Check in at London Luton or Gatwick for our scheduled flight to Malta. On arrival, we transfer to our hotel in Sliema (4–star). Dinner will be in our hotel on each night of our stay.

In the morning we visit Malta’s capital city, Valetta. We concentrate first of all on visiting the churches. Firstly, St Paul’s Shipwreck Church, one of the oldest churches in Valetta. We may view the paintings of Attilio Palumbi, portraying episodes in the life of St Paul, as well as two important relics, an arm bone of St Paul and a piece of the column on which he was beheaded. We visit St John’s Cathedral, where Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Beheading of John the Baptist hangs in the Oratory. Afterwards, we visit the Grandmaster’s Palace, and the Wartime Experience. We shall then walk to the Upper Barraka Gardens for a wonderful view of Valetta harbour. The afternoon will be at leisure to explore or shop in Valetta, before we return to our hotel.

After breakfast we drive to Mdina, the Roman capital of the island, which predated Valetta by several centuries. We visit the Archbishop’s Cathedral, co-cathedral with St John’s in Valetta. It is believed to stand on the site of the Palace of Publius, who was Roman Governor at the time of St Paul’s visit, and who subsequently became the first Bishop of Malta. We can have a superb view of the islands from the ramparts of Mdina, including St Paul’s Bay, where he was shipwrecked. We will then visit Rabat, where we shall see St Paul’s Church and the grotto where Paul is said to have lived and preached after his shipwreck, as well as the early Christian catacombs.

After breakfast we travel by coach and then cross by ferry to the peaceful island of Gozo separated by a five-mile wide channel from Malta. It is very different from Malta itself, greener, more rural and very relaxing. We visit the charming capital of Victoria, including the citadel and the 17th century cathedral of the Virgin Mary. After lunch, which is included in a local restaurant, we leave the capital, and drive to the most important place of pilgrimage on the island, Ta’ Pinu Church, named after Pinu Gauci, a wealthy man of great devotion, who lived in the 17th century and restored the church, which is dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady. We also visit the Ggantija temples, and finally the marvel that is the church in the village of Xewkija, which has a dome third in size only to St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London.

In the morning we take a trip by boat to see the famous Blue Grotto. From here, we continue by coach to the Village of Zurrieq, one of the oldest in Malta. We visit the 17th century church of St. Catherine, which contains wall paintings by Mattia Preti, who also painted the interior of St. John’s co-cathedral in Valetta. We also visit some of the picturesque fishing villages along the coast before returning to our hotel for lunch. Afterwards, transfer to Malta Airport for our return flight to the U.K.