Valletta

Valletta or Il-Belt is the capital of Malta. A harbour city, Valletta preserves much of its 16th-century architectural heritage built under the Hospitallers. Valletta was one of the earliest sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Understand
Referred to colloquially as Il-Belt ("The City"), it takes its name from its founder, Grandmaster Jean Parisot de Valette.

With an official population of only 5,827 as of early 2019, it is the least populated national capital in the European Union. The population of the urban area is 355,000, so Valletta doesn't feel like a small town. It is also the southernmost capital in the union, and one of only two without rail-based public transit (the other being Nicosia).

Valletta was a "European Capital of Culture" for 2018, an honour it shared with Leeuwarden.

Climate
Being the southernmost European capital except for Nicosia and sitting next to the Mediterranean, Valletta is amongst the places in Europe that have mild and warm weather in most seasons. Nighttime lows are around 9/10°C in the winter, however at that time of the year it's comparatively rainy. During the summer, expect sunny, hot weather.

By car
Most bus routes and many arterial roads converge on Valletta. However, inside the city there are many one-way streets and some pedestrian zones. Parking can be difficult. There is a large multi-storey car park in Floriana, about half a kilometre from the City Gate entrance to Valletta.

By bus
In front of the main gate of Valletta is the for the entire island, rather than bus lines covering the island in a grid, most of them spread out from here and return to here.

By boat
For those opting not to fly to Malta, Virtu Ferries runs ferries from Pozzallo on the island of Sicily, Italy.

A much shorter journey can be done by Valletta Ferry Services across beautiful Marsamxett harbour from Sliema and past Manoel Island, for just €1.50. Considerably cheaper then paying for a harbour cruise.

Another little-known way is to visit Vittoriosa by bus and then have the Maltese version of the gondola, the so called Dghajsa bring you back in style across the spectacular Grand Harbour to Valletta, and drop you off just by Victoria gate for €3.50.

By plane
The island's sole airport is
 * The X4 bus runs from the airport to Valletta, with generally two buses per hour taking about 20 minutes, costing €2.00 in summer.

Get around
The Valletta peninsula is only a couple of kilometres in length and so the ideal way is to do everything on foot, which enables you to take many shortcuts via stairs. However, the city is built on a ridge, and is steep in parts (requiring walking up and down stairs in some places), which can be tiring. The alternative would be doing it by car which is not ideal for visitors due to lack of parking space, direction signs and the fact that the streets are very narrow, often one way and confusing if unfamiliar. Most of the main tourist attractions are along the main street (Triq ir-Republika) which does not involve steep hills.

Another possibility is to rent one of the horsecarts (Karozzin), but be sure to haggle over the price.

By taxi

 * A fleet of electric min-cabs operate during the daytime in Valletta, with a maximum fare of €5.00.

By bus
Bus route 133 operates a circular path around Valletta, departing from the bus terminus going round the peninsula including the Valletta Waterfront, Fort St. Elmo and many other locations. However, since most of Valletta is better accessible on foot, use this bus only to visit a particular location rather than for general sightseeing.

See
In debatable order of importance:





Football
There are three local teams playing soccer in the Maltese Premier League. International games are played at the National Stadium, Ta' Qali, near Mdina.



Learn
Several of the Maltese English language institutes are in Valletta.

Buy
The main street of Valletta is Republic Street (Triq Ir-Repubblika), a busy pedestrianised zone leading down the middle of the Peninsula from the main gate down to Republic square, this is where many of the better shops are located, although it cannot quite compete with Sliema for clothing.

The best souvenir shop (the least worthless trinkets etc.) can be found at the Malta experience, but there are many other reasonable souvenir shops in Valletta. At the beginning of Republic Street, there are several reasonable souvenir shops but prices are far cheaper if you walk 20 meters down South street (turn left if you have the bus station behind you) which crosses Republic Street very soon after you have entered through the city gates.

There is a daily market selling cheap clothing in the parallel street to Republic Street called Merchants Street (Triq il-Merkanti).



Eat
Valletta has a good selection of decent restaurants, especially along the waterfront. Since most tourists stay in Sliema or on the north coast of the island there are fewer of the trashy variety, although it does have the usual fast-food chains. Look out for traditional bakeries, with steaming fresh bread for mere cents.

Budget
At almost every corner you can find pastizzerie selling pies stuffed with cheese or peas, for just 30-50 cents each and are a popular late-night snack.

Splurge
Often upscale Asian restaurants don't live up to the expectations, at least when it comes to the food. Many such disappointing restaurants are in big upscale hotels.

Budget
In Valletta proper, accommodation is rather expensive with nights at midrange hotels often costing €150-200 even in the low season. If you don't want to spend too much of your travel budget on the place to sleep, consider staying in one of the surrounding towns where rates are much lower.



Stay safe
Most of the usual petty crime that travelers are confronted with happens in Sliema and St Julians, but it's something to keep in mind.

Connect
Many businesses (restaurants, hotels etc.) offer free Wi-Fi, in addition to the "Free Wi-Fi" zones that exist around Malta. The country has several mobile carriers and your phone will work just like elsewhere in Europe.

Embassies

 * 🇩🇪 Germany
 * 🇬🇷 Greece
 * 🇰🇷 South Korea
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
 * 🇺🇸 United States

Go next
Almost all of Malta's bus routes start from the large roundabout just outside the main gate, making everywhere in the country accessible.

There is also the ferry which goes to Sliema, across the bay to the northwest. Sliema and St. Julian's further northwest are more modern towns and unlike Valletta more geared towards nightlife and partying.


 * Mdina
 * Cottonera (Three Cities) — the name used when referring to the three historic and ancient cities of Birgu (aka Vittoriosa), Isla (aka Senglea) and Bormla (aka Cospicua), three towns conglomerated by 16th century fortifications called the Cottonera lines.
 * Gozo
 * Northern Harbor of Malta
 * Southern Harbor of Malta

Valletta is a UNESCO World Heritage Site but two more can be found in the suburb of Tarxien, in the form of the Megalithic Temples and the Hypogeum