Valletta

Valletta sits on the Sceberras peninsula between Malta's two great natural harbours, the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west. The city is named after its founder, Grand Master Jean de Valette of the Order of St John, and building began in 1566, the year after the Great Siege. Its grid of steep, straight streets packs churches, palaces and auberges into an area small enough to explore on foot, which is why UNESCO lists the whole city as a World Heritage Site and calls it one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world.

The essential stop is St John's Co-Cathedral, the Knights' conventual church, plain outside and covered in gilded carving and inlaid marble tombstones within. A few streets away the Grandmaster's Palace was the seat of the Order's rulers, and the National Museum of Archaeology holds finds from Malta's prehistoric temples. At the tip of the peninsula, Fort St Elmo houses the National War Museum.

What to do

• Start at the Upper Barrakka Gardens for the view across the Grand Harbour to the Three Cities.
• Spend a slow hour inside St John's Co-Cathedral, then walk Republic Street and Merchants Street.
• Take one of the Grand Harbour cruises to see the bastions from the water.
• Try pastizzi or a ftira for lunch on the run.

The capital is also the transport hub. Many bus routes start or end at the terminus outside City Gate, harbour ferries cross to Sliema and to Cospicua in the Three Cities, and the fast ferry to Gozo leaves from the Grand Harbour. A lift links the Upper Barrakka Gardens with the waterfront below.

Valletta hosts many of the island's big dates, including Carnival, the fireworks festival over the Grand Harbour and Notte Bianca. It was European Capital of Culture in 2018. Hotels inside the walls are mostly small boutique conversions of old townhouses, so many visitors stay in Sliema and come across by ferry.