The trip, in order
Follow the route day by day. Times and prices can change, so check official information before you travel.
Capital foundations
Valletta
- 1
St John's Co-Cathedral
St John's Co-Cathedral provides a focused way to understand the religious, artistic and political culture of the Knights of St John. Its restrained exterior gives little indication of the richly worked interior, where chapels, carved stone, marble funerary monuments and major paintings were assembled for the Order’s conventual church. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 90 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current admission information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
- 2
Grandmaster's Palace
Grandmaster's Palace provides a focused way to understand the institutional history of the Knights, British administration and the Maltese state. State rooms, courtyards and armour collections show how a building created for the head of the Order became a centre of government across successive political eras. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 90 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current admission information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
- 3
Upper Barrakka Gardens
Upper Barrakka Gardens provides a focused way to understand the relationship between Valletta’s bastions and the Grand Harbour. Terraces set on the city’s defensive edge give a clear reading of the harbour, the Three Cities and the fortified shoreline, while monuments and arcades add a civic layer to the military setting. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 45 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current access information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
Old capital and catacombs
Mdina and Rabat
- 1
Mdina Gate
Mdina Gate provides a focused way to understand the ceremonial entrance and Baroque remodelling of Malta’s old fortified capital. The gate creates a clear transition from the outer ditch into Mdina’s quiet street network, and its sculpted façade gives a concise introduction to the city’s eighteenth-century rebuilding. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 30 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current access information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
- 2
St Paul's Cathedral, Mdina
St Paul's Cathedral, Mdina provides a focused way to understand the ecclesiastical history of Mdina and Maltese Baroque architecture. The cathedral’s dome, façade and richly furnished interior anchor the city’s main square, while its artworks and monuments reflect the long-standing role of Mdina as a religious centre. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 60 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current access information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
- 3
St Paul's Catacombs
St Paul's Catacombs provides a focused way to understand late Roman burial practice and the growth of early Christian communities on Malta. A network of rock-cut hypogea, corridors and burial chambers preserves different tomb forms and ritual spaces on a scale that makes the archaeology of ancient Melite unusually legible. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 75 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current admission information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
Major prehistoric monuments
South
- 1
Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum
Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum provides a focused way to understand Malta’s prehistoric ritual and burial traditions in a purpose-cut underground complex. Chambers, passages and architectural forms carved directly into limestone create an experience unlike the open-air temples, while painted surfaces and carefully shaped spaces reveal sophisticated prehistoric workmanship. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 75 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current admission information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
- 2
Ħaġar Qim
Ħaġar Qim provides a focused way to understand Malta’s megalithic architecture in a dramatic limestone landscape above the sea. The temple’s massive blocks, curved chambers and carved details are easier to appreciate because the complex remains spatially coherent, while the surrounding plateau gives strong context for its prehistoric setting. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 75 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current admission information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
- 3
Mnajdra
Mnajdra provides a focused way to understand a group of prehistoric temples whose architecture can be studied alongside Ħaġar Qim. The separate buildings sit lower on the coastal slope and contain carefully fitted stonework, doorways and internal spaces that show variation within Malta’s broader megalithic tradition. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 75 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current admission information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
Coast and watchtower
North-west
- 1
Golden Bay
Golden Bay provides a focused way to understand the broader sandy-bay landscape of Malta’s north-western coast. The beach sits beneath cultivated slopes and limestone headlands, offering a useful contrast to the island’s rocky inlets and cliff walks and making the coastal geography easy to understand at ground level. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 90 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current access information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
- 2
Saint Agatha's Tower
Saint Agatha's Tower provides a focused way to understand the seventeenth-century coastal watch system and the strategic geography of northern Malta. The red-painted tower stands on high ground with sightlines towards Comino and Gozo, making its defensive purpose immediately understandable while providing a compact example of Hospitaller military architecture. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 45 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current access information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
Citadel and Ġgantija
Gozo
- 1
Cittadella, Gozo
Cittadella, Gozo provides a focused way to understand Gozo’s long history from a fortified hilltop that remained the island’s principal defensive centre. Bastions, narrow lanes, cathedral buildings, museums and archaeological traces are concentrated within a small enclosure, while the ramparts provide a broad reading of Gozo’s villages and agricultural interior. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 120 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current admission information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.
- 2
Ġgantija Archaeological Park
Ġgantija Archaeological Park provides a focused way to understand some of the earliest surviving monumental stone architecture in the Maltese islands. Two closely linked temples preserve massive external walls, curved internal spaces and carefully placed megaliths, making the engineering scale of the Neolithic Temple Period particularly clear. Its value lies in the combination of surviving fabric, setting and interpretation, which places the site within the wider history of Malta and the central Mediterranean. Allowing time to examine the details rather than treating it as a brief photo stop gives context that is difficult to gain from the exterior or landscape alone.
- Duration
- 75 minutes suggested
- Price
- Check current admission information
- Start time
- Choose a start time that suits your day.