Valletta is a fortified city on a hilly peninsula between two natural harbours in the Mediterranean. The city’s layout provides a setting for a stay featuring art, architectural history, walks and underground heritage. The specific visiting options vary in content, duration and access, so you can plan around the experiences that matter to you.
Art and architectural history in one place
At the heart of Valletta is MUŻA, the National Community Art Museum. The museum is housed in the historic Auberge d’Italie, a building dating from the late 16th century that was originally built for the Italian knights of the Order of St John. If you want to explore art and architectural history together, the connection between the museum and the building offers a tangible point of reference. The building’s former purpose and its current use as a museum mark different chapters in one place.
Underground heritage
Valletta’s underground complex includes tunnels that were used to move troops and store grain. Valletta’s population took shelter in a dense network of underground shelters, expanded using existing tunnels and cisterns. This lets you consider the underground from two perspectives: as a space for movement and storage, and as the foundation of an expanded network of shelters. Access to Underground Valletta is via stairs; take this into account when planning your visit. This offers two different scales for understanding the city’s history: the individual historic Auberge d’Italie and the dense network of shelters for Valletta’s population.
Plan visits around your time and interests
Teatru Manoel offers a one-hour, family-friendly guided tour led by local tour guide and actor Jeremy Grech. Its set duration makes it easy to consider this experience as a clearly defined part of your itinerary. If you want to include the tour in your plans, check current dates and booking options before arranging your visit around it.
The Valletta Commonwealth Walkway is one of Malta’s walking routes and adds a stroll to the range of options. Fort St Elmo offers unobstructed panoramic views of the harbours and surrounding towns and villages. The nearest bus stop to Fort St Elmo and the National War Museum is a ten-minute walk away. As transport details can change, check this information before your visit.
The time estimates for the tour and bus stop relate to different planning steps: one hour is the duration of the Teatru Manoel tour, while ten minutes on foot is the distance to the nearest stop for Fort St Elmo and the National War Museum. This allows you to account for the programme duration and walking time separately, rather than treating the figures as interchangeable legs of a journey.
Discover more destinations: San Ġwann, Rabat, Floriana, Nadur, Tarxien, Mosta, Marsaxlokk, Sannat.
For the overview of the wider trip: Malta.
