Photo: Justin Ciappara/MaltaPhotography
According to Instagram’s biggest travel account, Beautiful Destinations, Malta is the most underrated location in the world. With its sunny weather, turquoise seas and gorgeous historic buildings, it’s not hard to see why! Luckily for us, a few Instagrammers are in on the secret. We’ve picked four of the best accounts that showcase the island’s locals, beautiful landmarks and offbeat neighbourhoods. Follow them now for all the Malta travel inspiration you need.
Hidden Malta @hiddenmalta
Hidden Malta is a collection of the island’s most photogenic spots by professional photographer, Marcin Wludyka. He combines shots of the big churches, castles and viewpoints with quirkier snaps. Net sacks of fresh bread hang on a sun-baked wall, and vintage cars and scooters are parked up outside colourful houses. Marcin’s photos also make a great guide to Malta’s coolest street art, backstreet bars and secret beaches.
“Malta is such an amazing country with so many hidden gems that tourists sometimes miss, even if they are coming to stay for a few weeks” he explains. “Some unique locations can only be reached on foot.”
The People of Malta @thepeopleofmalta
Photographers Roderick Vella and Stephen Buhagiar started their Instagram account to capture the individuality of Malta’s people. Stephen reveals their aim “to share emotions, stories, personalities, moods and contrasts depicted in pictures and in citations of the Maltese people”.
Every photo is captioned with an interesting quote from its subject. People of Malta is an amazing peek into the lives of Maltese locals from all walks of life, from farmers with their sheep and grinning elderly couples to tattooed hipsters.
MaltaDoors @maltadoors
Definitely one of our favourites, this is a quirky curation of Malta’s prettiest doors from photographer Lisa Gwen. No entrance is unworthy of her camera click – you’ve got faded wooden ones with peeling paint right next to intricately carved pillars.
Lisa says that she started her account almost by accident. “I was looking for something to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I was trying to organise the images in my photo gallery, and noticed that I had been increasingly capturing doors and facades.” After this she found she wanted “to collect as many variations of doors possible, before they vanish or are replaced by modern counterparts.”
Malta Photography @MaltaPhotography
“After starting to take an interest in photography and noticing that photographers and travellers were capturing stunning photos of the Maltese Islands, I decided to create Malta Photography to give more exposure to these talented people” explains Justin Ciappara, the lensman behind this account.
Justin features heavenly snaps by other Instagrammers who use the hashtag #MaltaPhotography. Scroll through incredible white beaches, colourful cobbled streets and some seriously spectacular sunsets.