The best time to visit Valletta
Spring and early autumn for sightseeing, summer for the sea and the heat, winter for quieter days with rain and carnival.
- Best months
- April–June, September–October
- Bus fare
- €2 winter, €2.50 summer
- Carnival 2027
- 5–9 February
Choose the month by what you plan to do, because walking and swimming pull in opposite directions. Valletta is all stairs and pale stone, so sightseeing suits the shoulder months, and the sea reaches only about 26°C in August. This page reads the year from summer heat to the closed doors of winter, with the shut museum days saved for the end.
Through the year
Heat, cruise ships and Comino
August is the hottest month, with an average daily high of 32.1°C at the Luqa weather station. A street of pale stone gives little shade at noon, so spend the morning inside, starting with the co-cathedral when it opens at 9.00, and give the afternoon to the water, which has warmed to roughly 26°C by then.
Summer is also cruise season. The Valletta cruise port counted 962,966 passengers in 2025 over 385 calls, and 772,664 of them were day visitors, which is why the line at the co-cathedral door can grow long before lunch. Comino belongs to this season as well, and it asks for a free landing pass booked online, so take the morning or midday slot.
hostel, dorm bed, per night
Spring and autumn
April to June and September to October are the months the numbers favour, with gentler sun for the climb between the harbours and a sea that is still warm in autumn. In spring the water sits at 15 to 16°C right through April, so those weeks suit walking better than swimming. The short version of the year: April–June, September–October.
Two dates move the plan in this stretch. Early October has Notte Bianca, held on the first Saturday of the month, which in 2026 was 3 October. The bus changes tariff on 19 October, after the summer fare ends on 18 October, and the fares read: €2 winter, €2.50 summer. The State Rooms of the Grand Master's Palace stay shut until 1.30 pm on 28 October, 18 November and 2 December 2026, while the Armoury is open.
Rain, carnival and closed days
Winter in Valletta is mild and damp. Daily highs sit around 15.5 to 15.7°C in January and February, and the rain arrives early, with about 76 mm at Luqa in October and about 90 mm in each of November and December, so pack a waterproof and shoes with a good grip, because the streets here run in steps.
Carnival fills Valletta in early February 2027, and Good Friday on 26 March 2027 brings processions through Valletta and through Rabat and Mdina. Every Heritage Malta site is closed on Good Friday, as it is on 1 January and on 24, 25 and 31 December. For those mornings, walk Republic Street and end in the Upper Barrakka Gardens, which are free to enter.
Where to next
Getting around Valletta
→By TD4 bus from the airport, on foot in Valletta, to Gozo by bus and ferry or the fast boat from Lascaris Wharf.
Malta
→Three islands, a capital smaller than a square kilometre and megalithic temples from the fourth millennium BC
How well does Valletta suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Valletta
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
Ready for Valletta?
Front row for the next trip
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