St John's Co-Cathedral
The Knights' gilded church and Caravaggio
The marble floor is a carpet of knights' tombstones; the Caravaggio is in the oratory.
VallettaArtChurch
Valletta & the Three Cities, Malta
Ideal: 2 daysBest: Apr–Jun · Sep–NovPrice: Moderate
In 60 seconds
Valletta & the Three Cities in 60 seconds
Valletta was built in a hurry by the Knights of St John after they beat off the Ottoman Great Siege of 1565, and it still looks like what it was: a fortress city on a peninsula, its straight streets of honey-coloured stone running between two deep harbours. Inside St John's Co-Cathedral, plain from the street, every surface is gilded and carved, and the oratory holds Caravaggio's Beheading of Saint John. From the Upper Barrakka Gardens the saluting battery fires at noon over the Grand Harbour, and across the water lie the Three Cities — Birgu, Senglea and Cospicua — older, quieter and reached by ferry or a rowed dgħajsa. Renzo Piano's City Gate and Parliament give the entrance a modern edge. Two days, with the Hypogeum booked well ahead.
UNESCO
Best for
- History
- Architecture
- Art
- Weekend
Known for
- St John's Co-Cathedral
- Upper Barrakka Gardens
- Grand Harbour
- Three Cities
Skip if
You are travelling for beaches alone — Valletta is stone, steps and history; the sand is up north.
Your match
Choose a few travel interests and we will show how well Valletta & the Three Cities fits them. Choose interests
See
Must experience
The things that would make the trip incomplete without them.
Upper Barrakka Gardens
Arcaded garden over the Grand Harbour
Be there for the noon gun from the saluting battery below.
VallettaGardensView
Grandmaster's Palace
Seat of the Knights, then of Malta's presidents
State rooms and an armoury of the Order's weapons.
VallettaPalace
Fort St Elmo
Star fort at the tip of the peninsula
Home of the National War Museum, from the Great Siege to the Second World War.
VallettaFortressMuseum
Fort St Angelo
The Knights' first stronghold, in Birgu
Look back across the harbour to Valletta from the bastions.
BirguFortress
Orientation
Neighbourhoods
How the city is actually divided, and what each part is for.
Valletta
The grid of the fortress city
Balconied streets dropping steeply to the harbours on either side.
The Three Cities
Birgu, Senglea and Cospicua across the harbour
Lived-in waterfronts and lanes older than Valletta.
Stay
Where to stay
Areas rather than hotels — pick the right one and the rest follows.
Valletta
ExpensiveBoutique hotels in old palazzi
The city at its best is early morning and evening — stay inside the walls.
Walkable
Birgu
ModerateGuesthouses across the harbour
A calmer base, a short ferry from Valletta.
FerryQuiet
Practical
Know before you go
- Getting in
- Buses from the airport stop at the terminus outside City Gate; ferries cross from Sliema and the Three Cities.
- Getting around
- On foot, with the Barrakka lift down to the harbour ferries.
- When to go
- Spring and autumn; high summer is hot on the stone streets.
- Taste locally
- Pastizzi with a Kinnie, ftira, rabbit stew and a Cisk on a harbour terrace.
Plan this trip — useful links
Context
History in 5 minutes
Enough to make what you are looking at legible.
- 1565
The Knights of St John hold Malta through the Ottoman Great Siege.
- 1566
Grand Master Jean de Valette lays the first stone of Valletta.
- 1980
The city of Valletta is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- 2018
Valletta is European Capital of Culture.
Further out
Nearby escapes
Worth a day if you have one to spare.
Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum
Prehistoric underground temple in Paola
Tickets are few and sell out weeks ahead.
20 min by busArchaeologyUNESCO
Sliema & St Julian's
Promenades across Marsamxett
Sliema & St Julian's has its own guide.
10 min by ferryCoast