Valletta’s honey-coloured skyline, with the dome of the Carmelite church and the spire of St Paul’s, above the harbour at sunset Valletta’s honey-coloured skyline, with the dome of the Carmelite church and the spire of St Paul’s, above the harbour at sunset The turquoise channel of the Blue Lagoon between Comino and Cominotto Dwejra Bay on Gozo, with Fungus Rock and the cliffs in late sun A red-and-yellow dgħajsa moored off Senglea, with the yachts and churches of Birgu behind

The island guide to Malta

Best of Malta

A city of honey-coloured stone built by knights, temples older than the pyramids, Caravaggio’s greatest canvas, seven MICHELIN-starred kitchens and the turquoise water of the Blue Lagoon.

Launch edition · Autumn 2026

The red carriages of the Glacier Express crossing the stone arches of the Landwasser Viaduct below a snow-capped peakSister guideULTIMATE Rail JourneysThe story of the train, the great journeys and where to book themA cruise ship in the Bay of Kotor, MontenegroSister guideULTIMATE CruisesLines, ships and itineraries, from river to expeditionThe Matterhorn in winter above ZermattSister guideULTIMATE Ski ResortsSeason dates, hotels, après and ski schools, resort by resort
The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild and its gardens, Saint-Jean-Cap-FerratSister guideULTIMATE PropertyPrime neighbourhoods, agents, new developments and how buying works

Your trusted, one‑stop guide to Malta, Gozo and Comino

Three small islands in the middle of the Mediterranean hold more than 7,000 years of history: Neolithic temples, Roman Rabat, the Knights’ Valletta, the British Grand Harbour. Around them are the sea-front towns of Sliema and St Julian’s, the fishing harbour of Marsaxlokk, green Gozo and the Blue Lagoon of Comino. We’ve checked every listing against the venue’s own website or an official source, and we leave out anything we can’t confirm.

Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum

World Heritage

The Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum

Paola·Underground burial complex

An underground burial complex cut into the rock and used from 4000 to 1500 BC. Visitor numbers are strictly limited: Heritage Malta advises booking early (heritagemalta.mt).

Plan your visit

Malta by area

From the Knights’ capital to the fishing harbours, the Silent City and the green island of Gozo: each area has its own guide.

Valletta’s honey-coloured skyline, with the dome of the Carmelite church and the spire of St Paul’s, above the harbour at sunsetArea guideVallettaThe Knights’ capitalA red-and-yellow dgħajsa moored off Senglea, with the yachts and churches of Birgu behindArea guideThe Three CitiesBirgu, Senglea and CospicuaFishing boats and waterfront restaurants on Spinola Bay, St Julian’sArea guideSliema & St Julian’sThe sea frontThe baroque Main Gate and walls of MdinaArea guideMdina, Rabat & the centreThe Silent CityThe timber houses of Popeye Village above the water of Anchor BayArea guideSt Paul’s Bay & the northBeaches and Popeye VillagePainted luzzu fishing boats in the harbour of Marsaxlokk, with the parish church behindArea guideMarsaxlokk & the southTemples and fishing boats

Valletta or Gozo

Book Valletta for culture and dinner on foot, and leave a car-free day for Gozo.

Dwejra Bay on Gozo, with Fungus Rock and the cliffs in late sunArea guideGozoThe green islandThe turquoise channel of the Blue Lagoon between Comino and CominottoArea guideComino & the Blue LagoonThe Blue Lagoon

Malta Art, Culture & Architecture

Honey-coloured limestone, the Knights’ baroque, Caravaggio’s greatest canvas and temples older than the pyramids.

The gilded tiers of boxes inside the Manoel Theatre, VallettaThe back storyArt & architectureA city of stoneThe gilded nave of St John’s Co-Cathedral, with Mattia Preti’s painted vaultArts & CultureSt John’s Co-CathedralCaravaggio’s BeheadingThe rock-cut central chamber of the Ħal Saflieni HypogeumUNESCOThe HypogeumCut into the rock, 4000 BCThe courtyard of the Auberge d’Italie, home of MUŻAArts & CultureMuseums & theatresMUŻA, the Manoel and more

Our advice

Caravaggio first

See the Caravaggio first thing in the morning, and book a night at the Manoel Theatre. The back story

Plan your trip

The practical things to know before you go: the airport and the sea routes, entry and money, one perfect day from Valletta to Mdina, and Gozo in a day.

A red-and-yellow dgħajsa moored off Senglea, with the yachts and churches of Birgu behindGetting hereGetting to MaltaAirport, ferries and the sea routesValletta’s honey-coloured skyline, with the dome of the Carmelite church and the spire of St Paul’s, above the harbour at sunsetBefore you goMalta essentialsEntry, money, the contribution and 112Valletta’s honey-coloured skyline, with the dome of the Carmelite church and the spire of St Paul’s, above the harbour at sunsetItineraryOne perfect dayValletta, Birgu, Sliema and MdinaDwejra Bay on Gozo, with Fungus Rock and the cliffs in late sunItineraryGozo in a dayThe Citadel to DwejraThe rooftop pool at Iniala Harbour House, looking across the Grand Harbour to Fort St AngeloLuxury guideLUX LivingThe finest addresses

Our advice

Sunday is for rabbit

Book ION Harbour or Under Grain weeks ahead, and keep one long Sunday lunch free for rabbit. The Malta table

Malta in depth

The islands’ history, the British years, the table, where to stay and where to buy.

The gilded tiers of boxes inside the Manoel Theatre, VallettaChristmas & New YearChristmas in MaltaThe panto, the Nutcracker and the churchesThe great megaliths of Ħaġar Qim under the protective canopyThe back storyMalta: the back storySeven thousand yearsThe street sign of Triq id-Dejqa, Strait Street, below an old painted “Cabaret” signThe back storyBritish MaltaThe naval yearsTwo flaky pastizzi on paper, fresh from a Rabat pastizzeriaThe back storyThe Malta TablePastizzi to two starsThe rooftop pool at Iniala Harbour House, looking across the Grand Harbour to Fort St AngeloThe back storyWhere to stayChoosing a baseFishing boats and waterfront restaurants on Spinola Bay, St Julian’sThe back storyBuying in MaltaPermits and areas

The temples

Start with the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta, then see the temples. The Hypogeum must be booked weeks ahead.

Two painted boats setting out for the Blue Grotto at Wied iż-ŻurrieqFun factsMalta fun factsThings you might not know

Beyond Malta

Sicily is under two hours away by fast ferry: Pozzallo and the baroque towns of the south-east.

Valletta’s honey-coloured skyline, with the dome of the Carmelite church and the spire of St Paul’s, above the harbour at sunsetDay tripSicilyPozzallo and the baroque towns

ULTIMATE City Guides: Europe & beyond

Planning a longer journey? Each city in the network has its own independent guide, written with the same care and checked place by place. Here are the guides that are live, with more on the way.

The Alhambra in Granada in the evening lightSpainULTIMATE AndalusiaSeville, Granada and the Alhambra, Córdoba, Málaga, Cádiz and Jerez, Ronda and the white villages, Doñana and Cabo de Gata.Visit the guide The floodlit Acropolis and Parthenon at dusk, seen from Philopappos HillGreeceULTIMATE AthensThe Acropolis and the Plaka, rooftop bars facing the Parthenon, the Athens Riviera and the Greek islands: our original guide, and our deepest.Visit the guide The road winding out to the lighthouse on Cap de Formentor, Mallorca, above the open seaSpainULTIMATE Balearic IslandsMallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera side by side, and how to hop between them by ferry.Visit the guide The Sagrada Família lit up at nightSpainULTIMATE BarcelonaGaudí and the Sagrada Família, the Gothic Quarter, four Three-Star MICHELIN kitchens, the beaches and day trips to Montserrat and Girona.Visit the guide Belgrade's old town and the spire of the Cathedral Church of St Michael above the Sava at sunsetSerbiaULTIMATE BelgradeWhere the Sava meets the Danube: a buzzing capital of art, classical music and famous nightlife, with a new waterfront and the mountains of Zlatibor and Kopaonik.Visit the guide The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin against a blue skyGermanyULTIMATE BerlinThe Brandenburg Gate and Museum Island, the Philharmonie and three opera houses, the story of the Wall, and day trips to Potsdam and Dresden.Visit the guide The Romanian Athenaeum in its gardenRomaniaULTIMATE BucharestBelle Époque palaces, concerts at the Athenaeum, a buzzing food and coffee scene, and the castles and mountains of the Carpathians.Visit the guide The Hungarian Parliament lit up at night on the DanubeHungaryULTIMATE BudapestThermal baths, grand coffee houses, ruin bars and MICHELIN-starred dining on both banks of the Danube, with day trips to the Danube Bend and Lake Balaton.Visit the guide A cruise ship in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegroships & regions)ULTIMATE Cruises (linesThe world’s cruise lines for every budget, from family resort ships to yachts, expedition ships and river boats, with the cruising regions port by port.Visit the guide Aerial view of the white sand spit of Ses Illetes and Llevant, the salt pans and, across the strait, Ibiza and Es VedràSpainULTIMATE FormenteraThe white sands of Ses Illetes, the lighthouses of La Mola and Barbaria, the craft markets and an island made for bikes.Visit the guide The Baie des Anges, NiceFranceULTIMATE French RivieraNice, Cannes, Antibes, Cap Ferrat, Èze, Menton, Saint-Tropez and Cassis: palace hotels, three-star tables, beach clubs, the Festival de Cannes and the painters’ coast.Visit the guide Blue domes of Oia above the Santorini calderaGreeceULTIMATE Greek IslandsIsland hopping made easy: Mykonos, Santorini, Paros, Naxos, Milos and the Cyclades, plus Crete, Rhodes and Corfu, with ferries, beaches, hotels and tavernas.Visit the guide Helsinki Cathedral above the South HarbourFinlandULTIMATE HelsinkiSuomenlinna and the South Harbour, saunas by the sea, Aalto and the Design District, two-starred Palace and day trips to Porvoo and Tallinn.Visit the guide The walls of Dalt Vila and the cathedral above the harbour of Ibiza Town, in late sunSpainULTIMATE IbizaDalt Vila’s UNESCO walls, Es Vedrà, three MICHELIN-starred kitchens, the beach clubs and the quiet north, 30 minutes from Formentera.Visit the guide Hagia Sophia and its minarets in golden evening lightTurkeyULTIMATE IstanbulTwo continents, one city: Hagia Sophia and the bazaars, Bosphorus ferries, meyhanes and rooftop bars, Sinan’s hammams and the car-free Princes’ Islands.Visit the guide Congress Square, Ljubljana, with the castle on its hill behindSloveniaULTIMATE LjubljanaSlovenia’s green, car-free capital of river cafés and Plečnik’s bridges, an hour from Lake Bled, the Julian Alps, the caves and the Adriatic.Visit the guide The Palace of Westminster and the Elizabeth Tower lit at dusk across the ThamesUnited KingdomULTIMATE LondonRoyal palaces and the Thames, great museums, West End theatre, grand hotels, and the restaurants and bars of Soho, Mayfair and the City.Visit the guide The Metrópolis building at the start of the Gran VíaSpainULTIMATE MadridThe Prado and El Retiro, the Royal Palace, DiverXO’s three stars and cocido since 1870, with day trips to Toledo and Segovia.Visit the guide La Seu, Palma’s Gothic cathedral, and the Almudaina above the old sea wall, seen from the Parc de la MarSpainULTIMATE MallorcaPalma’s cathedral and palace hotels, the UNESCO Tramuntana, Deià and Sóller, nine MICHELIN-starred kitchens, and Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera.Visit the guide Yachts in Puerto BanúsSpainULTIMATE MarbellaWhitewashed lanes and orange trees in the Old Town, the yachts of Puerto Banús, beach clubs on the Golden Mile and day trips to Ronda and Gibraltar.Visit the guide Turquoise water below the pine-topped cliffs at Cala Macarella, MenorcaSpainULTIMATE MenorcaA UNESCO Biosphere Reserve: the coves of Macarella and Turqueta, World Heritage Talayotic sites, Ciutadella and Maó’s great harbour.Visit the guide Monaco from above, Port Hercule and Monte-Carlo below the mountainsOur sister guideULTIMATE MonacoThe Casino and Monte-Carlo’s palace hotels, the Prince’s Palace on the Rock, superyachts in Port Hercule, Larvotto’s beach clubs and the Grand Prix streets.Visit the guide The Millennium Bridge over the MoračaMontenegroULTIMATE PodgoricaMontenegro’s relaxed capital of rivers and café terraces, and the gateway to the Bay of Kotor, Lake Skadar, Cetinje and the mountains.Visit the guide The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild and its gardens, Saint-Jean-Cap-FerratOur sister guideULTIMATE Property (prime markets worldwide)Prime neighbourhoods, estate agents, new developments and how buying works, market by market across the ULTIMATE network.Visit the guide The red carriages of the Glacier Express crossing the stone arches of the Landwasser Viaduct below a snow-capped peakOur sister guideULTIMATE Rail Journeys (great train journeys worldwide)The story of the train, the great rail journeys of the world and where to book them, from the Orient Express to the Glacier Express.Visit the guide The Church of St John at Kaneo above Lake Ohrid, North MacedoniaOur sister guideULTIMATE Regions (editor’s letters & regional guides)Editor’s letters and the food, markets, nature and seasons each region shares, starting with the Balkans.Visit the guide The Sebilj fountain and the square of BaščaršijaBosnia & HerzegovinaULTIMATE SarajevoWhere East meets West at a line in the pavement: an Ottoman bazaar, Habsburg boulevards, Bosnian coffee and the 1984 Olympic mountains, with Mostar two hours away.Visit the guide The Matterhorn in winter above ZermattOur sister guideULTIMATE Ski Resorts (Europe & North America)Ski resorts in Europe and North America, country by country, for every budget: season dates, hotels, mountain restaurants, après, ski schools and getting there.Visit the guide The Warrior on a Horse fountain in Macedonia Square, Skopje, lit at nightNorth MacedoniaULTIMATE SkopjeA 15th-century stone bridge between a 21st-century square and an Ottoman bazaar, Kenzo Tange’s concrete city, Matka Canyon, and Lake Ohrid three hours away.Visit the guide The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, under a pink evening skyBulgariaULTIMATE SofiaRoman streets beneath the city, golden domes, warm mineral springs and a mountain at the end of the main boulevard.Visit the guide The restored Pyramid of Tirana under a blue skyAlbaniaULTIMATE TiranaAn Ottoman mosque painted with waterfalls, museums in bunkers, Blloku’s cafés and the Dajti cable car, with Berat, Gjirokastër, the Alps and the Riviera within reach.Visit the guide Rolling green hills and a farmhouse near Pienza in the Val d’OrciaItalyULTIMATE TuscanyFlorence, Chianti, Siena, the Val d’Orcia, Pisa and Lucca, Versilia, Bolgheri, the Maremma, Arezzo and Elba.Visit the guide Calatrava’s Hemisfèric lit at twilight, reflected in its poolSpainULTIMATE ValenciaCalatrava’s City of Arts and Sciences, the Gothic Lonja, paella by the sea, Las Fallas and the nine-kilometre Turia Garden.Visit the guide The tiled roof of St Stephen’s Cathedral and the rooftops of central ViennaAustriaULTIMATE ViennaThe State Opera and the Musikverein, Schönbrunn and Klimt, the coffee houses and Heurigen, and Railjets to Budapest every hour.Visit the guide St Mark's Church and its tiled roof on St Mark's Square, Zagreb's Upper TownCroatiaULTIMATE ZagrebCroatia’s elegant capital of cafés, museums and markets, and the gateway to Plitvice Lakes, Istria, Dubrovnik and the islands of the Adriatic.Visit the guide
The Grand Palace reflected at dawnThailandULTIMATE BangkokThe Grand Palace and Wat Arun on the river, the grand hotels of Charoen Krung, MICHELIN stars from street food to tasting menus, rooftop bars and the Thai islands.Visit the guide Hong Kong Island and the harbour at night from Victoria PeakOur sister guideULTIMATE Hong KongThe harbour from the Peak, the Star Ferry, Cantonese dining rooms with MICHELIN stars, dim sum in the lanes of Central and the museums of West Kowloon.Visit the guide An aerial view of a small island ringed by reef in the MaldivesOur sister guideULTIMATE MaldivesUndersea restaurants and overwater bars, Hanifaru Bay’s mantas, the whale sharks of South Ari, private islands and the little capital, Malé.Visit the guide The Taj Mahal Palace and the Gateway of India from the harbourIndiaULTIMATE MumbaiThe Taj and the Gateway of India, Marine Drive’s Queen’s Necklace, three UNESCO sites, modern Indian restaurants and day trips to Elephanta and the Ghats.Visit the guide The Lujiazui skyline lit up at night across the Huangpu RiverChinaULTIMATE ShanghaiThe grand hotels of the Bund facing the towers of Pudong, every MICHELIN star, Yu Garden, the two Shanghai Museums and day trips to Suzhou and Hangzhou.Visit the guide The towers of the Central Business District lit up at night, reflected in Marina BayOur sister guideULTIMATE SingaporeMarina Bay and Raffles, three restaurants with three MICHELIN Stars, the hawker centres, and the Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Visit the guide A caparisoned elephant in the Esala Perahera procession, KandyOur sister guideULTIMATE Sri LankaColombo, the ramparts of Galle Fort, the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, the tea country by train, Sigiriya and leopards in Yala.Visit the guide Longtail boats on West Railay beach beneath the limestone cliffsOur sister guideULTIMATE Thai IslandsWinter sun on two seas: Phuket, Krabi and Railay, Phi Phi and Koh Lanta on the Andaman, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao in the Gulf.Visit the guide

Coming soon: Brighton, England

HOT TOPICS · Have Your Say

The latest from our readers: visitors and locals talking about Malta, its restaurants, theatres, museums and neighbourhoods.

    Have your say in HOT TOPICS

    St John's Co-Cathedral

    This week's pick

    St John's Co-Cathedral

    Valletta·Cathedral

    Go at 9.30am, when the doors open, and walk straight through the gilded nave to the oratory: Caravaggio’s Beheading of St John the Baptist hangs where it was painted to hang (visitmalta.com).

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