PLACES TO VISIT

As a specialist to Malta for over 30 years, Chevron would like to share our inside knowledge on the Top 10 Things to See and Do during a Malta holiday. Whether you want to explore the marine life, experience Malta’s history or enjoy the bustling nightlife, this list should have something for everyone. Our personal favourite? Pastizzi! Read on to find out more and please share this page on Facebook and Twitter to promote Malta’s fabulous attractions.

Experience the top 20 places to visit in Malta & Gozo

Malta might be one of the world’s smallest countries with an area of only 316km², but what Malta lacks in landmass it makes up for with azure water, ideal snorkelling locations, water sports and activities on a wide array of beaches, and a multitude of rocky inlets just waiting to be explored.

Malta has a number of attractive public gardens. There is a good concentration of them in Valletta and Floriana and some farther out of the harbour towns. 

Well as far as the Maltese Islands are concerned it is definitely the ultimate get-away-from-it-all destination and a day spent there is like no other.

There are now more than 1000 World Heritage Sites in the world and CNN have have included Valletta in their top 20 most Beautiful World Heritage sites. Valletta contains 320 momnuments within its fortified peninsula making it one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world.

Just before World War II, large tracts of arable land at Ta' Qali, near Mosta, were taken over to build a military aerodrome and an R.A.F. Station. This military zone has now been closed for many years.

Several buildings and hissen huts have been converted into small workshops and souvenir boutiques, to create what is now the Ta' Qali Handicrafts Village.

The gardens around Verdala Castle (Palace), situated on a high ridge overlooking Buskett Gardens, form part of an extensive green area in Malta. Verdala Palace was built in 1586 by Gerolamo Cassar, a Maltese architect, for Grand Master Verdalle (1582-1595) in a remote area of Boschetto, on the site where Grand Master La Valette had his modest hunting lodge.

On a spur overlooking the valley stands the summer palace of the Inquisitors built by Monsignor Visconti in 1625. The Palace commands a sweeping view over large tracts of countryside extending to the sea to the east.

The comings and goings of foreign forces throughout Malta’s history have created a legacy of military architecture that is testament to Malta’s strategic maritime importance. In fact, after spending even just a few days on the Maltese Islands, it will come as no surprise to hear that Malta has often been called the ‘Fortress Island’. While the days of savage invaders and Ottoman fleets are long gone, the retired fortifications still stand strong; scattered across the Islands and keeping a protective eye on the Maltese coast.

The restoration job has brought the fort back to life in every sense. An interpretation centre with three halls and audio-visuals gives a thorough history of the fort as well as the lore associated with the supposed hauntings at the site. The bastions have been cleaned and restored and now shine with new-found pride.

Beneath and around Gozo’s ancient citadel sprawls the town of Rabat – essentially Gozo’s capital – renamed as Victoria during the long-lived Queen’s reign. While the outlying suburbs of Victoria hold little of interest, at its core is a lovely melee of winding picturesque streets roughly following the original medieval street pattern.

Europe's most ancient relics actually lie on Malta, the Mediterranean island nation just south of Sicily. Carbon dating has revealed that the Ggantija temples outside the rustic village of Xaghra (Maltese names are tricky because the language is an amalgam of Arabic, Latin, and Greek) are roughly 6,000 years old, making them some of the oldest free-standing structures on Earth.

Manoel Island is known in Maltese as II-Gzira, which means The Island. It gives its name to the adjacent town, which is a further extension of Sliema. The Island, 0.5 sq. km, in area, lies in Marsamxett Bay between Sliema Creek on the Sliema side, and Lazzaretto Creek to the south.

According to tradition, this Cathedral is built on the same spot where, in Roman times, stood the palace of Publius, Governor of the island, whom St. Paul converted to Christianity and consecrated the first bishop of Malta.

A great day out for the whole family to enjoy. Not just another day trip, the aquarium location is packed full of facilities and nearby attractions.

Birdlife Malta - find our more about nature reserves and bird sancturies in Malta

When Walt Disney and Paramount Pictures decided to make a movie based on the popular cartoon strip Popeye, the production team picked the opened faced Anchor Bay in the north-west corner of the Mediterranean island of Malta, two miles from the village of Mellieha, as location for Popeye’s fictional village of Sweethaven.

The Hypogeum at Hal-Saflieni (Paola) was originally an underground chamber used by Neolithic people to bury their dead. 
The site originated some 6000 years ago, when a natural cave was adapted for burial. Later on, excavations were made downwards to a depth of 11 metres. 

Sunsets on the Maltese islands are something of an event, so while on holiday here, you best be finding at least one evening to catch it. You can watch the best sunset on Malta or Gozo on a beach, somewhere on a cliff, or enjoying a glass of wine on a terrace - you won't want to miss the stunning colours that light up the sky and slowly fade into darkness.

The production of salt has been a human activity since time immemorial. Long before the development of an array of food preservatives and the invention of refrigeration, salt was the only natural and widely available way of preserving food beyond immediate consumption.

WHY Malta? It's the first question people ask when I tell them I took a vacation in the tiny nation located in the middle of the Mediterranean between Italy and North Africa. The query is probably prompted by the fact Malta is not as well known or visited as other Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece. That's despite the fact it also offers sun-drenched beaches, delicious food, stunning scenery, the full gamut of human history and a warm welcome from the locals.

Malta’s many attractions and curiosities do not stop at ground level – there is quite a bit to see in Malta underground too! This is not too surprising as one of the islands’ rock layers is the very workable globigerina limestone, and, where this happens to be the ground surface stone, the results – both man-made and natural – can be quite intriguing.

The Malta Postal Museum, which opened its doors to the public in June 2016, is the latest in a string of initiatives that are helping Malta preserve its rich and diverse heritage. Set in a typical Maltese house and spread over four floors, the museum traces the history of the postal service in the islands as far back as the 16^th century and has a wealth of related articles.

There is no doubt Malta is a highly photogenic place, rendered more so by its plentiful sunlight, the profusion of limestone hues adorning most of its buildings plus a multitude of stunning locations. Little wonder then that Hollywood’s premier couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, commandeered the lovely inlet of Mgarr ix-Xini for a couple of months this summer, shooting what will presumably turn out to be a sensitive, low-key romantic movie.

There are a number of daily and weekly outdoor markets in the Maltese islands. The two daily ones take place in Valletta’s Merchants Street – popularly referred to as Il-Monti – and the one that centres on Victoria’s central square in Gozo. Other large markets are held in various towns and villages. 

Talk to any resident of Mellieha and they’ll probably tell you they live in the best town in Malta and wouldn’t dream of moving elsewhere. One can quite see their point. Unlike most other towns whose outskirts now touch the next village (or villages…), Mellieha stands proud and aloof a good three kilometres from the next town of St.Paul’s Bay – quite a long distance by local miniscule standards!

Visiting in 1830, a young Benjamin Disraeli - future prime minister of Great Britain - declared Valletta "a city of palaces built by gentlemen for gentlemen". The Maltese capital, he said, "equals in its noble architecture, if it does not excel, any capital in Europe".

Like Mr Disraeli - who came to Malta on a recommendation from his late friend, the poet Lord Byron - I'm instantly won over by Valletta.

The capital city of Valletta surely deserves a day or more of your time in Malta. The wealth of museums, churches, palaces and urban architecture need time for a decent appreciation. Visiting in the summer months can be exerting as the midday heat starts to take its toll and sap away at your energy. Valletta’s varied open spaces provide the perfect break for recharging batteries – and most of them are quite an attraction in themselves.

Wandering around Mdina’s quaint and winding streets one is tempted to look through the occasional door left unthinkingly ajar; to get a glimpse of what’s behind a palazzo’s sturdy doors. But most doors in the silent city seem to remain permanently shut and will not easily disclose what’s inside – with one notable exception.

Malta’s small size and mild winters combine to make it possible to do some exploring on foot – possibly the best way to see and absorb more. While the tourist hubs and a good number of the island’s attractions are to be found elsewhere, Malta’s southeast should not be sniffed at either. Here’s a walking itinerary idea which takes in the south east coast Malta around Marsaxlokk Bay from Birzebbuga to Marsaskala – a distance which can be covered in about three hours or less.

Anyone who comes to Malta invariably visits Mdina – the island’s well preserved medieval capital. Some will stray into nearby Rabat because of its well-known attractions: a series of large early Christian catacombs dating from the third century AD and of course (and right on Mdina’s doorstep) the Domus Romana, which holds some of Malta’s best Roman remains and the finest Roman mosaics to be found in the islands. But Rabat deserves more than a cursory visit to these two main attractions – the town deserves a whole morning or afternoon to itself as a minimum.

Some of the larger villages of Malta get very little attention from visitors to the islands but that is not to say they do not merit an hour or two of wandering. Haz-Zebbug in Malta is one such place. Originally formed of three medieval hamlets – Hal Muxi, Hal Dwin and Hal Mula – Zebbug can now be said to be a small town rather than a village, with a population of some 11,000 and (unfortunately) some inevitable urban sprawl around its edges.