The Best Sight in Valletta, Malta

Background Illustration for Sights

The main entrance to town is through the City Gate (where all bus routes end), which leads onto Triq Repubblika (Republic Street), the spine of the grid-pattern city and the main shopping street. Triq Mercante (Merchant Street) parallels Repubblika to the east and is also good for strolling. From these two streets, cross streets descend toward the water; some are stepped. Valletta's compactness makes it ideal to explore on foot. City Gate and the upper part of Valletta are experiencing vast redevelopment that includes a new Parliament Building and open-air performance venue. The complex, completed mid-2013, has numerous pedestrian detours in place along with building noise and dust. Before setting out along Republic Street, stop at the tourist information office on Merchant Street for maps and brochures.

Upper Barrakka Gardens

Here, knights once honed their fencing skills under a covered loggia (now open to the sky). Today, a troupe of stray cats and some greenery occupy this lofty lookout offering the best uninterrupted views of Grand Harbour and the Three Cities across the water. A cannon is fired at noon, daily, at the Saluting Battery following a practice that, from the 1820s on, served to help Ship Masters calibrate their onboard chronographers, which were used to help navigate. Once you've soaked up the views, take the elevator 165 feet down to the harbor below.

Battery St., Valletta, VLT 1063, Malta
21-800–992
Sight Details
€3 for a guided tour
No gun salute Sun.

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