Valletta Travel Guide

Valletta or Il-Belt is the capital of Malta. Historically built as harbour city to first capital, 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.

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.

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

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.

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.