Information on moving to malta 2013

Brilliant!! Merhba
Good info.
Love the spirit.

Just out of interest (and as we are off glamping in July to Italy) how much and how good was the ferry from Scily to Italy?

Just a note to everyone that we priced up the Virtu ferry on line but decided to book via a local travel agent, it saved us nearly 200€!! (some of the dates we loked at online were not available but were OK via the arent).

Terry

Good to read a comparable story as I did the journey just over a week ago.

I haven't added mine up yet but I dont think my costs were that high, and I went the France route with tolls, as it was the most direct

We completed the drive from London to Malta a week ago. We used the ferry from Dover to Calais and then drove through France and into Italy to Genoa where we boarded the ferry to Palermo. We drove from Palermo to Pozzallo where we boarded the Virtue ferry to Valletta.

Our total costs were £950:-
Tolls £117 
Petrol £174 (1400 engine size)
Ferries £470 (we booked directly with all the ferry companies)
Hotels  £140 (slept over twice, Ibis hotel in Fontainbleau and Attic12 in Palermo - both places had safe parking for a very overloaded car!)
Food about £50 Fresh bread/fruit/cheese/ fruit juices and water   from supermarkets, plus a couple of coffee stops.
Don't think our costs were too bad

Just out of interest...


.......did any of you 'newcomers' meet a couple of friends of mine in a bar a couple of weeks ago in the North?  Tina and Sue (my friends) said that they were talking to a couple who had 'loads of shopping' with them and that they had just recently arrived and were just sorting themselves out.

Mike

tearnet wrote:

Just out of interest (and as we are off glamping in July to Italy) how much and how good was the ferry from Scily to Italy?

Just a note to everyone that we priced up the Virtu ferry on line but decided to book via a local travel agent, it saved us nearly 200€!! (some of the dates we loked at online were not available but were OK via the arent).

Terry

Terry
The ferry was fine. They run every 30 min or so and you don't have to book but one thing i will say is the drivers in sicily are nuts! they were trying to get in between our truck and trailer! so be careful. have fun!

I think the reason for our trip costing that much was because we had a very heavy  big trailer and truck.
Also on our truck we had two kayaks a bike and big bbq. But if you were in a car the tolls are a lot less and you wouldn't spend so much on fuel. 

On top of the cost we saw some amazing places we would never of seen if we hadn't done the trip.

Good luck to all driving

Mike, no wasn't me ;-)

I'm on my own, and not been out to bars really yet.

I would have qualified for the overloaded car!!

Naz23 wrote:

tearnet wrote:

Just out of interest (and as we are off glamping in July to Italy) how much and how good was the ferry from Scily to Italy?

Just a note to everyone that we priced up the Virtu ferry on line but decided to book via a local travel agent, it saved us nearly 200€!! (some of the dates we loked at online were not available but were OK via the arent).

Terry

Terry
The ferry was fine. They run every 30 min or so and you don't have to book but one thing i will say is the drivers in sicily are nuts! they were trying to get in between our truck and trailer! so be careful. have fun!

Thanks for the info, i'll be carefull.

Terry

Terry
The ferry was fine. They run every 30 min or so and you don't have to book but one thing i will say is the drivers in sicily are nuts! they were trying to get in between our truck and trailer! so be careful. have fun!

Worse than in Malta!!! Yikes!!

Yes redmik we were so shocked! I just closed
my eyes I can't believe they past a test!

I've been to Sicilly twice working in Catania and it's the only country where I have refused to drive. Their completely bonkers

Haha yep they are

They frightened the living daylights out of us - our car was loaded to the hilt so visibility was not as good as it could have been..... It was like a swarm of ferocious metal objects large and small trying their best to hit us. Malta is a breeze in comparison once you work out what happens at roundabouts, yield and stop signs - the answer is simple, it's who dares goes first, he who doesn't dare gets hooted at, we have already learned to ignore the merry hooters and go in our own time

Haha yep I am not great with the hooters but I ignore them too.

i have probelm with ignoring hooters

Hi you long haul drivers UK to Malta.
Doing the drive E/O July 2013
You all driving on UK insurance in Malta AOK with green card etc.
Just trying to anticipate any problems.
We have 2 small dogs with passports,rabies inoc. chipped etc.
Again anyone who's recently done the drive with pets have any suggestions for us.
We are thinking of sailing from Genoa - Valletta,again any comments or suggestions most welcome.
I was a regular visitor through the 1990's on business to Sicily,please tell me their 'driving skills' have improved!!
Would be great to bounce off someone:)

Don't forget to fill in the pet arrival and tracking forms for Malta (the vet will meet you when you arrive).
Also note that end of July is very busy on the roads in France/Italy as its the start of the big getaway, lots of hotels on main roads will be full so it pays to reserve in advance, the good news is that dogs in hotels on route should not be a problem.
The Genoa to Valletta is for freight only (I understand) but I think you can sail to Sicily from Genoa but be aware that the kennels on board are disgusting so insist that you have the dogs in the cabin.
Just came back from  a week in Sicily, I thought the driving was of a better standard than the Maltese, however that's not a very high benchmark!

Hope this helps,
Terry

Thanks for all that Terry
Most helpful.
I just added content on ID cards/residency etc.
My wife is Irish & me a Brit.
Can you foresee any particular bureaucracy problems from your experience?
Thanks
Reggie