Beautiful Valletta! - August 7, 2019

 

Wow! Valletta is a beautiful city.

Interesting Facts

• It is the capital city of Malta and has a population of about 5 700.
• It is a small capital city. In fact, it is the 7th smallest capital city in the world (based on population).
• It is a walled city that was built in the 1500's.

The hotel we stayed at was the Grand Excelsior Hotel. This is just outside the walls of Valletta, and is officially in the town of Floriana. This was an awesome hotel. It was a little pricier than we usually spend, but we did get an incredible deal for a five star hotel! (of course you can tell it is a five star hotel because of the phone in the bathroom ;) )

The rooms were spacious and comfortable with a very nice bathroom. The hotel foyer and grounds were very grand (hence the name). The pool was big and overlooked the harbour.

If you look past the pool you can see the view over the harbour.


There was a huge breakfast buffet with more choices than you can imagine.

View from the breakfast room

If you are staying in Valletta I would definitely recommend staying here. I would also recommend booking in advance. We booked about 6 months in advance and when I looked at the prices just before we arrived at the hotel they were almost triple what we paid... because we booked early!

It is a short walk into Valletta from the hotel. Before you enter the Valletta Gate you pass the Triton fountain. This is a huge beautiful fountain that has recently been retrofitted. Day or night there were always people sitting around the fountain.

This is also where the bus terminus is, so if you want to go to one of the other towns it is easily done from here.

As you enter the walled capital city it looks like this:

That looks like the drawbridge area... maybe underneath was a moat?

Just after you go inside the walls it looks like this:

I had big plans for what to see in Valletta (a list even… you know I like lists)… but instead what happened was we just wandered around enjoying the beauty of the buildings and the feel of the city.

Note: This is NOT our first visit to Valletta. If you haven’t been before there are things you MUST see including the Upper Barrakka Gardens and the St. John’s Co-Cathedral. If you want more ideas just message me… I’m full of ideas (and lists obviously)!

Anyway, below I’ll just include some photos of our wanderings.

Side note: It is incredibly difficult picking only a few to put in, so apologies in advance if this gets long!

This building is called the "Auberge de Castille" and was built in the 1740's. It is currently where the officer of the Prime Minister of Malta is housed.

Valletta is a city up on a hill. This means a lot of stairs, but also gorgeous views down over the water!

The Upper Barrakka Gardens is a public garden. The arched terraces were built in 1661. This was originally a recreation place for the Knights of St. John, but in 1800 was made a garden for the public after the end of the French occupation.


View of the Grand Harbour from the Upper Barrakka Gardens.

As you are walking the streets you come across beautiful entrances like this one! (I just looked it up. It is a bed and breakfast that looks amazing... but out of my price range!)


A city of steps. I love how the cafes still take advantage of the outside space!

You'd get your exercise living on the fifth floor of this building!

My last piece of advice is that you must go out after dark. The buildings look stunning at night time!

National Library of Malta. Building completed in 1796.

Love these enormous doors!

Back at the Triton Fountain again!


Beautiful walkway after the Triton Fountain


That brings our time in Malta to a close for this year. We are looking forward to spending an extended time in Malta on our year off... which starts July 2020!