Valletta in 3 days

Reach St John’s Co-Cathedral when it opens at 9.00, before the cruise groups come up from the harbour. The ticket of €15 includes an audio guide, and about 400 knights lie under the floor you walk across. The Caravaggio hangs in the Oratory, and the museum shows Flemish tapestries woven after drawings by Rubens, so allow time for both rooms instead of only the nave.

The Grand Master’s Palace stands on St George’s Square and costs €12. The State Rooms stay closed until 1.30 pm on 28 October, 18 November and 2 December 2026, so on those mornings the Armoury, which keeps its hours, is the part to start with.

Walk to the Upper Barrakka Gardens in time for the gun at 12, which fires Monday to Saturday from a battery that dates to the 1560s. The lift down to Lascaris Wharf costs €1, and it spares the knees before the afternoon.

Is-Suq tal-Belt is a market hall in an iron building from the early 1860s, reopened as a food market in 2018, and Café Jubilee on St Lucia Street is the sit-down choice.

Fort St Elmo, on Mediterranean Street, is the last big ticket at €10, and it asks for at least 1 h 30. The National War Museum is inside. Sundays bring the “In Guardia” programme, from 11 to 12.

Strait Street was crowded with sailors and bars until independence in 1964. Today it holds restaurants, bars and small creative spaces, and the evening belongs to it.

The Hypogeum in Paola comes first because it is the only entry with a set time, and it costs €35. Three levels are cut into soft limestone, the remains of more than 7,000 people were found there, and only ten visitors are inside at a time. Photography is banned, so the phone stays in the pocket. Arrive before the slot, not at it.

Tarxien lies about 400 m east of the Hypogeum and costs €6. Its oldest temple dates to roughly 3600 to 3200 BC. The Hypogeum ticket takes half off, but only if Tarxien is bought at its own ticket desk.

Back in Valletta, wherever the slot leaves you hungry, and the lunch spots on the food page work from either side of the harbour.

The National Museum of Archaeology costs €5 and fills the Auberge de Provence, built in 1571, on Republic Street. Plan the arrival so that the last entry, 30 minutes before closing, is not the target.

The Lascaris War Rooms cost €20, open Monday to Saturday, and a guided tour runs at 10.30 and 12.30 for those who prefer a voice to a panel.

A bus runs from Valletta to Rabat in 30 to 45 minutes, and Mdina begins 500 m from there. The town was the capital until 1530, has 242 residents, and keeps cars out except for residents and emergency vehicles. Entry is free, though its sights charge separately. Beside it in Rabat, the Domvs Romana costs €6 and St Paul’s Catacombs cost €6.

Gozo means a bus to Ċirkewwa, about 75 minutes, then a ferry of some 25 minutes to Mġarr at €4.65 for foot passengers, paid only on the way back. A fast boat from Lascaris Wharf takes about 45 minutes, carries foot passengers only and is cancelled in winter or bad weather. On the island come the Cittadella in Victoria and the temples of Ġgantija, which come with the Ta’ Kola windmill on one ticket of €10.