6 Best Sights in Malta

We've compiled the best of the best in Malta - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.

Fort St. Angelo

Fodor's Choice

Vittoriosa's headland has always been hot property. Before 1530, when the Knights of the Order of St. John first landed and set up base here, it had been home to castles and temples dating from the Phoenecian era. When the Knights were later ousted in 1798, it became HQ for Napoleon's invading French army, and then later the British Navy—it was the last piece of Malta to be handed over by the Brits, who retained a naval base here 15 years after independence was declared in 1964. Today's layout owes much to its strengthening in 1690 by the engineer Don Carlos de Grunenberg. So successful was his design that, some 250 years later, it was able to withstand 69 direct hits by World War II bombers. Nazi propaganda even famously claimed it had "sunk HMS St Angelo" (as the fort was then known by the British) despite it not being a ship. But its starring moment was during the Great Siege of 1565, when it repelled wave after wave of Ottoman Turks over three long, hot summer months. Following extensive renovations, completed in 2016, it reopened as a museum, narrating tales of wartime heroics and ghosts, all woven through a series of thrilling rooms and interactive exhibits spanning its long history.

Fort St. Elmo–National War Museum

Fodor's Choice

Built in 1552 by the Knights of St. John to defend the harbor, this fort was completely destroyed during the Great Siege of 1565 by the Ottoman Turks and was rebuilt by succeeding military leaders. Today, some parts are still off-limits to visitors as restorations continue, but it has both fantastic views and is also now home to the excellent National War Museum. Malta's history is one of invasion, and the museum charts this in gripping detail through the ages. It is particularly strong on the reign of the Knights, who, when kicked out of Rhodes in 1522 by the Ottoman Turks, resumed their struggle for religious hegemony in Malta over countless battles, sieges, and raids. It also delves well into the tug of war between Napoléon and the British, as well as the island's fate during World War II, offering easily the most comprehensive historical overview of Valletta. Its audio-visual tales are also often nail-biting, particularly the tale of "Operation Pedestal," in which the Allied forces sought to squeeze a supply ship through enemy lines to Malta in 1942 and, in doing so, changed the course of the war. Alongside this are a collection of rare military objects, including President Roosevelt's Jeep, "Husky," and one of the Gloster Sea Gladiator biplanes that defended the island so stoutly.

Lascaris War Rooms

Fodor's Choice

Back in 1943, this underground tunnel complex arguably decided the course of World War II. It was then that President Eisenhower and the Allied commanders were plotting the invasion of Sicily (known as Operation Husky)—one of the first major assaults to retake Europe from the Axis powers. The site of this top-secret British HQ has been carefully restored (it was later used by NATO to track Soviet subs up until 1977) to its heyday, and hourly guided tours take you through the intricacies of planning such a game-changing operation long before computers were able to plot each movement—complicated military coordination was done with phones, string, and a chalkboard. The entrance is up at the Saluting Battery, with steps leading down from there. Exclusive guided tours of the rooms and tunnels are available at 10:30 and 1 pm.

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Cittadella and Visitor's Center

The original city here is the hilltop Cittadella, which was built by the Knights of the Order of St. John at the turn of the 17th century, after 200 years of attacks by marauding Turks and Berber corsairs. In one raid in 1551, some 6,000 Gozitans (most of the island's population) were abducted into slavery. At night, the villagers on the island could sleep behind the citadel's walls, knowing they were safe. These days barely a handful of people still live here, but its steep, winding streets yield great views from its ramparts. As you enter you'll see the Cathedral of the Assumption to the right; its dome collapsed in an infamous earthquake in 1693 and the event is marked by an excellent trompe l'oeil painting on its interior (€3.50). Several small museums in the Citadella offer displays relating to the history of the settlement that developed within; the pick of these is the recently opened Visitor's Center, which is situated in two disused cisterns and has a fine audio-visual presentation.

Fort Rinella

Lying just to the east of Vittoriosa, this late 19th-century fort was built by the British to hold the world's largest muzzle-loading cannon, the 100-ton Armstrong gun. Exhibitions focus on the daily life of the Victorian British garrison that was stationed here, with live demonstrations and a firing of the cannon at noon. Guided tours (2–4 pm) include re-enactments and a film about the Victorian army, while free audio guides take you through a 3,000-strong collection of weaponry, uniforms, and equipment.

Malta at War

There's no shortage of museums unraveling Malta's military history, but few are as intimate. Housed inside an 18th-century army barracks and labyrinthine, rock-cut, underground air-raid shelter, it focuses on the period from 1940 to 1943, when World War II and the Blitz came to Malta—then a strategically vital outpost for the Allied Forces and stepping stone to Fascist Italy. Through artifacts, newsreels, and a stirring propaganda documentary, narrated by Laurence Olivier and released by King George VI in January 1943 to pluck up the spirits of his battered Maltese subjects, it shows daily life as the bombs fell and hope was all but lost and then found again.

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