Malta

Malta’s mysterious cart ruts at Clapham Junction near Dingli: who made them, when, the Għar il-Kbir cave dwellers, Filfla at sunset and how to visit.

Above Victoria, Gozo’s Cittadella has guarded the island for 3,000 years: the 1551 raid, an old prison carved with ships, a painted dome and tips for visiting.

On Gozo, 14 marble statues climb Ta’ Għammar Hill to the Resurrection, and Ta’ Pinu keeps the voice Karmni Grima heard in 1883: the story, a sunset and visiting tips.

On Gozo’s Xagħra plateau, Ġgantija predates Stonehenge and the pyramids: the legend of Sansuna, the Victorians who cleared it, and current tickets and hours.

Walk Valletta from the George Cross memorial to Fort St Elmo’s last stand and Caravaggio’s Beheading, with current Co-Cathedral and museum ticket prices.

Walk the Tarxien Temples — older than the pyramids — for spirals, animal reliefs, the colossal skirted statue, and current Heritage Malta hours and tickets.

Climb the Rotunda of Mosta — Malta’s Pantheon — hear the 9 April 1942 bomb that never exploded, and get current hours, tickets and the bus from Valletta.

This isn’t a sugar-coated guide. It’s Malta through the eyes of a seasoned traveller, looking for wonder but never blind to grit...