28 of the best · Malta
Caravaggio in St John’s, the Grand Master’s Palace, the forts of the Grand Harbour, the Hypogeum and the temples, Mdina, the Blue Grotto, and on Gozo the Citadel, Ġgantija and Dwejra.
Our 28 favourites, listed A–Z · Updated October 2026
Browse by type
Three of our favourites from this list, vetted by people who know and love Malta.
Caravaggio’s Beheading
The Knights’ conventual church, its plain facade hiding a gilded baroque interior and Caravaggio’s Beheading of St John the Baptist.
St John's Street, VallettaExplore View on map
UNESCO World Heritage
A rock-cut underground burial complex, in use from 4000 to 1500 BC: book weeks ahead.
In-depth stories behind the list.
The back story
A naval base for a century and a half: the Grand Harbour fleet, the bakery in Birgu, Strait Street, the wartime shelters and the George Cross.
The back story
Temples older than Stonehenge, a city built by knights after a siege, the British Grand Harbour and a George Cross: how three small islands became Malta.
The sights everyone comes for.
Families
An interactive science centre in the old naval hospital buildings at Kalkara.
The Knights’ palace
The palace of the Grand Masters on St George’s Square, with its State Rooms and the Palace Armoury.
Mediterranean sea life
The national aquarium on the point at Qawra.
Triq it-Trunċiera, QawraExplore View on map
The 1980 film set
The timber village built at Anchor Bay as the set of the 1980 film Popeye, now a family attraction.
Caravaggio’s Beheading
The Knights’ conventual church, its plain facade hiding a gilded baroque interior and Caravaggio’s Beheading of St John the Baptist.
St John's Street, VallettaExplore View on map
By boat
Sea caves on the south coast, seen from the small painted boats that leave from Wied iż-Żurrieq.
The view of the Grand Harbour
Arcaded gardens on the bastions with the finest view of the Grand Harbour, above the guns of the Saluting Battery.
Battery Street, Valletta VLT 1221Explore View on map
Knights, British and wartime Malta.
The 100-ton gun
A Victorian battery on the coast at Kalkara, run by the Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna.
Saint Rocco Road, Kalkara KKR 9063Explore View on map
Guarding the Grand Harbour
The fortress at the tip of Birgu, at the heart of the Great Siege, facing Valletta across the Grand Harbour.
The George Cross
The star-shaped fort at the tip of Valletta, home to the National War Museum and the George Cross.
The Inquisition in Malta
The palace of the Roman Inquisition in Birgu, now a historic house and the national museum of ethnography.
Under the Barrakka
The Second World War operations rooms cut into the rock below the Upper Barrakka Gardens, with the Operation Husky Museum.
Neolithic, Roman and early Christian.
UNESCO World Heritage
Two late-Neolithic temples over 5,000 years old on the cliffs of the south coast.
UNESCO World Heritage
A rock-cut underground burial complex, in use from 4000 to 1500 BC: book weeks ahead.
Found in 1913
Four megalithic structures discovered by a farmer in 1913, with carved spirals and the base of a colossal statue.
Roman mosaics
The mosaics of a noble Roman town house, found in 1881 outside Mdina.
Wesgħet il-Mużew, Rabat RBT 1202Explore View on map
Before people
Malta’s oldest prehistoric site, a cave full of the bones of Ice Age elephants and hippos.
Early Christian Malta
Punic, Roman and Byzantine burial galleries outside the walls of Mdina, the earliest evidence of Christianity in Malta.
Places of worship.
The great dome
The domed parish church of Mosta, Santa Marija, whose dome rises over the centre of the island.
Mdina’s cathedral
The baroque cathedral of Mdina, with a painted dome above the old city.
Gozo’s shrine
The national shrine of Ta’ Pinu, standing alone in the fields near Għarb.
Triq Ta' Pinu, Għarb GRB 1704, GozoExplore View on map
The sister island.
UNESCO World Heritage
Two megalithic temples on the Xagħra plateau, built between 3,800 and 2,000 BC.
A Knights’-era mill
One of the few surviving windmills from the time of the Knights.
Gozo’s citadel
The walled citadel on its hill above Victoria, with the cathedral, the Old Prison and the Gran Castello Historic House.
39 of the best Restaurants
8 of the best Cafés & food
7 of the best Bars & beach clubs
20 of the best Hotels24 of the best Arts & Culture6 of the best Cinema & film
9 of the best Beaches & gardens6 of the best Walks
6 of the best Shopping
7 of the best Health8 of the best Property5 of the best Developments6 of the best Cars & yachts9 of the best Getting Around