23 sights across Malta and Gozo, from St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta and Fort St Angelo across the harbour to the underground Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples and the Cittadella on Gozo. Building a day-by-day plan? See things to do in Malta.
A group of sea caves and a natural arch at Wied iz-Zurrieq on Malta's south coast. Small boats run into the caves from the inlet; a clifftop viewpoint shows the arch.
Sheer limestone cliffs on Malta's south-west coast, near the highest point of the islands, with open sea views to the islet of Filfla. Free to visit and best at sunset.
The remains of a wealthy Roman town house between Mdina and Rabat, with intricate mosaic floors and marble statuary that includes a bust of the Emperor Claudius's daughter.
The dramatic coast at Dwejra in western Gozo, with the Inland Sea lagoon, Fungus Rock and the Blue Hole dive site. The Azure Window arch collapsed in 2017 and is gone.
The fort at the tip of Birgu that served as the Knights' headquarters during the 1565 Great Siege and later as a Royal Navy base. Big Grand Harbour views and a two-hour visit.
A star-shaped fort of 1552 at the tip of the Valletta peninsula that held out for a month in the Great Siege. It now houses the National War Museum and the George Cross.
Two Neolithic temples on the Xaghra plateau in Gozo, part of the Megalithic Temples of Malta on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Entry is through an interpretation centre with finds from the site.
The first building the Knights raised in Valletta, later the British Governor's Palace and now the Office of the President. Restored State Rooms and one of Europe's great armour collections.
Two late Neolithic temple sites over 5,000 years old on the cliffs above the south coast near Qrendi. Mnajdra's South structure lines up with sunrise at the equinoxes.
A Neolithic underground burial complex in Paola, cut into rock on three levels and used from about 4000 to 2500 BC. UNESCO-listed, with only ten visitors inside at a time.
A 16th-century palace in Birgu that was the seat of the Roman Inquisition in Malta from 1574 to 1798. Tribunal room, prison cells and the national ethnography collection.
Malta's national aquarium at Qawra Point, with around 300 species in more than 50 tanks, a walk-through tunnel and a 12-metre main tank. A good bad-weather plan for families.
Malta's main archaeology museum, in the Auberge de Provence on Republic Street. It holds the Sleeping Lady, the Venus of Malta and finds from the temples and the Hypogeum.
The original wooden film set built for the 1980 Popeye movie, now a family attraction on Anchor Bay near Mellieha with shows, a comic museum and a short film about the shoot.
A bright red 17th-century fort built by Grand Master Lascaris on the Mellieha ridge, restored by Din l-Art Helwa, with 360-degree views over Ghadira Bay, Comino and Gozo.
A huge domed parish church in the town of Mosta, famous for a 1942 air-raid bomb that pierced the dome and did not explode. You can visit the dome balcony and a wartime shelter.
The conventual church of the Knights of St John in Valletta, completed in 1577. Inside: Mattia Preti's painted vault, marble tombstones and Caravaggio's Beheading of St John the Baptist.
Roman underground cemeteries in Rabat, within a burial ground whose history reaches back to Punic times. Run by Heritage Malta with audio guides.
The seat of Malta's archbishop, rebuilt by Lorenzo Gafà after the 1693 earthquake. One ticket covers the cathedral and its museum in the old seminary next door.
The national shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Ta' Pinu, a Romanesque-style basilica standing alone in the fields near Gharb, visited by Pope John Paul II in 1990 and Pope Francis in 2022.
A complex of four late Neolithic megalithic structures in Tarxien, known for carved spirals and animal reliefs. Part of the UNESCO-listed Megalithic Temples of Malta.
The fortified citadel crowning Victoria, Gozo's capital, with a cathedral, small museums and bastion walks that look across the whole island. The fortress itself is free and always open.
A public garden on Valletta's bastions with a wide view across the Grand Harbour to the Three Cities. Below it, the Saluting Battery fires its time-guns at noon and 4pm.
Pick the sites near your base, check their opening days, then use the travel guides to fit them into a route.