Malta HOHO tours

[smileon]

Hoping somebody can offer some advice regarding the HOHO tours.

 

There seem to be 2 companies doing this - is either preferrable?

Can you actually get to the Blue Grotto and take the boat into the caves from the bus?

Which of the tours would people recommend?

 

I had thought we wanted to visit Mdina and the Blue Grotto but not sure if this is manageable as they seem to be on different routes.

 

Thank you for any advice

[smileon]

Just bumping this up to see if anyone can help!

 

thank you

[Three hills]

Check these websites

 

 

http://www.city-sightseeing.com/tours/malta/malta.htm#tourlandingposition

http://www.maltasightseeing.com/EN/content/31

http://www.getyourguide.com/malta-l90/hop-on-hop-off-bus-tour-south-malta-t596/

[Hlitner]

We are hesitant to respond...but since nobody is helping we will jump in with a little knowledge. We have never taken the HOHos...but had friends (and tablemates) who used the HOHOs and were satisfied. They took the line that went all over the island...and like us, they had previously been in Malta. Personally, we have previously rented a car in Malta (we think this is a great option to explore the island outside of Valetta) and most recently just used a local bus since we only needed to go to a single destination (Hypogeum). We do strongly recommend that any first-time visitor make Mdina a primary destination. The Blue Grotto is somewhat of a tourist trap, and I when we toured the island (years ago) with friends who live there...they made sure to steer a wide berth away from that place. But keep in mind that if you only want to go to one or two places the island has an excellent bus system.

 

As to HoHos...they are great for those that want to see the island through a bus window. But, if you plan on getting off the bus at multiple stops you need to consider that the frequency of the buses may have you spending a good part of your day just waiting for the next bus. This is why DW and I prefer to rent our own car.

 

Hank

[KirkNC]

We are with Hank, not fans of HoHo but the local bus system does work great and it's cheap. I will say though on the ride back from the Hypogeum the driver was texting and driving :eek::eek:

[smileon]

Thank you for all your replies.

I had looked at the websites but just wasn't sure about how reliable they were.

As suggested I think we are tending towards avoiding the blue grotto and heading for Mdina.

Hadn't thought about car rental but will look into that idea which would give us more flexibility.

 

Thank you again

[Hlitner]

Thank you for all your replies.

I had looked at the websites but just wasn't sure about how reliable they were.

As suggested I think we are tending towards avoiding the blue grotto and heading for Mdina.

Hadn't thought about car rental but will look into that idea which would give us more flexibility.

 

Thank you again[/quote

 

Here is my caution re car rental. We rented from a local company who delivered our car right to the port (you have to go out to the street) and did the paperwork in the car before handing us the keys. They even allowed us to drop the car at the port (we were there overnight) which was very convenient. But driving in Valetta is not easy as the streets wind every which way....there are hills, many of the streets are old, and parking can be a real hassle. A rental car should be used as a means of getting away from Valetta....and having (or renting) a GPS is very helpful.

 

Hank

[Keith1010]

We took the HOHO and I would highly recommend it.

 

Keith

[ROCruiser]

We also took the HOHO bus and it worked out fine for us. But then we didn't get on and off except at Mdina/Rabat because we did not plan on going any where else. We just wanted to go to Mdina and then back to see Valletta before getting back on the ship.

[realnice46]

The City Sightseeing HOHO is less crowded and makes more frequent stops and is 10 euros.. Mdina and the Blue Grotto are on different routes, so you will have to choose. We loved the blue Grotto. It was only 8 Euros and went into 7 or 8 caves, beautiful!

[iancal]

We did the HOHO for an overview. We only got off twice-time constraints.

 

But now we know that we want to go back a week. A week in Malta, a week or two in Corfu, and two weeks in Sicily. Cannot wait.

[nzdisneymom]

While we didn't use the HOHO in Malta, several others on our cruise did, and their post-cruise reports lean more to the negative side. I will say that we were there on a Sunday so that may or may not have made a difference, and also one of the HOHO buses had vehicle issues which backed things up. This was just two weeks ago.

 

We used a car/driver/guide that the cruise line booked for us for our first stop in Malta and it was a fabulous way to see the area and have it personalized for our interests. A bit pricey but for the four of us by the time we divided it to a per-person fee, it was within range.