I stayed in Valletta, which ended up being the perfect home base for exploring. It’s a city of honey-colored stone buildings, colorful enclosed balconies and doors, ornate brass door knockers, and narrow streets that spill out toward the sea. My Airbnb was tucked inside a beautifully restored historic building, and some of my favorite moments of the entire trip were sitting on its rooftop terrace with coffee in the morning or a glass of wine at golden hour, looking out over the rooftops and water.

Beyond Valletta, I loved the colorful fishing village of Marsaxlokk, the quiet ancient streets of Mdina, and the dramatic cliffs surrounding the Blue Grotto, which are even more impressive from a little boat on the water. Comino and the Blue Lagoon completely stole the show and I even went twice, squeezing onto a beach chair precariously balanced among the rocks, surrounded by water so turquoise it didn’t look real. If there is one thing I wouldn’t skip in Malta, it’s getting out on the water. Between the hidden caves, limestone cliffs, and clear Mediterranean sea, some of the country’s most beautiful views are the ones you can only see by boat.

What I loved most was how much variety Malta packed into such a small country. You could spend one day swimming or on a boat, the next exploring a centuries-old city, and the next at a fishing village or beach club. And if you wanted nothing but beach days, you could easily do that too. There are sandy beaches, rocky swimming spots, cliffs, caves and more places to swim than you could fit into one week.

I was pretty much in love with Malta by the time I left. It was beautiful and golden and charming in a way that felt completely different from anywhere else I’d been. I came home feeling like I had seen so much of the country, and I still wanted more. It’s also one of the places I keep telling people about because I’m always surprised by how few people I know have been. If you’re trying to decide where to spend a European summer, Malta deserves to be on the list.