Buskett, the Knights' woodland below Verdala Palace

Malta is an island of stone, houses and sea, which is why Buskett comes as a surprise. In BirdLife Malta’s words it’s Malta’s only semi-natural woodland, and although it’s small, with holm oak, pine and fruit trees, it has the shade and quiet that are hard to come by elsewhere on the island. I’d put it into the same day as Mdina and the Dingli Cliffs.

The Knights’ hunting ground

Buskett began life as a hunting ground. BirdLife Malta says the Knights of the Order planted it, and that it’s overlooked by Verdala Palace, built in 1586. The woodland fills the valley of Wied il-Luq, which the charity places within Siġġiewi, although it sits right up against Dingli and its cliffs. It’s owned by the Government of Malta and you can walk in at any hour without paying. In the same council area, a restored quarry houses the Limestone Heritage Park, devoted to Malta’s limestone.

None of the official websites I’ve read mentions visits inside Verdala Palace, so I’ve left it out of the plan. You can see it from the woods, and that’s enough for me.

What you’ll find

Trees, first of all, which in Malta is saying something. BirdLife Malta lists holm oak, Aleppo pine, olive, white poplar and giant reed, and among the flowers the brown orchid and the large blue alkanet. It’s a small, mature wood, better for an hour’s stroll than a long hike.

Then there are the birds. Buskett is an Important Bird Area and a good spot for raptors on migration. In autumn, honey buzzards and marsh harriers turn up regularly, often roosting in flocks among the trees. In spring you might see kestrels, hobbies, turtle doves, cuckoos, hoopoes and bee-eaters passing through, and the wood is a breeding site for Spanish sparrows and several warblers. If birdwatching is your thing, pack binoculars; BirdLife Malta uses Buskett for its own field visits, which tells you how good the spot is.

And there’s history. The same charity mentions Punic catacombs and Bronze Age cart ruts in the area, the grooves cut into the rock that turn up all over Malta.

More than a wood

VisitMalta’s listing fills in what BirdLife leaves out. It credits Grand Master Lascaris with commissioning the gardens, and describes Mediterranean pines alongside vineyards, orange groves, olive and lemon groves. Paths run between ivy-covered stone walls, and there’s wilder woodland where you can wander off the main track. From autumn to spring, it says, the gardens fill with wild flowers and the natural springs run, and the wood climbs uphill towards the more formal gardens of Verdala Palace.

That mix is what I like about Buskett. It isn’t a manicured park, and it isn’t wilderness either. It’s farmed land and woodland side by side, which is closer to how the Knights would have known it than anything else inland.

L-Imnarja, Buskett’s big night

If your dates are flexible, look at 29 June. That’s L-Imnarja, a public holiday in Malta, and VisitMalta names Buskett as the venue for its lively summer celebration, a folk festival and a thanksgiving for the harvest. It’s also the time of year when the gardens work as the picnic spot locals have always used them for. The listing doesn’t describe the evening itself, so I won’t either, but it’s the one date in the calendar when Buskett stops being quiet.

Protected by the European Union

Buskett is part of the Natura 2000 network as «L-Inħawi tal-Buskett u tal-Girgenti», a 244.71-hectare site protected for both its habitats and its birds, according to the European Environment Agency’s database. It’s the same scheme that covers Comino and Dwejra, and for me it explains why this has survived as one of the greenest corners of the island’s interior.

When should you go to Buskett?

It depends what you’re after. For birds, spring and autumn are best, when migrants pass through, and in autumn the raptors stay overnight in the wood. For a simple stroll, in the hot months I’d go late in the afternoon, when the shade is most welcome and the light is dropping towards the cliffs next door.

What I would do is weigh both against the hunting warning, which falls exactly during the migrations. In autumn and spring I’d stick to the main paths and go mid-afternoon. Winter has its charm too, and since it’s free and always open you don’t have to fit the visit around anyone’s opening hours.

How do you get to Buskett?

By bus, on routes 52, 56 and 181, which stop at Buskett. The 52 and 56 start in Valletta and carry on to Dingli, so a single ticket, valid for two hours with transfers, can cover both the woods and the cliffs. If you’re driving, there’s parking on site. Malta Public Transport sells it as a good spot for walks and picnics, and that’s how I’d use it.

One warning worth heeding. GOV.UK advises that during the spring and autumn seasons you may meet armed hunters near footpaths, any time from two hours before dawn to two hours after dusk. At those times of year I’d go mid-afternoon and stick to the main paths.

Putting it into a day

I’d do Mdina and Rabat in the morning, head down to Buskett after lunch for a walk in the shade, and go up to the Dingli Cliffs for sunset, when that coastline looks its best. If you want more of the outdoors, there are other routes in walking and hiking in Malta, and the village of Dingli is right next door.