Valletta
From World travel guide
Valletta is in Malta.
Contents |
Understand
Valletta is the capital of the island nation of Malta. A harbour city, Valletta preserves much of its 16th century architectural heritage built under the Hospitallers. Valletta has recently been listed by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage.
Get in
By car
AS with the buslines the many main roads also converge on Valletta, however once inside the city there are many one-way streets and some pedestrian zones. Parking near one's destination can also be difficult.
By bus
In front of the main gate of Valletta is the main bus station for the entire island, rather than buslines covering the island in a grid, they all spread out from here and return to here.
By boat
Instead of paying a lot of money for a harbour cruise there is a small ferry leaving from Sliema which will take you across beautiful Marsamxett harbour and past Manoel Island for just 38 cents.
Another little known way is to visit Vittoriosa by bus and then have the Maltese version of the gondola, the so called Daiza bring you back in style across the spectacular Grand Harbour to Valletta, and drop you off just by Victoria gate for just 1.5 Lira p.p.
Get around
The Valletta peninsula is only a couple of kilometers in length and so the ideal way is to do everything on foot also allowing one to make use of the atmospheric stairs throughout this steep city.
Another possibility is to rent one of the horsecarts, but be sure to haggle for the price.
See
In debateable order of importance:
- The co-cathedral of St. John is unremarkeable from the outside but incredibly ornate on the inside. Each of the different 'langues' (knights of a particular nationality had their own langue) has a nave as their chapel in which they try and outdo each other in splendor. The barrel shaped ceiling is one large wallpainting, the lifework of famed artist Matteo Preti. And last but not least the floor is entirely taken by knights graves all intricately inlaid marble in different colours, a recent book on the subject describes it as the 'most beautiful floor in the world.' This relatively unknown cathedral can count itself one of the most impressive in Europe.
- The cathedral museum holds two works by Carrevagio who was briefly himself a Knight, one of them being the famous huge "Beheading of St. John."
- The Palace of the Grand Masters [1] now is the President's office and the Maltese house of parliament. The staterooms, when accessible are quite impressive.It also houses the Knight's armory.
- Despite not being entirely cheap (3.5 Lira) every visitor who has any interest in culture or history and who hasn't exhaustively read up on the country before coming here should start their visit to Malta by going to the Malta Experience. This 30 minute multimedia slideshow is a perfect introduction to the country preparing one for the sights of the country. Whenever I went to the country and brought people for the first time I would start them off here.
- The Upper Baraka Gardens at the upper south side of the peninsula offer a jaw dropping view of the Grand Harbour. Go on a sunny day and bring champagne!
- Even though Malta has an impressive and unique ancient history the National Archeology museum housed in the former Auberge de la France in Republic street is rather a dissapointment. The museum is currently partially being renovated hopefully bringing something more worthy of its name.
- Manoel Theatre is 'La Scala' in miniature, a very beautiful 17th century theatre in original state, and is the place for many classical music performances but also for instance the hilarious Christmas Panto.
- The imposing defence walls and ramparts at the entrance to Valletta built by the Knights in the late 16th century are interesting to explore.
Do
One can take a spectacular walk along the sea around the outside of the city walls, if one goes to the place where the ferry for Sliema leaves there is the possibility to walk over the rocks towards the tip of the peninsula and then around it coming back up into the city just next to the Malta Experience. This walk takes 20-30 minutes and is done by virtually noone.
Learn
Several of the Maltese english language institutes are in Valletta.
Work
Buy
The main street of Valletta is Republic street, a busy pedestrian zone leading down the middle of the Peninsula from the main gate down to Republic square, this is where many of the better shops are located, although it cannot quite compete with Sliema for clothing.
The best souvenirshop (the least worthless trinkets etc.) can be found at the Malta experience.
The best bookshop of Malta is definitely Sapienzas on Republic street.
There is a daily market selling cheap clothing in the parallel street to Republic street called Triq il-Mercanti, or Merchant street.
Eat
Valletta has a collection of good restaurants, due to most of the tourists residing either in Sliema or on the north coast of the island, there are fewer of the trashy variety.
Budget
If you keep your eyes open you may run into one of the charming traditional bakeries tucked away here and there where the tourist economy hasn't forced prices up yet and one can get lovely steaming fresh bread for mere cents.
Mid-range
Trattoria da Pipo is where locals go for lunch, they have an excellent selection of seafood dishes.
Splurge
Cafe Cordina on Republic square has a venerable history behind it, and has a reputation to match. The terrace is the place to be seen having lunch although the food isn't as good as one may expect.
Drink
There is a charming wine bar in an ancient cellar called Trabuxu where one can also have light meals. It's at the beginning of a small alley parallel to Republic street, look for the wooden sign with the corkscrew. This place is also worth remembering as it's one of the very few nice places in the city except restaurants where one can go in the evening for a drink. Trabuxu, No. 1d, Strait St.(couldn't find the Maltese streetname), Valletta; 21-22-30-36.
Sleep
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
The Phoenicia just outside of the main gate of Valletta is, with the possible exception of Xara palace in Mdina, the most exclusive place to stay in the country. This is where Queen Elisabeth recently chose for her reception when visiting Malta. The place has a definite old colonial style about it.
Contact
Opposite to the Trabuxu wine bar at the beginning of 'Strait street' there is a internet cafe, however last time I checked the prices were rather unreasonable.
Stay safe
Valletta has very little happening in terms of nightlife, so the streets are almost deserted late at night. Whether this makes it more or less safe is debateable but it's something to keep in mind.
Cope
Get out
External links
- Valletta - part of the official Malta Tourist Authority website
fr:La Valette de:Valletta WikiPedia:Valletta
| This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is very little information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow! |
