Ramla rated a top beach

Gozo seems to have left an impact on British holidaymakers and for the second consecutive week, Malta's sister island has been ranked as a top destination in London's The Sunday Times' Travel Supplement.

Yesterday's edition of the newspaper included Ramla l-Hamra among its top 20 beach holidays in an article by travel writer Mark Hodson.

It gives details about Calypso's Cave, overlooking the bay, which is believed to have housed the nymph in Homer's Odyssey. "True or not, the most memorable part of the trip is not the cave itself, but the view down from the top.

"Several hundred feet below lies Ramla Bay, where the sea is a deep iridescent blue and the sand a distinctive fiery orange.

"Behind the beach are swathes of dunes and mature tamarisk trees," the newspaper says. "Truth be told, you might even wish you'd skipped the cave altogether and gone directly to the beach."

Last week it was the turn of Gozitan farmhouses to be raved about. "The best way to soak up the lazy rustic charm of Gozo is not in a posh hotel, but a restored farmhouse," the paper said in a survey of the best 100 summer holiday destinations.