Arrival in Valletta

51 Comments
Valletta map by Sj1mor, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

16th April 2026

After our wonderful week in Gozo we took the ferry back to Malta’s main island and transferred to a hotel in its capital, Valletta. As you can see from the map above, Valletta forms a peninsula. What is not quite so obvious is that it is also on a ridge and our hotel was right at the top with streets falling steeply away to the waterside on either side. Not usually a problem – but with my sprained ankle I found it quite difficult. Adding to that the fact that it was cool and drizzly when we arrived sent my mood plummeting downwards. But did it last? No! The rain quickly cleared and by the end of the afternoon we were cheerfully sitting in the sun drinking beer.

First a little more disappointment when our initial destination, Lower Barrakka Gardens, was under reconstruction and the nearby Siege Bell Memorial was completely closed.

Lower Barrakka Gardens and Siege Bell Memorial

Undaunted we carried on towards the Valletta Waterfront, technically in neighbouring Floriana, where beautiful 18th century warehouses have been converted to restaurants and shops with a small chapel dedicated to the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt in the centre. It’s also where many of the cruise ships berth.

First sight of the cruise ships
Valletta Waterfront
Valletta Waterfront
Chapel of the Flight to Egypt by the Holy Family
Looking across to Fort St Angelo
Cruise ship central

From here we retraced our steps and climbed to the Upper Barrakka Gardens – there is a lift, but even with my dodgy ankle I felt that was cheating. I wonder how many people’s photographs the man enjoying a glass of wine on his balcony appeared in that day?

Several flights up
Does he know he is being watched?
Upper Barrakka Gardens
Les Gavroches (2003 replica of 1907 sculpture by Antonio Sciortino)
Fort St Angelo
A welcome beer

Suitably revived by cold beer we continued to Castille Place where there were several statues to Maltese politicians. Dom Mintoff (1916-1912) was the only one I recognised, but I liked the sound of Manwel Dimech (1860-1921) described as an outstanding social reformer who was excommunicated by the Catholic Church and exiled by the British.

Manwell Dimech
Castille Place
Dom Mintoff

In the eponymous Jean de Valette Place we found a statue of the man who founded Valletta in 1566 and two churches, neither of which were open.

Victory Church
Jean de Valette by Joseph Chetcuti (2012)
Church of St Catherine of Italy

We didn’t mind too much because we were footsore by that time and ready to head back to the hotel. However, we had only scraped the surface of Valletta and were looking forward to more explorations the next day.

Malta

51 Comments »

  1. Pingback: This week's small pleasures.

  3. Great photos as usual, I like the blue sky and cotton wool clouds in the first one. I wonder if the man on the balcony knew he was being photographed. That P & O cruise ship is mahoosive – to be honest it looks like my idea of hell. I’ve never wanted to go on a cruise – all that water and so many people, and if you don’t like it you’re stuck with it for the duration.

    Like

  6. Hi Anabel – what a delightful looking country and capital … what fun too. I’m glad your ankle has recovered. Wine and beer and sun – what is not to like!! Cheers Hilary

    Like

  7. “A steep city with a sprained ankle isn’t a great idea, but there’s nothing a cold beer won’t fix.”.

    That’s the spirit 🙂 It’s a lovely and fascinating city, I am glad you seem to be enjoying it.

    Like

  14. So many interesting places to visit and see. The cruise ship is massive! It looks quite spooky sailing close up to those houses…can’t imagine why anyone would want to go on a cruise! Well done for walking so far with a poorly ankle.

    Like

  18. I had that in France decades ago. Our overnight youth hostel on our map was only one mile from the train station but no contours, just an online white map. It was one mile up endless sets of stairs and we were loaded down with 5 days food, ropes, tents, etc, 1000 foot of climbing with the equivalent of a 10 year old boy on our backs. As I had done all the planning for the trip I was not very popular that first day. I’ve heard Valetta is a lovely place though. Bob. BSS.

    Like

I'd love to hear what you think!