Easyjet (www.easyjet.com) runs a generally very good service from Gatwick, also flying from Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Belfast. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) goes from Luton, Bristol and Birmingham, Leeds-Bradford, Edinburgh and Dublin while BMI Baby (www.bmibaby.com) flies from East Midlands Airport. Malta’s national carrier, Air Malta has flights at some pleasantly civilised times of day from Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester. In summer there are also charter flights laid on by the larger tour operators including Thomas Cook – My Travel (www.mytravel.thomascook.com) and First Choice (www.firstchoice.co.uk).  Seven nights half board at Blue Sea St George's Park & La Vallette Resorts from £245 per person with Lastminute.com. Based on an April 24 departure, including flights from Gatwick. Click here for more information.  Save 10 per cent on a four-night break at the three-star Qawra Palace Hotel, with Thomas Cook. From £320 per person, including flights from Manchester. Based on a May 17 departure. Click here for more information.  One week's b&b accommodation at Porto Azzurro Aparthotel from £335.50 per person with Monarch Holidays. Based on a May 7 departure, including flights from Gatwick. Click here for more information.  One week's accommodation at the four-star Mellieha Bay Hotel costs from £413 per person, with First Choice. Based on a April 9 departure from Gatwick. Click here for more information.  Seven nights self-catering at a three-star resort in Bugibba, from only £215 through Co-Operative Travel. Click here for more information.  Taken from our expert guide to Valletta, by Julia Rix  Mnajdra and Hagar Qim prehistoric temples  This is the best of the temple sites to visit. There is a visitors’ centre offering a good introduction to the temple people and their buildings as well as two temple complexes with some of the best preserved ruins in the pleasantest setting. The oldest buildings here date to a time before the standing stones first stood at Stonehenge. And the temples here were proper buildings with monumental entrances, curved rooms, paved terraces, steps and decorative carving. Here you will see megalithic architecture built more than a millennium earlier than Mycenae.  Address: Hagar Qim Street, Qrendi (00 356 21424231; www.heritagemalta.org) Opening times: daily 9am–5pm (last admission 4.30pm); From mid-Apr to mid-Oct open until 7pm Admission: €9 adults, €6.50 over-60s/children 12–17/students, €4 children aged 5–11, under 5s go free.  Valletta was built to withstand invasion by the Ottoman Turks and looking up at the fortifications from the sea is an easy way to understand why the Turks never even attempted to take it. The 1hr30min-1hr50 min tour has commentary in English starts at Sliema Ferries (a five minute ferry ride from Valletta) and takes in both the Grand Harbour and Marsamxett Harbour with a little bit of open sea below Fort St Elmo in between the harbours. It is particularly pleasant on a sunny day (which is most days in Malta!).  Address: Captain Morgan Cruises (00 356 23463333; www.captainmorgan.com.mt) or Luzzu Cruises, who will pick you up from the Valletta side of the Sliema Ferry (00 356 79064489 / 99474210; luzzucruises@onvol.net [no website]) Admission: €16 adult, €13 children under 12  This tiny fortified city on top of a ridge in the middle of Malta was the capital from at least Roman times until the arrival of the seafaring Knights. It still has a medieval feel as you wander its tiny alleyways deliberately twisting to confuse the invader.  Malta: a George Cross marks the spot Malta: the perfect break Valletta: the heartbeat of Malta  Editor's Note: This article originally stated, erroneously, that the sea temperature is around 29C. This reference has now been removed.
Fed up with chilly Britain? Each day we profile an overseas destination where the sun is likely to be shining. Here we offer a guide to Malta, including five of the best last-minute deals.