Hi Everyone! My Husband(48),my daughter(19) and I(42) are moving to Malta at the end of the year(2012)...either in November or December. We are wondering where we should look to let an apartment. My husband is a Systems & Network Engineer in the IT field and my daughter is a Licensed Cosmetologist. We want to live on the sea side with a nice view,but not in the middle of a city where its noisy. But yet we want to be close enough to the city to go shopping,have entertainment and close enough that my daughter can go to clubs and make new friends. Someone had suggest Mellieha,which sounds like a lovely place,but it seems by reading on the forums it can take an hour to drive to Sliema? Is that right? If so,that is too far out. Another suggestion was a place called Marsascala,but its hard to tell if that is what we are looking for or not? Do you think it could fit for what we are looking for? We were also told to stay away from the Bugibba/Qawra area for living since it has become a bit of a low class area lately...I don't know what that is exactly suppose to mean,but i guess i will stay away from those two areas till i get there and figure that out for myself...but its a shame because what i could find on those 2 areas seem to suggest its nicely located and could possibly fit what we are looking for. We were also told to stay away from Paceville due to it being very noisy! So,we are looking for atleast partial quiet,on the sea with a view,but close to the city where there is shopping,entertainment and jobs! Thank you all for taking time to read my post. I really could use some help.
Moving To Malta...Where To Live? Please Help.
Mellieha is indeed lovely and is great place to live, its why we chose to live in it....it can take an hour to get to Sleima by bus on a bad day. We've lived on Malta for 4 years and in Mellieha for over three years and it has never taken an hour to drive there or Valletta. Our son lives here too and works in Sliema and on average at peak times it takes about 30-40mins drive time. There are exceptions for example in heavy storms the rain overruns the roads and causes massive delays. Mellieha has a tremendous beach and is within 10-15 mins of all the other best beaches in the North, Armier, Little Armier, Paradise Bay, Ghadiera Bay, Mistra Bay, Selmun Bay, Gnejne Bay Golden Bay and Ghejn Tuffieha too. Its also closest to the ferry port for Gozo. On the other side of the coin its is the furthest part from the city of Valletta and that can take 1-2 hrs to get to by bus depending on time of day and route taken. Our main grocery shopping is done in St Pauls Bay and Burmarrad, but for cosmopoiltan shopping we go to the city or sliema. there are other places too like Birkirkara. Jobs are not easy to get in Mellieha and you must find them elsewhere - but having said that jobs in Malta as a whole are not easy to find and when you do find one its hard to get and usually not paid well..You are lucky in that IT, Finance and I-gaming are booming work fields, so you may be lucky. Not sure what a cosmetologist is but i guess its to do with cosmetics hair and beauty stuff, there are loads of them here, id say overloaded with them.
As for Bugibba, we tried living there for 6 months and didnt like it - it was not for us. Bugibba has many advantages (its on the seafront, its busy lots of small shops, easy for accomodation, buses lots of pubs cafes bars restaurants and it buzzes at night) but for us too many disadvantages (full of tourists, dirty brash, noisy and everywhere there is dog dirt and rubbish). Qawra is ok on the outskirts nearer to the coast areas but in places similar to Bugibba.
Its only our opinion and our experiences of the places and am sure for some it suits them fully but it was not in our opinion where we wanted to live. Paceville is brash and noisy but its a fun place for the young and the young at heart to enjoy a fab nightlife but with that comes noise dirt and drunken rowdy behaviour. Some of the nice areas close by suffer as a result.
Anyway hope you find what you are looking for and good luck. Enjoy Malta.
Some parts of San Gwann have distant sea views and views of the valley. Its a 5 minute drive to Paceville (but separated by the valley) Its also a 5 minute drive to Sliema, St Julians and Birkikara. There are also quite a few shops, and good bus links too. May be a good option for you.
Hi Spatzerl,
welcome to the forum.
I think you should look for a place in the Sliema/ St.Julians, Swieqi or even San Gwann area.
It seems to fit best with your criteria. There should be job opportunities for your daughter as there are many large 4 and 5 star hotels in the area offering Spa and beauty treatment.
There is a lot going on for young people including but not only the clubs in Paceville. There is also a big cinema there.
The sea is not really far from anywhere in the area. Sea front appartments with sea view will be expensive but you will find places with a nice view at a short distance from the sea and for more reasonable prices.
There are several large supermarkets in the area and a Lidl in San Gwann!
Cheers
Ricky
Spatzerl wrote:We were also told to stay away from the Bugibba/Qawra area for living since it has become a bit of a low class area lately...
The area was designed as a holiday resort in the 1960's to appeal to working class Brits.Its a concrete jungle.
Thank you everyone for your replies and greatly needed help! You have given me a great deal of useful information and new places to look into! I am looking forward to moving to Malta! I will let everyone know what we finally decided on once we have moved there. If all else fails,we will get a short contract and that will give us time to look around to find the place that is right for us. See everyone soon!!!!
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