Malta — Baroque Bastions & the Bluest Water 🇲🇹
Europe's smallest capital: a fortified UNESCO city built by the Knights of St John, ringed by honey-coloured limestone and framed by some of the Mediterranean's clearest water. Hand-picked stays and must-book experiences — every link takes you straight to Trip.com to check live prices and book.
🏨 Where to Stay
- Hilton Malta ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — a marina-front resort in the Portomaso complex, St Julian's most fashionable district, with four pools, five restaurants and easy access to the island's nightlife just 15 minutes from Valletta.
- The Phoenicia Malta ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — smart pick — Malta's only Leading Hotels of the World member, an Art Deco icon set in 7 acres of gardens at the gates of Valletta, with an infinity pool built into the historic bastion walls overlooking Marsamxett Harbour.
- Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz, Gozo ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — hidden gem — a hunting-lodge-style resort in a quiet valley on Gozo, Malta's slower-paced sister island, with landscaped gardens, two pools and an award-winning spa — easily reached by ferry, and a genuinely different side of the archipelago.
- Iniala Harbour House ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — hidden gem — four restored 17th-century Valletta townhouses on St Barbara Bastion, just 23 suites with Grand Harbour views, home to Malta's only two-Michelin-starred restaurant — Malta's sole Forbes Five-Star hotel, and intimate rather than grandiose.
✈️ Flights
🎟️ Experiences
- St John's Co-Cathedral — built by the Knights of Malta in the 1570s, its austere exterior conceals one of Europe's most opulent Baroque interiors, with a ceiling fresco by Mattia Preti and two paintings by Caravaggio.
- Blue Lagoon, Comino — a protected cove between Comino and Cominotto with impossibly clear, layered turquoise water over a white sandy seabed, reached by a short boat trip from Malta or Gozo.
🚗 Car Hire & Transfers