ヴィットリオサとバレッタ一日の第二次世界大戦

A really interesting excursion. The air raid shelter guide was a bit intense but really good. The main tour guide was excellent. Just watch the heat and take plenty of water.

The tour did NOT pick us up at the hotel after saying they would. In addition, the history and information provided on the tour were not great. If one cares about World War II history, out of seven hours, only about one was informative.

Despite several e mails informing us that we would be picked up at our hotel at 9 am the night before a new e mail was sent which went into junk mail informing us to be at a new location at an earlier time. After calling we had to take a taxi to the war museum. The war museum had its own guide. We went to see the statue of Churchill. Big waste of money. You can do this yourself as the bus service and guide are useless.

Excellent guide. I think his name was Michael. Apologies for not being certain. He absolutely made our day. He recollected memories from his childhood in Malta, especially of the uncertainty around independence. He was very entertaining with a dry wit. The tour went first to the war museum in Vittoriosa. It was so interesting. You have to wear hard hats to descend into the tunnels built to shelter from the bombing. Truly a horrifying prospect. Some of the tunnels are low and narrow…not really suitable for anyone with back issues or walking difficulties. There are steps and places you have to stoop for a distance. Excellent tour in the tunnels from possibly Trevor, names not my strong point! There is a lot to see if you aren’t able to manage the tunnels. We then were taken to the lift which for a small fee takes you up to the Barraka Gardens. This was a slight deviation to facilitate a client who was struggling a little with walking. We arrived in good time for the midday gun. We then would our way through the streets with various stops to hear about significant buildings or events. We then had a little free time to grab a light lunch. After regrouping we walked down through the city to the huge sight that is Fort St Elmo, the National War Museum where the original George cross is displayed. We walked around this site without Michaela’s you could then choose what interested you. The return transport collected the group at 3.30pm. A very, very interesting excursion if you like history. Thank you Michael for your humour and thoughtfulness.

Very disappointed to miss out on this tour through no fault of our own. We selected our hotel from the dropdown menu at the time of booking and received numerous emails all confirming this. On the morning of the trip we waited 45 minutes before contacting the tour company. They informed us that they did not pick up from our hotel and the tour had already begun. She offered us a refund which we accepted but our planned day was then ruined.

Pro’s - the two museums visited were excellent with lots of information. The air raid tunnel tour by the museum curator Umberto was especially moving, providing an insight into the conditions endured by the civilian population. Cons- We were told it was a small group tour, there were 45 which is too large for the guide to give out much information. The guide didn’t give much information relating to WW2, although the local information given on the bus was interesting. Only 1 hour spent at the air raid tunnel museum (St Elmo) and 1.5 hrs at Malta at War which is not long enough. As we were on a feeder van we were dropped at an interim location and then waited 30mins for the main bus to arrive. Conclusion- don’t book the tour and visit the museums alone. Use taxi, ferry or local bus for a quicker journey.

Shaky start to tour with the pick up. Supposedly related to heavy traffic - but the issue was resolved when the tour company sent a Taxi to pick us up and meet the bus. Guide, Miriam, was excellent! Knowledgeable about Malta history and ww2. She spoke clearly and loudly so everyone could hear.

+3

Nice, friendly guide, the tour is more concentrated on the history and buildings in Valletta, the only WW2 items ( guns, medals, uniforms and more ) are in the fort. There are no warships to see as the photo shows.

Would have liked a bit more WW2 content rather than just general Maltese history. Watch out for the heat in the afternoon at the fort.

The two museums we visited were worth seeing , especially Malta at War and the tour of the shelter with Umberto. The guide we had for the whole trip had problems with the speaker on the bus. He didn’t really seem to know his history and I think if we had been on our own we would have found out more information from the boards up around Valletta and the museum at St Elmo. Very disappointed with the guide but not the museums , so catch local buses would be my recommendation