Valletta, Mdina and Seven Thousand Years
Malta is an island nation in the central Mediterranean, south of Sicily, known for Valletta, its fortified capital, for prehistoric temples and for a history shaped by the Knights of St John. The archipelago consists of Malta, Gozo and Comino, and has about half a million residents. Valletta was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980 and was European Capital of Culture in 2018. Its grid of honey-coloured streets, grand harbour views and the Baroque St John's Co-Cathedral, home to Caravaggio's Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, reward slow exploring.
Older still are the temples. The Ġgantija temples on Gozo and the Hypogeum at Paola, an underground complex of chambers, date from prehistoric times and sit among Malta's UNESCO-listed treasures. In the island's centre, the walled city of Mdina, once the capital, is nicknamed the Silent City for its narrow lanes and golden bastions. Travellers who know Sicily and Italy will notice echoes of Baroque Italy here, alongside Arabic, British and Maltese influences that make the islands entirely their own.
Gozo, Comino and the Maltese Table
Gozo is the greener, slower sister island, reached by a short ferry from Malta's north. Its Citadel overlooks Victoria, and the coast is dotted with salt pans, dramatic cliffs and quiet bays. Comino, between the two, is a tiny, car-free island whose Blue Lagoon is a favourite for boat trips on clear days. Divers value the clear water and the wrecks and caves around the islands, while the Blue Grotto on Malta's south coast is a classic boat excursion. The three islands together suit short breaks and longer stays alike.
Maltese cuisine blends Sicilian, North African and British traits. Expect pastizzi, flaky pastries filled with ricotta or peas, fresh lampuki fish in season, rabbit stew known as fenkata, and ftira, a ring-shaped bread piled with tomatoes, olives and tuna. The island's festa season, when villages decorate their streets with lights and fireworks for patron saints, runs through the summer. A tourist board can use that calendar of food, faith and celebration to give visitors constantly fresh reasons to return.
Read the full Malta guide on Visit Travel Group, or see VisitMalta.co.uk on Visit Travel Group.