Three islands in the middle of the Mediterranean. Malta is built entirely from honey-coloured limestone, which is why every village looks like it grew out of the rock. It has temples older than the pyramids and a capital the Knights of St John built after holding off the Ottomans in 1565. Valletta is walled, baroque, and small enough to cross on foot in twenty minutes. Gozo is half an hour by ferry and moves at half the speed. Comino between them has a lagoon where you can see the anchor at the bottom. English is an official language, the flights are direct, and the sun holds from May into October.
Malta
The Phoenicia
A 1930s hotel just outside the city gate of Valletta, with private gardens above the Grand Harbour and a pool cut into the bastion wall.
