Mellieha Town, Selmun Palace, Mistra Bay and St. Paul's Bay
For a map of the route click icon
Mellieha Bay and Marfa
Ridge beyond, seen from Mellieha Town.
After visiting George's Bakery, located at the top
of the main street in the town, we took the road
going south, passing the Belle Vue Bakery (the
other Bakery we found in the town) - NB. On our
last visit to Malta in the Spring of 2008 we noted
that the Belle Vue Bakery was closed . On
reaching the traffic island at the eastern end of
the Mellieha Town By Pass a signpost on the left
directed us along a broad road to Selmun Palace.
There was very little traffic using this road,
which was flanked by lots of wild flowers and had
views south towards St Paul’s Bay. The sun was out.
It was glorious.
St Paul's Bay seen
from the road leading to Selmun Palace.
Soon after passing a small church on our right we
reached Selmun Palace, which is perched on top of a
hill overlooking St Paul’s Bay. As the details in
the map I had with me were not particularly good we
asked a couple walking towards us for directions.
Although there were a lot of Germans holidaying on
the island we instinctively knew that this couple
were English. I suppose it has something to do with
the way the nationalities dress. Anyway this couple
said that we should go to the right of the Palace
and in 100 yards or so take a right turning. We
could then take a path that would lead downhill to
a minor road that lead to Mistra Bay. This sounded
just what we wanted, so having spent a few more
minutes passing the time of day with the couple we
followed their instructions. 100 yards, turn right
and almost immediately on our left was the downward
path.
The view from the path
between Selmun Palce and Mistra Bay and the narrow
downward path.
(the inlet to the centre of the photograph is
Mistra Bay)
It was very steep but the top part of it had been
covered with concrete to give a better surface. At
least that’s what I presume it was for. It was just
as if someone had got a load of concrete and let it
run down the path where it would have soon
solidified. It certainly made our downward trek
easier. Needless to say we lingered on this path.
We could see to our left the old army barracks at
Fort Campbell. To the right of this St Paul’s
Island, and to the right of this Mistra Bay. And on
both sides of us terraces covered with wild flowers
which, as we neared the bottom of this descent,
were replaced by potatoes and other crops . On
reaching the road at the bottom we turned left and
in a few minutes were at Mistra Bay.
Mistra Bay
Mistra Bay was very quiet. The one café/restaurant
there only opened at weekends and evenings at this
time of year. So we sat on a slipway, Anne dangled
her feet in the sea, and we enjoyed the cake we
purchased from George’s. It was delicious.
Unfortunately the only drink we had with us was
water but it was acceptable and we sipped it as we
sat in the afternoon sun and enjoyed the wonderful
panorama.
We retraced our steps along the road, which was
flanked by various crops. It was like walking
through a number of allotments. It was so
interesting. Time flew by and it seemed no time at
all before we reached the main road between St.
Paul’s Bay and Mellieha. Although we could have
caught a bus from here we decided to walk the
couple of miles back along the coast to St Paul’s
Bay. Initially there was no path, so we had to take
care as vehicles passed close to us, as we walked
to the small resort of Xemxija (not sure how it’s
pronounced but I did hear someone call it Eczema).
Selmun Palace from the
to road to Mistra Bay.
The path from the "Palace" to the road can be seen
acending diagonally left.
However, soon footpaths were in evidence and it
became more pleasurable as we strolled down to, and
then along, the promenade. However, we had to leave
the seafront soon after and used footpaths
alongside the road to get back to our hotel at St
Paul’s Bay.
It had been a lovely little walk. Probably slightly
over 5 miles and even the bits of road walking had
not detracted from the enjoyment of this sunny
stroll.