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Maltazar · Malta’s living atlasMalta
Route to keep
Birgu + Valletta: Harbour, Knights and Grand Harbour
855minutes
8.9km
24stops
Mediumdifficulty
The best first Maltazar day: start in Birgu, cross Grand Harbour and enter Valletta through Barrakka. The route has a quick outdoor mode and a full mode for the cathedral, forts and war rooms.
Stops on the route
Find your own rhythm
online version
1
Malta at War Museum
The museum leads into air-raid shelters beneath Birgu and shows civilian life during Malta’s World War II siege.
45 minIndoor
2
Birgu Old Town
Birgu was the Order’s first major base in Malta before Valletta was built after the Great Siege.
25 minOutdoor
3
Inquisitor's Palace
A historic house and the national ethnography museum in Birgu, on Main Gate Street, BRG 1023. Built around the 1530s, it first housed the Magna Curia Castellania Melitensis, the civil tribunal Grand Master Juan de Homedes y Coscon established in 1543, until that court moved to the newly built Valletta in 1572. Two years later Pietro Dusina arrived as the first inquisitor and apostolic delegate of Pope Gregory XIII, and Grand Master Jean de la Cassière offered him the building.
45 minIndoor
4
St Lawrence Church, Birgu
First conventual chapel of the Order in Malta (1530). Interior full of knightly coats of arms and works by Mattia Preti.
15 minIndoor and outdoor
5
Birgu Marina
Today’s marina sits beside waters that were among the most strategic parts of Grand Harbour in the Order’s era.
15 minOutdoor
6
Malta Maritime Museum
The Malta Maritime Museum occupies the former Royal Naval Bakery on Birgu’s waterfront.
45 minIndoor
7
Fort St Angelo
Mighty fortress in Birgu — the Knights' headquarters during the Great Siege. Views of Grand Harbour and Valletta from the terraces are breathtaking.
50 minIndoor and outdoor
8
Isla and Marina Viewpoint
This viewpoint shows how close Birgu, Isla and Valletta are, and why the harbour worked as a natural fortress.
10 minOutdoor
9
Upper Barrakka Gardens
Malta's most famous viewpoint — panorama of Grand Harbour, Three Cities and harbour entrance. Daily cannon fire from the Saluting Battery at 12:00 and 16:00.
25 minOutdoor
10
Saluting Battery
Saluting Battery is a historic stop from the Malta Wakacje plan, added to Maltazar with GPS coordinates and practical route context.
20 minOutdoor
11
Lascaris War Rooms
Underground tunnel complex beneath Barrakka Gardens — Allied Mediterranean command center during WWII. Generals Eisenhower and Montgomery planned the invasion of Sicily here.
60 minIndoor
12
Auberge de Castille
The most magnificent auberge of the Order, seat of the Spanish-Portuguese Langue. Today the Office of the Prime Minister.
10 minOutdoor
13
Royal Opera House / Pjazza Teatru Rjal
Royal Opera House / Pjazza Teatru Rjal is a historic stop from the Malta Wakacje plan, added to Maltazar with GPS coordinates and practical route context.
10 minOutdoor
14
MUZA
MUZA is a historic stop from the Malta Wakacje plan, added to Maltazar with GPS coordinates and practical route context.
45 minIndoor
15
St John's Co-Cathedral
The Order of St John’s conventual church, completed in 1577, soon after the Great Siege, and dedicated to St John the Baptist. The Order’s military engineer and architect, Gironimo Cassar (c. 1520–93), built it. The austere exterior has two bell towers with octagonal spires. The oratory and the sacristy were added in 1604. The precincts also hold a cemetery.
60 minIndoor
16
Lower Barrakka Gardens
Lower Barrakka gives a quieter view of the Grand Harbour entrance and helps explain Valletta’s maritime layout.
20 minOutdoor
17
Siege Bell War Memorial
The memorial recalls the victims of the 1940-1942 siege of Malta, when the island was a key Allied position.
10 minOutdoor
18
Fort St Elmo
Built in 1552 at the tip of the Sciberras Peninsula in Valletta, the fort is known for its defence during the Great Siege of 1565. It now houses the National War Museum, devoted to Malta’s military history.
60 minIndoor and outdoor
Local note
Pick a mode before starting: Outdoor walk / Full visit / Family.
Before you go
The backup plan is part of the route
Weather and conditions
Heat
Transport
Multi-modal
Booking
Not required
Last verified
28 May 2026
My notes
Sources and freshness
Check the online card before leaving. Sea conditions, heat, closures and transport can change.
https://ghawdex.pl/en/szlaki/malta-core-valletta-birgu · Data checked: 28 May 2026