Malta by bus · Malta by bus
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Malta by bus
Malta by bus
Until the 2nd of July 2011, one of Malta's joys (at least in small doses) was the wonderfully antiquated public bus system, consisting of 1950s-era exports from Britain usually kitted up with more chintz than a Christmas tree plus icons of every saint in the Bible and then some (as well as new chinese buses -king long-). Fares were very cheap and even the longest ride across the island cost less than €1.30; the only catch was that almost all buses radiate out from Valletta, so you might have had to detour back to the capital to reach your next destination. A short question - "To Valletta?" - to the driver when you got on helped you confirm your ending destination.
The only problem was there might have been smouldering heat during the summer but a typical bus ride is only around 20 minutes so it was fine. A typical bus fare was €0.47.
Also, most buses usually stopped running around 21.30 - 22.00. So you had to make sure you have an alternate means of transport for evening journeys. There was, of course, the exception of a Friday or Saturday night out in Paceville (ONLY LEAVING PACEVILLE).
On 3rd July 2011 Arriva took over the bus service in Malta. After more than a month of delayed and missing service, the new bus system is still far from being stabilized.
Buses pass very infrequently and when they do, they tend to be "full up" and thus pass by without stopping to pick up passengers. This results in people waiting for hours in the hot Maltese sun, unable to reach their destinations. As one bus driver joked, "Tourists now need 2 weeks to visit Malta - 1 week for the buses and 1 week to see everything else." The Arriva website for the timetables and routes is: A summary of the network on a "London Underground" style map is:
The E.U. still has to rule regarding the bus fares since non residents have to pay a higher price. A one day ticket for a resident is €1.50 & €2.60 for a non resident.
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Malta Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.