutique hotels and culture-filled city breaks — while many hotels and tour operators on the island are also moving towards a more sustainable model.

Marine biologists Patrizia Patti and Francesca Soster are passionate about sea life, sustainability and, in particular, dolphins — they’re so familiar with the ones off Malta’s coast that they can tell different ones apart by the shape of their fins.

Leading eco-friendly sailing tours, with research funded by the trips, they also educate tourists about marine life during an enjoyable day out on the water.

And while passengers are focused on spotting dolphins — we were delighted to spy a group (or pod) of eight, including a calf — as well as sunbathing and swimming in the clear blue sea, Patricia and Francesca are busy noting what the pods are up to, as part of their work monitoring the local population.

Gnejna Bay

Gnejna Bay (Photo: Malta Tourism Authority)

Back on dry land, there are more unique experiences to be found, including the chance to taste Maltese wine. While the small quantities produced currently make it unscalable for export, leaving it little-known outside the island, there is a burgeoning wine-making industry here and some excellent wines produced, including from grapes not found elsewhere, such as red Gellewza and white Girgentina.

The family-run Marsovin Cellars in Marsa has been making wine for more than a century and is now responsible for 60 per cent of Malta’s production. With five vineyards across Malta and Gozo, one of which is organic (but not kosher), visitors to the cellars can see the winery’s 220 oak barrels and sample some of the 30 plus different varieties.

The 1919 Gellewza was particularly good — full-bodied and complex and in spite of its 15.5 per cent strength, smooth and not too heavy. Labels from the ‘artist edition’ 1919 range also feature work from local artists, the colours subtly adapted to reflect the red, white or rosé wine within the bottle.

But while wine production on the island dates back around 2000 years, it’s a newcomer compared to olive cultivation, with olive trees on the island which are more than a thousand years old and olives grown in Malta since ancient times.

Ivan Galea is one of the latest to join in this long tradition, buying a plot of land on which to grow olive trees and make his own olive oil alongside his day job.

Olive Farm IMG 20220614 164124 796 Photo Catherine Cooper

Olive Farm (Photo: Catherine Cooper)

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for many years,” he explained. “I wanted to get my children involved in something natural, connected to the land.”

He met us at his Girgenti Olive Grove where we tasted the various different types of olive oil before lunch in a pergola overlooking the trees, with plans to start offering tastings and visits for tourists.

Our spread included hobz biz-zejt, a traditional Maltese picnic dish of bread smeared with ultra-fresh tomato, along with local beers and cheeses, simple dips and dishes prepared with freshest local ingredients by chef Karl Mallia, who believes in keeping food simple, that great quality means you can take dishes back to the basics.

Even the island’s accommodation is embracing this eco-friendly approach. With just 17 rooms, the Xara (pronounced shara) Palace is the only Relais & Chateau hotel on the island, set in a 17th-century palace. The family-run property is also the only hotel within the walls of Mdina; the former capital of Malta, nicknamed the Silent City, it has a history stretching back 4,000 years.

At the hotel’s events venue Xara Lodge, a five-minute shuttle from the hotel, Cane Vella proudly showed us around the organic vegetable garden he oversees.

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Xara Palace (Photo: Xara Palace)

Set up in January, it already supplies around 20 per cent of the vegetables used in the hotel’s restaurants — something they hope to build on. Peas, courgettes, cabbage, leeks, kale, onions and much more are grown using a drip system which needs only around a tenth of the water of the usual methods of irrigation.

Cardboard is dug into the ground to prevent weeds where they are not wanted, while in other sections they’re left to grow to encourage butterflies and pollination. “Sacrificial” plants are sown in strategic places to attract pests and keep them away from the vegetables, while there is a huge reservoir for rainwater under the main building to water the plants.

Cane has regular discussions with the chefs, not only about what is good to be used immediately, but also thinking ahead to work out what he should be growing for later in the season.

Meanwhile on the roof, an aquaponic system created largely from recycled materials ensures around 40 per cent of the food waste from the hotel is turned into fertiliser in a clever closed system.

Specially selected flies feed off the waste before being fed to tilapia fish, while the waste from the fish creates nutrient-rich fertilizer which is used to irrigate the plants, helping keep greenhouse gases within the food chain and out of the atmosphere. While the scale is currently small, they hope to eventually expand it to use food waste in from other hotels in the area as well.

de Mondion Michelin Star, Malta - Terrace (6)

De Mondion (Photo: Xara Palace)

If the method is entirely down to earth, the results are transformed at the hotel’s award-winning de Mondion restaurant, where you can taste the produce from the vegetable garden and aquaponic system.

De Mondion, with its glorious 180 degree view over Malta, was one of the first restaurants to be awarded at Michelin star in Malta in 2020: there are now five on the island. Chef Kevin Bonello has been with the hotel for 21 years and his star is thoroughly well-deserved.

The tasting menu changes regularly according to the season — and what’s ready in the field — featuring beautiful amuse-bouches, while typical dishes include tuna with shitake and an incredible strawberry-based dessert, all beautifully presented. You can also arrange vegetarian or vegan alternatives given advance notice, and the service couldn’t be faulted.

It’s not only the restaurant which has spectacular views. Many of the 17 rooms and suites look out across the island, with duplex suites and suites with hot tubs on the terrace. Each room is decorated differently, featuring period furnishings, lavish bathrooms and original artwork.

The hotel has a second restaurant, Trattoria AD 1530 with a gorgeous terrace in a riad-style courtyard where pizza, pasta, salads and other simple dishes are served, while there’s a bar and restaurant at nearby Xara Lodge, along with a pool, and a shuttle on demand to take you there and back.

Mdina Gate

Mdina gate (Photo: Malta Tourism Authority)

And while Mdina can get busy during the day if one of the large cruise ships come in, there is something very special about wandering in these ancient, now-pedestrianised streets once most of the crowds have disappeared.

With just a few (largely artisanal) shops within the walls and a handful of restaurants, it feels very much like time has stood still.

Wander a few minutes further and you can explore the narrow, pretty streets of the old town of Rabat, with its own bars and restaurants. Try a traditional pastizzi, flaky pastry stuffed with ricotta or peas; the renowned Is-Serkin (otherwise known as the Crystal Palace bar) has been serving these since 1946.

With so much that’s familiar, from English spoken across the island, to red telephone boxes, post boxes, shops you’ll recognise from home, and even British plug sockets, Malta feels very easy to visit.

At the same time it has a truly Mediterranean feel, its own exotic language influenced by the many cultures who’ve settled here, history galore and those beautiful blue seas — as well as far more than you might have imagined once you venture off the beaten track.

Getting There

Rooms at The Xara Palace start from around £200 per night.

Ecomarine sailing trips cost from around £55 per person.

A 75-minute tour and tasting at the Marsovin Wine Estate costs from around £52 per person.

Find more details about visiting Girgenti Olive Grove

For more information on the island, go to visitmalta.com

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