Walking/pavements

jklm.11 wrote:

Hi,

I'm considering moving to Malta soon, and one of the key priorities for me is that I prefer not to spend much time in commuting and transports. Malta seems like an ideal place in the small size scale and according to the maps the distances seem to very short. However, I keep reading that cycling is from one town to another is a no-go and barely walking either. That infromation is from previous years so is that still accurate?


For example walking from Pieta to Marsa only seems to take around 30minutes, but is there actually no pavements?Those towns just an example is that also accurate in general?

One of the main reasons I am interested in moving to Malta would be all the outdoor activities and sports I could do, but the idea of not being able to walk/cycle to the facilities (at least to most of them what I would do on daily basis) is putting a bit of a downer on it.

Any advice regarding this is much appreciated!

Hi there,

First of all we are welcome in Malta if you are planning come to Malta as you mentioned your priority is not to spend much time in commuting and transport. This is a best place as this is Small Island and places r not bit far. You can go easily by walk everywhere in some areas you will find pavement but not everywhere.

You can also do outdoor activities like running jogging you can also do cycling but in specific areas for that you have to ask first

This is good time to come here is the weather is very pleasant.

JKLM 11 Welcome to the Forum, with regards to your question about walking and cycling, yes the pavements and roads can be quite dangerous, the standard of driving here is poor and although Malta is a small island it can take ages to get from one place to another because of the volume of traffic.  With regards to pavements many are
uneven and can get slippery when wet.  Some places are obviously worse then others and it would be worth your while to have a holiday here first.  I cannot comment on the individual areas as I live on
Gozo.
Despite the negatives Malta is a lovely place to come and live.
Have you visited here?

Map estimates also do not consider the impact of 80% humidity in the mid 30Cs.

For many walking far really isn’t option, you should ask yourself carefully if that’s something you are with in summer.

Yeah, in Summer, during the day, jogging is something you'd want to limit to very early in the morning, or evening - even walking gets too hot. However, you just have to shift to water mode .. the summer months are best for swimming or any other water based activity, and there's plenty of options to keep you busy - swimming, diving, kayaking ... (again you need to take the sun into account, but just be sensible).

Pavements in general are pretty rubbish, but for jogging are fine, particularly if you choose a nice location by the sea, the promenades are well maintained. Walking around is a good way to get from A to B, just not in the peak summer months.

I used to be a keen cyclist, left my expensive road bike in the UK though ... there's no way I'd risk cycling here. But I'm pretty risk averse (more so with young kids!), and you do see a number of cyclists ... but the driving here is crazy and very unpredictable.

I would also avoid waking anywhere without pavements even though many are not good and you end up not walking on them, in Gozo they are particularly bad and very narrow.

Cycling in Malta is full on! I brought my road bike here and I've commuted a few times - you've got to be on it for sure - random big pot holes and ready for pull outs, car doors opening etc. Some of the major roads between towns have cycle lanes but my experience is they have some serious tyre destroying materials strewn in them - only experienced them in winter, maybe they get cleaned up, hope so!

Really the buses for me are good here as well, 1.50 per trip to get anywhere in Malta, although I love cycling and so the odd assault course/commute is still providing pleasure/+adrenelin

As for the pavements, I only really know St Julians, Sliema-Valletta Coastline - away from the sea front it can be steep and quite un-even - there's an incredibly beautiful [to me] absence of the more efficient but ugly streets and buildings of more modern places but its not as accommodating to get round with mobility difficulties.


The above may well not apply to areas other than described but my guess is that these being the main tourist areas its likely to be even trickier [but perhaps more satisfying none the less] outside the busier regions.

I was there on vacation and loved walking around even if pavements were not that good. But of course if you are planning to walk from one city to another it will take you quite some time. But public transport is not so bad and not expensive at all.