Planing the move

Hi, where are you planning to live in Malta or Gozo?

Hi
I assume that the best employment opportunities would be on Malra. The beauty and serenity of Gozo appeals though. If work were available on Gozo then travelling to Malra would be part of the new life.
Thanks for the response

I'm travelling over to give a talk in February and will look at properties and meet up with some past acquaintances. Can anyone recommend a reputable agency to rent an apartment for the week to test out apartment living?
Many thanks. Dents

Following on - we will be in Malta 8-15 Feb and following everyone's advice will look to rent somewhere for the week to get a better idea of living rather than being a tourist.
Can anyone recommend a property for the week?
Also, will look to hie a car for the week - is it best to arrange from airport?
Finding this forum so insightful - thanks everyone.
Dents

That's a big coincidence as I arrive in Malta for a week on the 15th Feb to look for an apartment and have had some good advice from ex pats. Basically they advised not to bother with looking on the Internet for property as most of the agencies listing are out of date.
I plan to move to Malta or Gozo in April, have never been there but am looking forward to living in a warmer place etc etc. Certainly warmer than Sheffield or Wales where I live at the moment.
Anyway good luck both of you in your search. PS I see a sports therapist here and will be looking for a good one there.
Now there's a good business opportunity 

Hello!
We are also planning to move over to Malta in mid Feb, we are going there this weekend for a week to view different properties etc and we are staying in an Apartment that we found via a site called AirBnB! It's great, we have e mailed the owner several times and she's been so helpful, as a complete coincidence we found out today that she's a friend of a friend of my daughter! She's a Maltese lady and I am happy that now I know it's going to be all good! It's a three bedroomed apartment and the website is very helpful too, you should look it up! Good luck

I think everyone is leaving for warmer weather, would be interested to know how you get on. Good luck
John   

Hey there, it seems February is going to be quite "crowded" in Malta  - we're also flying over from the 11th to the 25th to look for an apartment and arrange some other things. We're planning to come for about 3 months next summer as a kind of test run to see if life in Malta would really be for us, taking such a big step like moving to another country is not an easy decision, especially with little children.

Anyway, like BlossomGray we've also used AirBnB to book an apartment for the 2 weeks in February. We'll be staying in the St Paul's area (Bugibba), where we found a 2 bedroom apartment for about 450 EUR/2 weeks.
We were in Malta for 10 days last February (but just for a holiday), back then we stayed in Gzira - Bayview hotel/apartments (they have several apartments in Sliema/Gzira).

As for the car: We've booked a rental car on holidayautos.de (we're from Austria, thus a German company - but as far as I know they've got a co.uk site, too...) - we got a Kia Rio or similar for 125 EUR / 2 weeks. We also took out extra insurance via holidayautos.de to cover excess in case of an accident, which was another 56 EUR, so in all we've paid about 190 EUR to rent a car for the 2 weeks. I would definitely recommend taking out extra insurance, driving in Malta has its perils (though we've never had a problem, knock on wood...)

If you're planning to look for a rental car from where you're staying rather than from the airport, you could also use maltatransfer.com to get to your destination and back to the airport. I used them 2 years ago when I was in Malta without my family.

One more piece of advice if you're coming in February: Although the temperatures are certainly more pleasant than in Britain (or in our case, in Austria), it is quite humid and it can feel cold indoors, so think about that when packing. I was in Malta in February both last year and three years ago, and while it was great that outside it was about 15 degrees or warmer (as opposed to temperatures below zero at home in Austria), the fact that indoors it was no warmer than 16 or 17 degrees and humid was less of a pleasant experience. It does get rainy, too - last February happened to be quite rainy, in fact...

Good luck everyone with their Malta-plans
Bernie

Thanks Bernie, really good information there. I've already booked an apartment otherwise I would certainly have used airbnb for my 1 week visit. I think the blog has made me realize that when I do come over for my very long stay in April I'm best to stay with a host while I find a permanent place to stay.
Hey everyone the way this is going we all should meet up when we move to Malta 

Agreed, we need to meet up After all, Malta is such a small island this is bound to happen, anyway

Yes, it would be great to meet up and make new friends! Our children are older so it may be slightly harder for us to meet new people ( they're 25 and 16!) so it's not as easy as it used to be when we would take them out to a play park and start talking to other parents etc! As much as I'd still like to do that with them ha!!  Looking forward to next year and all it may bring 😃
Debra

Thanks everyone - looking at all options re accommodation and car but I have to say that all the posts with a negative - though grounding edge - making the decision harder!! Noise pollution, dirt, dog fouling, overcrowding, traffic, corruption, crazy red tape, bank account issues etc etc the sun and scenery better be bloomin' great!!!!

Dents, I wouldn't be put off just compare the weather here in the UK to Malta! I check it on an ap everyday. I've lived in lots of places here in the Uk and elsewhere. To be fair to the guys that have been in Malta a long time I'm sure they will be hyper critical 'cos its their home. Malta is still rated by the Daily Telegraph as the worlds #1place for "ex pats". I've never visited Malta yet, but I know Sheffield well and everywhere will have its good and bad points.
Enjoy

Chalks1 wrote:

That's a big coincidence as I arrive in Malta for a week on the 15th Feb to look for an apartment and have had some good advice from ex pats. Basically they advised not to bother with looking on the Internet for property as most of the agencies listing are out of date.
I plan to move to Malta or Gozo in April, have never been there but am looking forward to living in a warmer place etc etc. Certainly warmer than Sheffield or Wales where I live at the moment.
Anyway good luck both of you in your search. PS I see a sports therapist here and will be looking for a good one there.
Now there's a good business opportunity 

We won't be put off too easily Chalks but the 'idyllic' dream may be a little less idyllic and a bit more realistic!! Still looking forward to our trip in Feb and probably follow up in June then take it from there
Rrgards