Malta is an island that has it all – from culture and history to food and fun

Malta offers positively thunderous sounds, immense food, and immersive history, writes Esther McCarthy

Traditional Maltese fishing boats fill the harbours around the island

Lord Bryon once described Malta as "the island of yells, bells and smells", and as I meander through the Upper Barrakka Gardens near Castille Place to witness the Saluting Battery, I get my first inkling of what he meant.

Below, the Grand Harbour unfolds in every direction — limestone bastions, domed churches, the Three Cities shimmering across the water in the spring sunshine. Two vast cruise ships sit anchored in the bay, so enormous they seem like temporary islands, dwarfing the colourful luzzu fishing boats bobbing below.