I visited Malta in 2019. It was the perfect starting point for our trip crossing the Southern Mediterranean, across Southern Italy to Albania. All the best holidays involve a decent journey.

Malta was hot, welcoming, a little chaotic and genuinely lovely. We swam in the surprisingly choppy blue waters, accidentally stumbled upon Malta Pride, and found a truly exceptional cocktail bar. There’s no better start to a holiday.

Malta is also unexpectedly (for me at least) a little bit British. There’s an M&S, Costa Coffee, red postboxes and cars drive on the left. Curiously Malta almost ended up becoming part of the UK. In 1956 Malta was a British colony. That same year Malta held a referendum and voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to become a full part of the UK. The proposals would have seen Malta having three parliamentary seats in Westminster. Negotiations between the Maltese government and the UK government proved problematic, and Malta eventually ended becoming independent in 1964.