Valletta

Valletta covers just over half a square kilometre. The Knights of St John built it after the Great Siege of 1565, on a grid of bastioned streets between two harbours. Francesco Laparelli planned it, Ġlormu Cassar finished it, and UNESCO counts 320 monuments inside the walls.

Inside the bastions

Cross the old city end to end in about twenty minutes, City Gate to fort.

• St John's Co-Cathedral. Plain limestone outside, gilded and carved stone inside. Caravaggio's Beheading of Saint John the Baptist hangs in the Oratory, the only painting he ever signed.
• Upper Barrakka Gardens. A terrace above the Grand Harbour, facing Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua across the water. The Saluting Battery below still fires at noon and four.
• Triton Fountain and City Gate. Where the buses stop and the fortified city starts.

Two harbours and a night out

Grand Harbour and Marsamxett Harbour flank the peninsula. One has carried warships for four centuries, the other fishing boats and yachts. The Barrakka Lift drops from the gardens to the Grand Harbour side, where a ferry crosses to the Three Cities.

A second ferry crosses to Sliema instead. It leaves from the Marsamxett side roughly every half hour. After dark, Strait Street, once nicknamed the Gut by British sailors, fills with bars and live music, after decades of near silence.

Practical

• Weather. January highs run near 15C, mild by European standards. July and August regularly pass 30C, with almost no shade on the open bastions, so mornings work better than afternoons.
• Getting around. Flat inside the walls, stepped at the edges; the Barrakka Lift saves the climb back up from the harbour.
• From the airport. A fixed-fare taxi runs about 17 euros and takes fifteen minutes outside rush hour; the bus covers the same route for a couple of euros.
• Opening hours. St John's Co-Cathedral closes to visitors on Sundays and during services, so weekdays work better for it.
• Tipping. Five to ten percent for good service is normal here and never compulsory.