Best 6 historic sites to see in Malta
Malta is a fascinating country full of ancient history which is perfect to see in Winter. Just outside of the city centre, Valletta, the country opens into rolling hills, crumbling rock walls, fresh farm stalls, sunny roads, ancient temples and gorgeous cliffs.
We’ve put together this little itinerary for you so you can hit all the top sites and the best spots to eat. See below for our map of this itinerary and guess what, its all very contained so you won’t travel more than 25min to each place!
Getting around
Whilst there are great bus routes, we suggest you hire a car (they are cheap!) and get yourself off the beaten track to explore!
TOP TIP: Buy the Heritage Malta Multisite pass especially if you plan to visit more than 3 places, at 30Euros it saves you $. Works for most Heritage Malta sites and lasts for 1 month. I’ll star** the ones below.
Here are our top places you must visit, for history, food and fun. This is in the order we visited going south from Valletta then driving up the coast towards Gozo. I’ve also included some additional sites for the real history buffs like myself!
Google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/55de12bcqLU8QmEE7
Itinerary: see below
Table of Contents
Marsaxlokk Fishing Village
Cute fishing harbor. We loved seeing the fishermen with their colourful boats sitting around smoking and mending nets. Very tranquil.
Our food recommendation is Haber 16 in Marsaxlokk, delicious fresh fish, lovely wine and a great view of the harbor sitting in the sun. I’d suggest coming in warmer months for sunset and a aperol spritz!
Hagar Qim & Mnajdra Temples
My absolute favourite Neolithic temples. Perched on the cliff, they have real presence and energy. Mnajdra at sunset is breathtaking, it is an astrological aligned site, so on the vernal and autumn equinox the sun lines up and shines through. There is also a calendar stone with moon phases inscribed.
They are magical sites to visit at sunset (they close at 5pm). You can stay on the cliffs later on and enjoy the magical evening….
Mdina The Ancient Capital (and Rabat)
Mdina the ancient capital, originally founded in 8th century by Phoenician’s then taken over by the Romans and renamed Melite. It remained the capital city until the 16th century when the Knights of St John created the capital on the coastline in Birgu, and later Valletta.
It is lovely to wander around and explore the fortified town, seeing all the different styles of architecture from Roman to middle ages and see the awesome view over the countryside.
Palazzo Falson – Surprise stop for us, I thought it looked interesting and dragged Greg inside. A medieval style palace exhibiting amazing artworks, antiquities including a 10 hour clock (French revolution). So much to see!
Domvs Romanus – This rich Roman villa has beautiful mosaic floors, intricate patterns and lovely finds in the museum. Well worth a short visit. Another one excavated by Sir Temi Zammit!
St Paul’s Catacombs – Wow these are incredibly extensive. You’ve just stumbled upon a series of burial chambers so old, and reused by so many different civilisations they just kept digging more of them. We loved exploring them and imagining ourselves in a archeology film!
Eating in Mdina/Rabat
Fontana Tea Garden – lovely views from the top, cake looks pretty good too!
Crystal Palace Bar – yep it’s a dive but locals will tell you its got the BEST pastizzi! Hot straight from the flames of the oven.
Root 81 – You all know we must have a fine dining experience on our holidays. Melt in your mouth food, lovely waiters and a perfect romantic evening.
Dingli Cliffs
Just 10min south of Rabat/Mdina are the Dingli Cliffs a beautiful place to stop for sunset photos, a picnic or even to share a bottle of wine (as I saw some people!). If you go to the lookout point you’ll see the authentic maltese coffee – yum!
Xemxija Heritage Walk - DO NOT MISS
Of all the great things to do in Malta this is one of them – it’s an easy, fun walk with lots of great things to see along the way.
Follow in the footsteps of Romans, Phoenicians and even Neolithic ancestors as you tread the ancient paths and experience historic sites totally free with gorgeous views.
I’ve created an interpretive walking guide for you – see here!
Popeye Village?
A complete film set from the Popeye film with Robin Williams. It is so cute and view is fantastic from around the bay (see our google maps point).
Our friend urged us to go, saying ‘don’t think, just go – its kitsch and kinda wonderful’. Unfortunately it was too cold and windy to visit, will have to return when the weather is warmer.
Hard Core History Fans only
Ta Hagrat – Another Neolithic temple but only the beautiful temple gate is standing. Lovely views and I loved it! Very peaceful.
Ta Skorba – just 10min drive away, but it has mostly fallen into piles of rocks.
Ghar Dalam Cave – The oldest site in Malta. It is a deep cave where bones from tiny hippos (2m tall) and minature elephants (also 2m) were found from over 500,000 years ago. There is a cool museum made up of bones, but the cave was a bit sad. We felt that they could have put more explanations or imagination into it. But it was cool to see….tiny elephant bones….awww
Borg in Nadur – If you’re already at Ghar Dalam its just down the road, its a bunch of rocks on a site. But I enjoyed it. I think Greg was ready for lunch.
To see all the historic sites go to the Heritage Malta site.
Suggested Itinerary
So now you’ve travelled up to the Ferry Terminal – lets go to Gozo!
Till next time,
Jade & Greg xx
And dont forget to read all about our Xemxija Walk Guide and our Guide to Valletta!
