Italy's 'third tier' cities offer local flavor without the tourist crowds

Bari women dressed in medieval costumes for the feast of St.Nicholas

Mornings in Bari Vecchia, Bari's medieval old town, belong to the fruit and vegetable vendors, butchers and bakers catering to locals doing their morning shopping or kibitzing over an espresso at a sidewalk cafe.  

It won't be long before the tour groups arrive, and a new crop of vendors begin filling tiny donuts with chocolate Nutella, and taking orders for a chilled Aperol Spritz. 

As a port city on the Adriatic Sea and the capital of Southern Italy's Puglia region, Bari plays life down the middle, sometimes catering to groups who come to tour its castle and 12th-century basilica; other times turning its attention to its working-class population of fishermen and seamen.

Old Town Bari at night

Outside the walls of the old town, in the 19th century "new city," Bari takes on a sophisticated feel with fashionable shops and pedestrian streets lined with cafes serving avocado toast topped with eggs and smoked salmon.

Bari Vecchia once had a reputation as a gritty, no-go area, but that has changed as more visitors have discovered the Puglia region, and start their travels by train, plane or car in the capital city.

Inside the walls, along narrow pedestrian streets, Bari's nonnas (grandmothers) carry on a tradition of making pasta shaped like little ears (orecchiette) on tables set up outside their homes. And when evening approaches and the tour groups leave, and local residents take back the ancient quarter for their evening passeggiata.

A Bari nonna drying pasta on the sidewalk

Cries of "over-tourism" are buzzing around Italy these days with Instagram photos of crowds blocking the way into Rome's Trevi Fountain or human traffic jams in Positano and the Cinque Terre.

The answer for those who want to avoid this scene: Look towards  Italy's "third tier," cities  such as Bari or Sulmona, a mountain town in the Abruzzo region where my husband and I stopped recently on our way to and from visiting relatives.

Spend the night at a B&B instead of a hotel, and join the neighbors for an espresso on the curb outside their house that doubles as front porch, as we did in Bari. Or enjoy breakfast on a  rooftop overlooking snow-capped mountains, as we did in Sulmona. 

Famous sites might be scarce, but serendipity awaits. You might be invited to join in a  local feast day celebration,  or be waived onto a a bus by a driver even though you don't have a ticket.

The statue of St. Nicolas

We were familiar with Bari's devotion to St. Nicolas (remembered as Santa Claus for the good deeds he did for children), the former 4th century Orthodox Catholic bishop of Myra, Turkey, from a previous visit. His relics are held in a crypt below the Basilica of St. Nicolas where a special chapel has been set aside for Orthodox worshipers who look towards icons rather than statues in prayer. 

An icon of St. Nicolas on its way to a parade in Bari

On this visit, we happened to arrive at the start of a three-day festival commemorating the arrival of the saint's remains in Bari in 1018 when Italian sailors spirited his body away from Myra for fear of muslim desecration. 

Locals wait for the parade to start from Bari's 10th-century castle built by a Norman king

We were invited to join in the fun as hundreds of locals dressed in homemade medieval costumes paraded from the town center to the waterfront where the next day a statue of St. Nicolas would be put on a ship for a boat parade, followed by fireworks, a light show at the basilica and the arrival of dozens of food trucks.

Abruzzo

Moving on from Puglia, our destination was L'Aquila, Italy's Capital of Culture for 2026. L'Aquila was devastated by an earthquake in 2009 which destroyed much of the historic center and displaced thousands of people.

It's comeback story is impressive, although incomplete, with major renovations of churches and historic sites ongoing. Our plan was to spend a couple of days there exploring, but first, a detour by train to Sulmona.

Sulmona's 13th-century aqueduct

If Sulmona was is Tuscany, it might be overrun with tourists, but the town, known for its sugar-coated almond candies that appear at every Italian wedding, is hidden deep in the mountains of one of the country's least-visited regions.

The old town is a delightful mix of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture, with a blend of history and modern charm. Actor George Clooney, drew attention to Abruzzo when parts of the movie "The American" were filmed in Sulmona in 2010.

The walk from the train station to our B&B in the historical center looked doable on a map, but the route was all uphill along a busy road with no sidewalks. We flagged down a bus, and seeing our suitcases, the driver waived us on even though we had no ticket  The bus was headed to a nearby town, but he was passing through Sulmona, so he dropped us off near the main square and its 13th century aqueduct.

From there it was a short walk, uphill again, to the B&B Il Marchese Del Grillo where the energetic owner, Marta, welcomes guests into antique-filled rooms in a restored 18th-century mansion.

Our room was two flights up from the entryway. The rooftop breakfast room was another six flights higher. The reward for this was a 360-degree view of the snow-capped Apennine mountains, and a made-to-order breakfast of croissants, scrambled eggs, prosciutto, fruit and local cheeses.

Sulmona with the Apennine mountains in the background

If you have ever attended an Italian wedding, you were probably given a bag of white sugar-coated almonds, called confetti. Chances are they came from Sulmona and Confetti Mario Pelino which has been producing them since 1783, now in its 7th generation of family owners. 

Edible confetti floral arrangements 

Copper basins are used to coat the almonds with layers of sugar

A walk outside the old town to its factory is a must-do pilgrimage to buy the candies, now sold in bright colors and some coated in chocolate and crafted in the shape of flowers. There's a free museum filled with antique equipment, and a viewing platform looking down on the factory where almonds are coated with layers of sugar in rotating copper basins. 

Almost any festive occasion in Italy calls for a brass band. While sitting at an outdoor cafe, we were lucky to catch a rehearsal for the graduation of new police recruits planned for the next day.

A member of the police band takes a rest

Led by a female commander wielding a sword, the recruits, wearing blue berets and holding machine guns, marched by in formation while a band of drummers, tuba and trumpet players led the way to where the ceremony would take place.

 "It's going to be crazy," our waiter told us. All the cafe tables were already reserved for the next afternoon. But for now, we had front-row seats. We ordered another glass of wine, and sat back to soak up the scene. 

Escape Seattle's summer crowds with these car-free island getaways

The Winslow marina on Bainbridge Island

No one needs an excuse to scoot car-free on a ferry across the Puget Sound for an island getaway.

But come this month and next, when 750,000 soccer fans are expected in Seattle for the FIFA World Cup games, some visitors might be looking for one. 

Whether you're a local or a visitor, a budget-friendly cruise aboard a walk-on ferry will quickly put the traffic and crowds in your rear view mirror.

As the Seattle skyline fades in the distance, relax and plot your visits to bookstores, galleries, museums and farmers' markets in these three Kitsap Peninsula destinations. 

Winslow/Bainbridge Island

A 35-minute ride aboard one of the big green and white Washington State ferries takes you to the doorstep of downtown Winslow, the gateway to Bainbridge Island, a bedroom community on the Kitsap Peninsula.

Start your day on Winslow Way East., a short walk from the ferry dock along a path marked with information on parks, trails and the story about how pickleball was invented here in 1965.

 Anchoring the entrance to town is the free Bainbridge Island Art Museum. This year, it is  showcasing Northwest crafts with a July exhibit featuring the handiwork of local indigenous artists.

Breakfast on the patio at Coquette Bake Shop 

The museum opens daily at 10 a.m., but if you're here earlier, find the Coquette Bake Shop at the corner of Winslow and Madison for coffee and a morning bun on the sunny patio. 

Lining both sides of Winslow Way are street-level shops selling olives, chocolates, books, Turkish rugs and local art and pottery. Smaller stores are tucked away down flights of stairs or in alleyways. That's where you'll find the Rabbit Hole, a shop crammed with upcycled art objects and estate sale finds, and also Backstreet Beat, stocked with vintage vinyl, used books and $1 CDs.

The Rabbit Hole gift shop

Bainbridge was once a timber and shipbuilding center with a population bigger than Seattle’s in the late 1800. To learn about that history and how the island was affected by the internment of Japanese during World War II, stop by the free Bainbridge History Museum. 

End the day with a glass of wine on the rooftop at Fletcher Bay winery,  then find your way to one of the restaurants on the Winslow marina for a late lunch or dinner. Take a woodsy walk back to the ferry dock along the Charles Schmid CQ Waterfront Trail. 

Bremerton/Port Orchard

With views of the Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier, the $11 (round trip) one-hour cruise aboard a Washington State ferry to the maritime community of Bremerton is a bargain.

If you're short on time, you can get there in half the time via a Kitsap Transit passenger-only fast ferry.

The Admiral Pete foot ferry to Port Orchard

Either way, the best idea is to go on Saturday and add on another 12-minute ferry ride across Sinclair inlet to the rural hamlet of Port Orchard and the Port Orchard Farmers Market. https://www.pofarmersmarket.com.

Dominating the Bremerton skyline is the hulking Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, in this location since 1891. If you're a military buff, visit the free Puget Sound Navy Museum, https://pugetsoundnavymuseum.org CQ or tour the USS Turner Joy, a museum within a retired naval destroyer moored on the waterfront. 

Otherwise, follow signs to the Port Orchard foot ferry for a $2 trip aboard one of Kitsap Transit's electric ferries or the vintage Admiral Pete.

Steamed buns for sale at the Port Orchard Farmers Market

 Make your first stop the farmers market where white canopies line the waterfront. Wander among the stalls to find locally-produced honey, homemade pickles, steamed buns, solar-powered wind chimes and fruits and veggies grown by backyard farmers. Then take some time to explore Bay Street, a throwback to a small-town main drag decorated with gas lamps and covered porticos.  

Stop at Carter and Company for homemade chocolates, ice cream and miniature cheesecakes, or head to Dude's Donuts across the street for gluten-free vegan donuts and coffee. 

Tea Alchemy

Shops come and go with economic ups and downs. One of the newest additions is Tea Alchemy & Gilded Exchange stocking hundreds of loose teas and herbs "apothecary" style with jars for customers to open and smell.

A mainstay is Josephine's Mercantile, started by Samantha Smith, a South Kitsap High School alumna. 

Inspired by her grandmother, Josephine, who saved everything, Smith and a team of small business owners invite customers to hunt for vintage treasures and repurposed goods in a vast space that once housed roller rink.

The ferry back to Bremerton leaves ever half-hour. Before returning to Seattle, catch the dancing water show at Harborside Fountain Park near the naval museum.

Dining with a view is never cheap, but Anthony's at Sinclair Inlet makes it affordable with its daily happy hour ($10 burgers, $7.50 cocktails) on the deck overlooking the harbor. 

Kingston

With just 20 walk-on passengers aboard Kitsap Transit's fast ferry from the Seattle waterfront to Kingston on a recent Friday morning, there were more than enough window seats for everyone to catch a glimpse of passing container ships, the Olympic mountains and Mount Baker.

Kitsap Transit's fast ferry

The boats fill with 100 or more passengers on their way from Kingston to Seattle in the morning, but the “reverse commute” — from Seattle to Kingston and back to Seattle in the late afternoon  - feels like a 40-minute private cruise.

 Most everything to see and do is concentrated along the main street (Highway 104) near the ferry dock, so grab a coffee-to-go at Aviator Coffee in a wooden shed called the Hangar, or plan your day over an espresso milkshake at women-owned Over the Moon Coffee Roasters.

Depending on your timing, lunch could be French crepes under a sidewalk umbrella at J’aime les Crepes ; Argentinian empanadas at Argensol; or British comfort food from the Saucy Sailor where owner Daphne White starts cooking at 8 a.m. inside a 230-square-foot kitchen. Kiwanis Park near the ferry dock has benches and a shaded gazebo for picnicking. 

Walk-up window at the Saucy Sailor

A handful of retailers offer an eclectic mix of small-town finds. The Paisley Whale  vintage shop keeps limited hours, but when it's open, its inventory of collectables, records, books and clothing spills out onto the sidewalk with $5 treasures.

Fly-tie hat pins for sale at Havencraft

At Havencraft,  horticulturist and jewelry artist Anja McElvaney works with her partner Matthew Schaffer, a woodworker, inside a century-old craftsman-style house. Wander the rooms stocked with local pottery, jewelry and handmade soaps, and check their website for dates of summer afternoon porch concerts.  

Take a half-mile walk from the ferry dock up the hill along Highway 104 to find two bookstores and the Borrowed Kitchen Bakery. Savor the smells of baked apple danish, or pick up a rosemary sourdough or walnut pumpkin seed loaf to take home.

Connected to the bakery is Saltwater Bookshop with a curated selection of cookbooks, childrens' books and books on Northwest indigenous culture. A few doors down at the Kingston Bookery, wooden shelves teeter with 30,000 used titles in a shop started by owner Jeff Wiley's parents in 1998.

Saltair Beach at low tide

For a nature walk, "I would suggest people not miss Saltair Beach, just to the right of the ferry dock on the approach to Kingston," says Saltwater Bookshop owner Madison Duckworth. "There are starfish and tide pools to explore, plus a great view of the ferries coming and going."

Wait for the return ferry to Seattle over a beer at the Kingston Alehouse, or depending on the day, a glass of wine at the Cellar Cat  jazz and piano bar.

  If you go: 

Be prepared for ferries to be more crowded than usual during the FIFA games. Boats rarely fill up with walk-on passengers, but it can happen if they reach capacity. Give yourself plenty of time to return to Seattle.

Washington State Ferries operate the Seattle/Bremerton and Seattle/Bainbridge Island daily car and passenger ferries. Walk-on round-trip fares are $11.35 for adults and $5.65 for ages 65 and over. Youths 18 and under ride free. Info at wsdot.wa.gov/ferries 

Kitsap Transit runs a fast passenger-only ferry Monday-Saturday between Pier 50 on the Seattle waterfront and Bremerton; another between Seattle and Kingston; and the daily foot ferry between Bremerton and Port Orchard. Adult fares are $2 from Bremerton or Kingston to Seattle ($1 for seniors) and $13 from Seattle to Bremerton or Kingston ($6.50 for seniors). Youths 18 and under ride free. Adult fares for the Bremerton/Port Orchard foot ferry are $2 each way, $1 for seniors and free for youths 18 and under.

West Seattle getaway

If you're short on time, and looking for a quick waterborne getaway, consider a trip to West Seattle where there's ferry service to a scenic walking and biking path skirting Alki Beach. 

King County Metro operates a daily walk-on water taxi between the Seattle's Pier 50 and West Seattle's Seacrest Park. Crossing time is 10-15 minutes. Adult fares are $6.25 each way ($5.25 with Orca card) and $2.50 for seniors. Youths 18 and under ride free.

This story appeared in The Seattle Times on June 13, 2026.

A love letter to Southern Italy: People rather than big sites reward visitors

 

Pasta-making at Agriturismo Regio Tratturo

Big sites and important museums are few in rural Campania, a Southern Italian region dotted with hilltop towns, known for their "cocina povera," traditional peasant food familiar to many Americans.

The reward for a long drive along a winding road past pastures dotted with wind turbines might be a stay at a farmhouse inn where the owners roll out sheets of fresh pasta on the dining room table, and tempt their guests with homemade cakes for breakfast.

Always a steep climb in the hill town of Greci

Perhaps you will visit a 15th-century hilltop village such as Greci, the town where my grandfather was born in 1901. And if it's a Sunday, you might snag reservations for a three-hour lunch at a countryside winery.

Pizza-making at CorteCorbo Winery

It might sound like a cliché to call this the "real Italy" but those words define a part of the country so far untouched by the crushing crowds in cities such as Rome and Florence.

If this sounds like your kind of travel, then take a train to the nearest small town that has a car rental agency, and spend a few days exploring between visits to more well-known areas.

Family connections draw my husband and I off-the-beaten path almost each time we visit Italy. 

Our first visits were to towns in Sicily, Calabria and Campania where Tom's grandparents were born. This spring, we made our fourth visit to Greci, the town my grandfather, Nicolas Pucci, left at age two when his parents followed uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters to Canton, Ohio to seek work in the brick factories.

A statue in Greci honoring war hero Skanderbeg 

A statue in Greci's town square honors George Skanderbeg, an  Albanian nobleman and military leader who answered a call to help the Italians defeat French-supported Insurrectionists in the 15th century. Seeking to escape the Ottoman invasion of Albania, the Catholic soldiers accepted an offer from the King of Naples to relocate in 51 towns scattered throughout Italy.

The communities call themselves "Arbereshe,'' and preserve an ancient Albanian-Italian dialect still taught in some schools with government grants to support cultural awareness.

This sign in Greci welcomes visitors in English and Abereshe

Our first stop is always a visit with Rita Di Minno, 79, a native of Greci who lived for a while in Australia. As an English speaker, she serves as the unofficial ambassador to American visitors, welcoming many into her home to look at books and pictures about the history of Greci.

Rita outside her home in Greci

The  population is declining (down to 400 from around 700 two years ago), as it is in small towns all over Italy. A bed and breakfast and small restaurant closed recently, leaving just the pharmacy, two churches, an ATM and a bar that serves pizza on Saturdays and Sundays.

Many of the houses are owned by Italians from other parts of Italy, Ukrainian refugees and a few Americans ex-pats who have come to explore their roots. While walking around, we met John Pastor from Akron, Ohio, whose  great-grandparents were born here. He and his wife live part-time in the two-story, two-bathroom home they bought for $55,000. 

John Pastor from Akron, Ohio 

It was John's mother's first cousin, John Mazzarella of Florida, who founded an organization called Greci Cousins. With John's help, my family and others traced our ancestry to one of 15 original Albanian families who settled here. Although we know of no direct relatives, everyone is considered a "cousin" because people in the town mostly married each other.

"There are many people with the name Pucci here," John told me. "You are in good company."

A close friend from your home town, who is not a direct relative, is called a paisan -  a fellow countryman or compatriot.

At home near Greci with Maria and Dante

Two of our favorite paisans are Maria Castielli and her husband, Dante Molinario who live 30 minutes from Greci in nearby Ariano Irpino. Maria's mother was born in Greci, but Maria was raised in England so speaks fluent English as does Dante who worked for a while in Toronto.

They generously welcome us into their home for dinner when we visit. In the past, they shared homemade prosciutto from a pig they killed themselves and wild asparagus from their garden. This time, Maria prepared an antipasta called “Cheat Pizza,” pizza dough on the bottom filled with tomato sauce and cheese and topped with a flaky pastry. Dante made us a special pasta with their homemade tomato sauce and pork sausage. They don't kill pigs anymore, but they preserve their own peppers, olives, asparagus, tomato sauce, all stored in huge basement pantry.

Dante serves the pasta 

Maria with her Cheat Pizza

Our home base for a three-day stay in the area was Agriturismo Regio Tratturo, a farmhouse inn reached along a narrow, winding road, once a path used by shepherds to move herds and flocks from one pasture to another. Today the hillside are dotted with wind turbines and olive groves. 

The view from Agriturismo Regio Tratturo

The delightful owner, Antonietta, takes care of four rooms and a restaurant where everything on the menu is homemade from ingredients grown or raised by she and her husband, Rinaldo and their staff. They host large groups for weddings and birthdays. When we checked in, they were busy making fresh pasta on the dining table for 50 guests coming the next day.

Antonietta her ciambella

"Sweet or savory," Antonietta would ask us about what type of breakfast we would prefer. If we said savory, then an omelette would appear along with fresh bread, jam, homemade peach juice and little biscotti cookies. 

A choice of "sweet" one morning produced slices of a ciambella, a Campanian-style breakfast bundt cake flavored with Strega, a sweet, yellow herbal liqueur made in nearby Benevento.

Irpina in the province of Avelino is this area's wine region. Although not as big or well-known as Tuscany, its mountains and volcanic soils help a scattering of family-owned wineries produce three out of four of Campania's DOCG (Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin) wines. 

Looking for something to do on Sunday when almost everything is closed, we found CorteCorbo Winery in the town of Castelfranci, 35 miles from Ariano.

On Sundays, the winemaker, Antonia Romano and her son, Antonio, host a three-hour lunch and tour at the house that belonged to her grandfather. 

After a GPS mix-up that took us down a one-lane road to a bridge that was closed, we recovered, and after an hour and half's worth of driving, arrived at noon to find the outside terrace filled with guests, including a group of Americans stationed at a naval base in Naples. 

In between pours of their six wines made from three varieties of local grapes, we snacked on an antipasti spread of roasted pumpkin, cheeses, eggplant parmesan  and salami while Antonia taught everyone how to stretch dough and make pizzas.

Antipasti on the terrace

Antonia supervises the  pizza-making

Tom readies a pizza for the wood-fired oven

It was around 2 p.m. when we finally gathered in the dining room for a sit-down dinner. Antonio played and sang "Country Roads" on his guitar while we toasted our hosts, and stayed until 4 p.m  enjoying pasta, meatballs and tiramisu. 

New friends and a view of Castelfranci from CorteCorbo winery

Is it a cliché to call this the "real Italy," especially with so many English-speaking Americans around? Perhaps, but I prefer to remember it as special Sunday in the Italian countryside with generous hosts and new friends. It doesn't get much more real than that.  

Heading to Europe soon? Expect some changes, but Americans still welcome

Aperitivo hour in L'Aquila, Italy

Heading to Europe soon? Expect a few changes, the most significant being higher prices due to the sinking value of the U.S. dollar. 

As for anti-American sentiment directed towards travelers, it's always been an overblown myth in my opinion. Nothing in the three weeks my husband and I spent recently in Malta and Southern and Central Italy changed that. 

Yes, we were questioned about "What on earth is going on the United States," but the tone was more curious than critical. Many people in many countries are not fond of their own leaders or their policies, so empathy carries the day.

So, what's new?

  *Thanks to the war in Iran and Donald Trump's economic policies, one euro is now worth $1.16, meaning when you look at the price of a 150-euro hotel room, the cost to you is $174 compared to $166 this time last year when the exchange rate was $1.11. 

Minimize your costs by using a no-fee credit card and, NEVER allow a merchant to convert a charge to U.S. dollars on the spot, a so-called convenience which comes with a fee. 

Watch for hidden fees charged by foreign ATMs

When it comes to cash (rarely needed these days), a foreign ATM will often ask if you want to accept or decline an exchange rate.  If you accept, the ATM locks in a conversion rate on the spot that comes with hidden markups and fees, sometimes up to 15 percent.  If given a "Yes" or "No" prompt, press "No" to decline the offered exchange rate. By declining the conversion, your home bank processes the transaction at the standard, much fairer daily exchange rate.

*Prepare for delays upon entering and leaving EU countries using new electronic entry and exit systems (EES) that have replaced manual passport stamps with facial recognition and finger print scans.

Machines for finger print and facial recognition scans

If you are traveling this summer, you are in luck because the EU has temporarily authorized airports to pause both to head off long lines and technical glitches. 

When our flight from Rome to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport arrived late, we were diverted to a "short connection" exit line to catch our flight back to the U.S. All that was required was an electronic passport check.

Entering the EU via Amsterdam was a bit more of a hassle because electronic reader machines weren't working. Incoming passengers were redirected to long lines for manual checks by agents. 

Tap and pay machines on buses in Rome

*Paying for public transport in many countries has become easier. We were pleased to find that the subways and buses in Rome and the ferries in Malta have converted to the credit card or phone Tap and Pay system. This was much easier than having to buy and load and use a Navigo pass in Paris with different fares for buses and the Metro.

*Some businesses in Italy are moving away from long afternoon closures (typically 1 p.m.- 3 p.m.), but many still retain the custom, especially in the south where closing times can extend until  4 or 4 :30 p.m. Keep this in mind if you are renting a car. The Hertz rental office in Foggia closed at noon for a lunch break and didn't reopen until 3 p.m. Our rental agreement didn't mention this. We arrived by train from Bari a few minutes before noon, just in time for the agent to process our paperwork before he pulled down the metal door and left for lunch.

*Italy's customs around what and when to eat are changing as younger bar and restaurant owners bend the rules. Cafes along Bari's main pedestrian street leading to the train station cater to foreign travelers with morning offerings of avocado toast with eggs and smoked salmon while continuing to cater to Italians who prefer espresso shots and pastries.  

Limoncello spritz

If you skipped lunch and find yourself hungry before 7 p.m., the traditional opening time for Italian restaurants, adopt the local custom of stopping for an aperitivo (usually an Aperol Spritz) in the late afternoon which is almost always is accompanied by free snacks. Popular these days with foreign travelers is a Limoncello spritz, made with a high-proof sweet lemon liqueur. Aperol is low-proof (around 11 percent), the reason why most Italians prefer it as a before-dinner drink.  

*Try out some itinerary planning using ChatGPT or another A-I tool, but beware of using restaurant and hotel recommendations without first cross-checking reviews on sites such as TripAdvisor. Same goes for public transport schedules. That said, I found ChatGPT handy for a quick overview of getting from here to there in certain places along with timing considerations, suggested walking tours and the highlights of what to see or do.

*We travel independently rather than on organized tours, so I value third-party booking sites such as Get Your Guide and Viator for day trips and short excursions. They can be convenient for booking entry to historical sites or museums rather than toggling through foreign websites. Payment is by credit card and cancellation is allowed up to 24 hours in advance.

We used Airbnb to book a three-hour food tour of the capital city of Valletta in Malta and the website Freetour.com to book a morning walking tour around the city of Birgu. Some "Freetour" excursions are no longer free, but the cost is minimal - 20 euro or so per person - which replaces the normally expected tip. 

Lunch in Valletta in Malta where steps take the place of streets

Malta in the Mediterranean: Where Arabia meets Europe

 

Built from limestone, Malta's capital city of Valletta glows in the Mediterranean sun 

We're not beach people. Nor are we all that interested in military history.

So why will we be soon visiting Malta, a handful of tiny islands in the Mediterranean between Sicily in Italy and Tunisia in North Africa? It‘s a country mainly known for its summer resorts, its history as a strategic military site during World War II, and the place where Catholic crusaders defeated the Islamic Ottoman Empire in the 1500s.

Our decision started with a search for a new destination to explore with convenient connections to Bari in Southern Italy where we plan to visit friends in the town where my grandfather was born. 

A Ryanair flight to Bari from the Maltese capital of Valletta popped up on Google Flights around the same time I spotted an article titled "There's more to Malta than Beaches."

"Where Arabia Meets Europe" is how Saudi AramcoWorld Magazine described Malta in its February issue. A confluence of cultures - Greek, Roman, Arabic, Sicilian, Spanish, French and British - gifted Malta with a blend of culinary traditions, architecture and a semitic language in the same family as Arabic and Hebrew, with phrases adapted from French and Italian. 

I booked the Ryanair flight.

Malta in the middle of the Mediterranean

Getting a handle on Malta's geography is tricky. The country includes five islands, three inhabited, dominated by steep limestone cliffs indented by bays, inlets, and coves. Deciding where to base ourselves for six nights was the first challenge

The most obvious choice is Valletta, the European Union's smallest capital filled with 16th century Baroque-style buildings built by the Knights of St. John, a Catholic brotherhood, founded in Amalfi, Italy in 1048. Called the Knights Hospitaller, they originally provided a nursing hospital for sick pilgrims in Jerusalem, but later took on a military role fighting Muslim invaders during the Crusades. 

Following the reconquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces, the Knights moved on to Greece where they were later expelled by the Ottomans. Searching for a new base, they accepted an offer from Roman Emperor Charles V to occupy isolated and sparsely-populated Malta for the price of a single Maltese falcon.

The backstreets of Birgu

The Knights settled in Birgu, a city on a peninsula stretching out across the harbor. Following the1565 Great Siege when the Knights and Maltese civilians successfully halted the Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean, the Knights' leader, Jean de Valette, set out to build a new heavily-fortified city across the harbor from Birgu to be called Valletta. 

Built entirely of golden limestone, it developed into a center of Baroque architecture, featuring grand churches, monasteries and gardens. 

St. John's Co-Cathedral, a Baroque showpiece built by the Knights of St. John in 1573.

After looking for places to stay in Valletta and finding them either booked or expensive, we  decided to base ourselves in quieter and less-congested Birgu. Our Airbnb ($130 per night) is  an air conditioned apartment in a  renovated 300-year-old townhouse  a short ferry or bus ride across the water from Valleta. Pictured below is the exterior of the apartment with a gallarija, a traditional Maltese enclosed wooden balcony, an Arabic-inspired feature designed to offer with privacy, ventilation, and a view of the street.

Birgu also happens to be the best location to view the Malta International Fireworks Festival, usually held after Easter, to mark the start of the summer fireworks season. The country has deep pyrotechnic traditions dating to the time of the Knights who celebrated military victories and important religious events with gunpowder displays. This year's festival finale, capped by 1,000 drone show, will be happening while we are there. Tickets are already sold out for viewing areas with seating, but our Airbnb is right next door, so it looks like we will have front-row seats by default.

Airbnb in Birgu's Medieval quarter

Buildings with Arab-style enclosed balconies 

We hope to explore other areas beyond the usual guidebook recommendations with the help of a few walking tours and a 7-day bus pass good for unlimited rides on Malta's excellent transportation network. We'll use an Airbnb Experiences' three-hour street food tour to get acquainted with Maltese cuisine, and plan to visit the main food hall called-Suq Tal-Belt, Suq, taken from the Arabic word for "marketplace." .

Traditional Maltese coffee is blended with chicory, ground cloves and aniseed

Bloggers with YouTube videos point visitors to local neighborhoods within walking distance of  Valletta. One is Hamrun, a neighborhood the AramcoWorld story described as a multicultural mix of immigrants, ones who have lived here for decades and those who can trace their lineage back centuries. Here, the story said, visitors will find  "a pan-African shop of goods called Inshallah Mini market is sandwiched between a Catholic church and an Afghan restaurant. Just a few blocks down, past a diner sporting American flags and the Australian butcher, is a Syrian-owned nut shop." 

As for our Ryanair flight to Bari, there's a risk it could be cancelled due to fuel shortages caused by the U.S. war with Iran. There are other flights, so the worst that could happen is that we would have to an extra day in this surprising country. Maybe even hit the beach.