Make Your Next Trip Extraordinary

My experience was seamless just perfect
Our guide Sara was so experienced incredible amazing and our driver Mario too
Damon was impeccable in his planning, so helpful and knowledgeable, always available
We loved Malta it was memorable and would highly recommend Damon’s company—wow !!!

In one word, our 8-day Malta trip in July 2024 was awesome! We loved the guides, the food, the history, the views, excursions and hotels but could have done without the heat wave. Malta has a little bit of everything and is easily doable in 7-9 days without a lot of driving or time in transit. Our schedule included a lot of activities but they didn’t feel rushed and were all so interesting. Most days we did have time to relax in the room for a couple of hours before dinner. Having drivers show up everywhere felt so indulgent but made things easy, seamless and carefree—perfect for our 25th anniversary!

Our guide, Matthew, was incredible—so knowledgeable, gracious in answering our many questions and kind in making any changes on the fly. He’s exactly why I like to use Wendy’s travel experts! We learn so much about the country, its people, history, customs, food from locals that we would never get on our own. It also ensures a smooth, stress-free, easy-to-enjoy experience.

Some of our favorite excursions included exploring Valletta, private Grand Master’s Palace visit, Gozo hike near coast and gorgeous picnic spread, quad biking in Gozo, Ta Betta wine tasting (wish we could get the wine in US), exploring Mdina including private palazzo visit, meeting pastizzi maker in his home, sunset dinner with Charlie (very interesting guy who showed my gardner husband how to graft and propagate trees/bushes) and meeting pipe organ restorer. Most surprising excursion was ancient Malta—visiting the Hypogeum and Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples. They were fascinating to see and to think about ancient people building them 1,000 years before the pyramids of Giza! Do not miss Gozo island when in Malta—it’s quieter, less crowded and fun to explore. Traveling there by sailboat was also a great, relaxing way to experience the Mediterranean and see the islands from a different viewpoint.

There was so much to do and learn in such a small country. We will definitely spread the word and highly recommend Jason and Damon’s team.

We just returned from five nights in Valletta, Malta. We had just completed a Mediterranean cruise and flew to Valletta from Barcelona. In Valletta, we were met by our driver, Owen, and our guide, Robert, and began our incredible Maltese experience arranged by Jason Allan. I really hate to use the word “amazing” because it is so overused right now, but Malta is truly amazing. I wish we had planned 2 weeks there because I don’t think Jason would have run out of fabulous experiences for us.

Jason arranged incredible accommodations and suggested great restaurants. Our adventures in Malta were a treat for all our senses. We tasted great local wines and dishes, toured interesting museums and archeological sites, and spent a relaxing day on the Mediterranean Sea. Our guide and driver were so accommodating when we asked to see where the bomb hit the dome of the basilica at Mosta. Even though it was not on our agenda, they happily added it and we so appreciated their flexibility. My husband has a strong interest in WWII and was thrilled to see the private home museum of a local expert on Operation Pedestal. We felt extremely fortunate to be able to spend time looking at his collection and hearing his stories of Malta’s WWII involvement. As an amateur artist, I especially loved seeing the art of Caravaggio at St. John’s Co-Cathedral.

There can be little doubt that the Mediterranean is a huge incredible archeological site and Malta is an integral part of it. We wish we had known to stay longer, but believe strongly that Jason’s planning maximized our time in this incredible country.

We traveled to Malta with another couple in May. Damon Allan did an outstanding job of planning our 6-day trip for us. It was clear from the beginning that he truly loves Malta and wants his clients to love it as much as he does. We worked with Damon for several months, planning and tweaking our itinerary, and at one point ended up with a potential package that exceeded our budget. When we asked him to pare it back a bit Damon graciously and quickly came up with suggestions and options to bring it back in line.

We knew we were in good hands when we landed in Malta and were met on the (hot) tarmac and whisked to our (cool) private car whilst fellow travelers were herded onto (hot) buses to be driven to the terminal to collect luggage. We’re very committed to carry-on luggage only and this commitment, along with Damon’s organization and planning, resulted in us being driven directly to our hotel without stepping foot inside the airport terminal. This likely pared at least an hour off of what was already a very long travel day.

We stayed at the Iniala hotel in Valletta and, as a benefit of being Damon’s clients, received a food and beverage credit and a welcome gift of wine and snacks in our room. The hotel is lovely and the view of the harbor is even lovelier. We can’t imagine staying anywhere else in Valletta. In the fascinating old walled city of Mdina we stayed at the Xara Palace and had the delightful experience of walking through the streets after dark, when it seemed as though we were the only people in the city.

Damon arranged for us to have a driver and a guide for our entire week in Malta. This was crucial to the success of our trip as our itinerary was very full and we certainly couldn’t have seen and done as much as we did had we not had transportation arranged to and from — and between — each excursion. Our guide Pierre is hands-down the best guide we’ve ever had. He is extremely knowledgeable about Malta’s very complex military and political history and is equally well versed in architectural and art history. We simply would not have had as rich an experience in Malta had we not had the benefit of his wonderful story-telling style of explaining what we were seeing and experiencing. Pierre is not only an incredibly well informed guide, he’s also very good at assessing his clients’ needs and interests and adapting to same. When we started to lag a bit on a very hot day he sensed our need for a rest and quickly found us a shady spot for a drink. When he noted we were starting to overdose on church artifacts he suggested a change of pace. And on one occasion when a scheduled car didn’t show up as planned he quickly ushered us to an interesting shopping street while he sorted things out. The delay wasn’t a big issue and certainly wasn’t a problem for us, but his handling of the situation speaks to his commitment to customer service and his desire to shield his clients from any inconvenience. Similarly, he accompanied us with our driver back to the front door of our hotel at the end of every day, even though some days our activities ended close to his own home. His insistence on escorting us to our hotel likely added another hour or so to his work day but he wanted to ensure that all went well for us.

The food in Malta was great. Damon booked reservations for us at very good restaurants and we unfailingly had the best tables.

Everything we saw and did in Malta was interesting and enjoyable. Some of the more unique experiences (lunch in an olive grove with a surprise presentation — thank you Damon — by a scholar/maker of traditional Maltese musical instruments, a picnic on the beach in Gozo, a visit to a private palazzo hosted by the owner) were possible because of Damon’s personal connections in Malta. These experiences simply wouldn’t have been available to tourists traveling/booking on their own and were a huge part of the value in working with Damon. Similarly, tourists traveling on their own would likely not have ended up with a guide of Pierre’s calibre.

We’ve not previously worked with a travel planner to the extent that we worked with Damon. Having done so, we’ll likely never travel again without dealing with someone on Wendy’s WOW List. We’re converts. Our trip to Malta was not inexpensive but we came away knowing we received incredible value for our expenditure. As noted, we believe we had unique experiences due to Damon’s personal connections. While we were in Pierre’s very capable hands every day, we also had the benefit of Damon’s long-distance involvement while we were in Malta. When it looked like the weather was not going to be favorable for a boat trip to the island of Gozo, he and Pierre worked their magic to juggle things and postpone the trip to the following day. This is something we could not have done on our own without considerable stress and without sacrificing other parts of our itinerary. As it was, everything was seamlessly reorganized for us such that we didn’t miss out on anything. It’s difficult to put a price tag on that kind of service/attention.

We’ve been home from our trip for just over a month and are still digesting all that we saw and learned. Now when we run into any kind of a day-to-day glitch (a lineup at the grocery store, an inability to get reservations at a favourite restaurant, difficulty finding a parking spot) we look at each other and say “Where are Damon and Pierre? Surely they could sort this out for us!“ Does this tell you how much Damon deserves to be on Wendy Perrin’s WOW List?

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