The big museums are in the travel guide plan. This page is for what the city gives you outdoors: harbour terraces, a bell, a fountain and the streets themselves.
1Upper Barrakka Gardens and the Saluting Battery
Photo: Konpasu.de Blog / Pexels, Pexels License
Public gardens on the bastion over Grand Harbour, with the old artillery battery on the level beneath. This is where you understand why the city was built here.
Time
At least one hour
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Before 12:00 or 16:00
Getting there
From City Gate along South Street to Castille Place and the gardens
Tip: The venue advises being at the battery about 15 minutes before a firing, and booking ahead. The gardens above give a free view of the guns, but you see the crew only from inside.
Gardens free; battery €3 adult, €1 child 5 to 15; Monday to Saturday, last entry 5 pm
Three bronze tritons hold up a wide basin, a 1959 monument that sits oddly well against the old bastions behind it.
Time
Quick look
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
After dark
Getting there
Just outside City Gate, on the Floriana side
Tip: It is in Floriana, not inside the walls, and you pass it on arrival by bus. Come back once after dark when the jets are lit; the travertine base glows.
The harbour-side entrance to the city, cut between the Marina Curtain and St Barbara Bastion. The British built it in 1885 and named it after their queen.
Time
Short stop
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Morning
Getting there
On the Grand Harbour side, below the main streets
Tip: The gate sits at the foot of the town, so the way to the main streets is uphill. Walk it in the morning, not at two in the afternoon in August.
The painted wooden balconies hang over the grid streets in blue, green and red. Walking the cross streets is itself one of the sights.
Time
Half an hour to an hour
Setting
Outdoor
Best time
Golden hour
Getting there
Any street off the main one
Tip: Take the side streets that slope toward the water, not only the main street, and look up. Go early, before the shops open, when the lanes are empty.
