Decision to Visit Malta

Last year we took a trip to Italy because of an exceptional ticket deal. We love Italy, but also wanted to visit a country we haven’t been to before, so started looking for cheap/short flights from Rome to other places around Europe. We immediately noticed how reasonable it was to get to Malta from Rome (just a 1.5hr direct flight for $38 round trip over our dates!) and after refreshing ourselves on the history of this fascinating and ancient country, which has been inhabited since 5900 BC, we were sold! Our entire trip was just over a week in length, so we decided to spend just two days in Malta.

Getting There

It’s easy to fly to Malta from many places around Europe. As mentioned above, our flight from Rome was just 1.5hrs direct on Ryanair and Malta has its own airline as well. The country of Malta is actually comprised of five islands, but the island of Malta is the largest and contains the country’s only international airport, so it’s where you’ll arrive. Because we were only going to be in Malta for a couple of days, we decided to spend the whole time in the capital city of Valletta, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its concentration of historic sites due to be successively ruled by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and the Order of the Knights of St John. The city as it is today was built after the Great Siege of Malta by the Ottomans in 1565. After doing some research, we decided to travel from Malta International Airport to Valletta via public transportation. It was easy to catch the X4 bus from right in front of arrivals and it was just a 30 minute ride to Valletta. You can read our full guide to catching the bus from the airport to Valletta here. Once we arrived at the bus stop in Valletta (right by the Triton Fountain) it was just an eight minute walk to our hotel.

Good to know: You can take the X4 bus on Malta’s public transportation system from Malta International Airport to the Valletta bus stop for just €2.50 per adult (day ticket price). The ride takes 30 minutes and the bus stops right in front of the airport terminal.

Where to Stay

After a lot of research we decided to stay at La Falconeria Hotel because of its exceptional location in the heart of Valletta. The name of the hotel comes from the fact that the street the hotel is located on used to be called Strada del Gran Falconiere because it was where the Knights of the Order of St. John kept and bred falcons. Getting there was an easy 8 minute walk from the Valletta Bus Station that involved crossing a bridge over a moat to enter the city. Pretty dang cool! We used Google Maps to navigate to La Falconeria, but still had some trouble finding it as it led us to a side of the hotel’s building but not the front and the sign for La Falconeria was quite small. Not a big deal though. We felt rather out of place as we stepped inside the beautiful marble foyer to check in - a backpacking family in a clearly rather posh hotel! But we just owned it and found a pack n play already set up in our room for Freya to sleep in, so they were definitely accommodating of a family. Our room was pretty small for a family of four, but it was clean and beautiful and the view of several cathedrals from the walkway outside our room was a real treat! As was the delicious included breakfast. We took the kids the first morning but found it too stressful as the tables in the dining area are close together and there wasn’t a single other child there, so we spent the whole time trying to keep our kiddos super quiet so the other guests could enjoy their fancy breakfast. The next morning we took turns going and eating alone while the other parent watched the kids in the room and that felt much more relaxed. Something else pretty cool at La Falconeria is their plunge pool, located in the basement in what used to be a well - a classic feature in old Maltese buildings. We went down and checked it out, but didn’t swim as it felt rather chilly for the kids. If you visit during the summer though, I’m sure it would feel great after a hot walk around town!

Good to know: While you may not want to stay at La Falconeria, we’d recommend picking a hotel located in Valletta. It made a huge difference being able to just walk out the doors of our hotel and start exploring cool historic things without worrying about trying to walk a long ways with a toddler and baby or catch public transportation.

*Our easy walk from the Valletta Bus Station to La Falconeria*

*Our room at La Falconeria. It was pretty small but very nice and we really appreciated the pack n play.*

*Breakfast involved ordering a main off of a menu as well as access to a light buffet with things like pastries, fruit, and yogurt*

*The cool hewn stone walkway down to the basement well turned plunge pool*

Day One

Get Tasty Food

If we’re going to eat out with our toddler(s) while traveling, we usually find a place willing to do take away or something that looks really casual. We also buy groceries and eat a lot of meals in our room, which also helps a lot with the budget! With both of the above in mind, we started looking for food in Valletta and were delighted to find the Is-Suq tal-Belt Food Court, which not only has a variety of tasty food options in a casual setting, but also has a good sized grocery store downstairs. Bingo! We headed to the grocery store first and were able to find everything from milk and cereal to instant noodles, yogurt, cheese, drinks, and fresh fruit. All our toddler travel food staples. After that we strolled around the food court and settled on Indian food and bubble tea smoothies. Both were super delicious and the perfect vibe with busy kids. We liked it so much in fact that we returned and had Indian food a second time during our stay. We also hit up McDonald’s a couple of times. Not because we feel like we need fast food, but because it’s so fun to experience McDonald’s in Europe. It’s a much more luxurious experience than McDonald’s in the US and and so delightful to get a latte in a proper mug to go along with baked goods like croissants and donut bites. Long story short, you’ll be spoiled for food choices in Valletta and if you and your kiddos are up for dining at a proper restaurant, we passed endless street side restaurants and cafes oozing with ambiance.

Good to know: Check out the Is-Suq tal-Belt Food Court if you want to sample a variety of foods (or be able to get different foods for all members of the family as sometimes happens when you have toddlers!) in a low key toddler friendly environment.

*In the grocery store in the Is-Suq tal-Belt Food Court*

*Getting delicious Indian food in the Is-Suq tal-Belt Food Court*

*As you can see there is a wide variety of food in the food court. Yum!*

Visit a Museum (or two!)

We don't usually plan to visit museums with a toddler, but Malta has such a rich history that we decided to check out the National Museum of Archaeology. Tickets were just 5 euros for adults and free entry for kids, so we decided it couldn't hurt to check it out even if the kids got restless and we couldn't stay long. The museum is located in a beautiful historic building just a few minutes walk from La Falconeria. After buying tickets at the entrance to the museum, we started exploring the first level and quickly discovered an area with free lockers and some bathrooms with changing tables. We didn't have much with us so didn't use the lockers, but it's a great feature for families if you want to stash a diaper bag. It was pretty spacious in the locker room so I’d guess you could leave a stroller there too without issue if you had one like we did. The non-working elevator was less awesome with our stroller and a baby that needed to be carried so we ended up just taking turns walking around upstairs as we didn’t feel like carrying the stroller up for what we presumed would be a short visit. Overall, the museum was cool, especially the area with glass paneling in the floor so you can see some ancient structures under the building, but as you'd expect, it wasn't a place that really holds a toddler’s attention so we had a hard time reading the numerous plaques, which was key to really appreciating the artifacts. It was also smaller than we expected, so we only spent about an hour looking around.

Good to know: Tickets to the National Museum of Archaeology are just €5.00 per adult and children ages 0-5 enter for free. It wasn’t quite as large as we expected though and required a lot of reading to really appreciate the displays, which is hard with a toddler. As such, if you’re only going to visit one museum site while in Valletta, I would be tempted to go instead to the Lascaris War Rooms if you’re interested in WWII history, or Casa Rocca Piccola if you want to see inside a lavishly furnished and decorated 16th century palace of a Maltese noble family. Of course, that’s just our opinion!

*Entry to the National Museum of Archaeology*

*Area with free lockers and a bathroom with a changing table*

*An area in the floor where you can look at ancient structures under the building*

*Another example of the displays in the museum*

Take in the Views and Play at Upper Barrakka Gardens

In the afternoon, we took the kids for a walk to Upper Barrakka Garden. This beautiful free garden is located on the St. Peter and St. Paul bastions, which were built in the 1560s. The gardens (there’s also a Lower Barrakka Garden but we didn’t want to pay for the elevator to access it) were originally just for recreation for the Knights of Saint John, but were opened to the public in the 1800s. The garden was really enchanting even during the winter and the view over Grand Harbor was incredible. Jasper loved running around on the various little paths and what toddler doesn’t love a fountain? We saw in photos that in the spring/summer there are a lot of flowers in bloom, which would be absolutely stunning if you visit at that time of year.

Good to know: There’s a cafe in Upper Barrakka Garden so you can have a coffee break and snack while your kiddo(s) play

*The lovely fountain in Barrakka Garden and memorial to Sir Alexander Ball - the British Admiral who assisted Malta in their military efforts against the French*

*We could see that there were a lot of flowers in the spring/summer*

*Amazing views over Grand Harbor from Upper Barrakka*

Day Two

Walk Around Historic Valletta

We dedicated our second day in Valletta to walking the entire perimeter of the city, which isn’t actually terribly difficult even with a toddler as Valletta isn’t very big. There are plenty of organized walking tours of Valletta, but we decided to do our own informal walking tour so we could really take it at our own pace with the kids. Over the course of a couple of hours, we were able to circumnavigate the entire little peninsula on which Valletta sits. We brought the stroller for Jasper for when he got tired of walking and I carried Freya in her baby carrier. It was lovely strolling along with views of the ocean to one side and amazing historic buildings to the other side. We didn’t have a specific plan of what we wanted to see and mostly just enjoyed stopping to explore little alleyways, poking into shops, and watching boats sail past. However, we did walk right by Fort St. Elmo, which was pretty cool even from just the exterior. When we reached the entrance to Valletta near the Titan Fountain, we cut inwards past the ruins of the opera house (destroyed by Luftwaffe air bombers), the National Library of Malta, some lovely cathedrals, and beautiful plazas and street cafes. We’ve traveled extensively and wandered many cities on foot and I have to say that Valletta will probably remain a favorite. It was just so beautiful with everything crafted from stone and accented with pops of brilliant color from painted doors, balconies, and lush tropical flowers like bougainvillea and hibiscus. Not to mention the sea views tempting you from the ends of almost every alley. Just so magical! Plus, because many streets in Valletta are pedestrian only, it felt like an easier and safer place to let a toddler run free, which Jasper really enjoyed. Definitely a great half day activity in Valletta that both a toddler and parents can enjoy.

*Walking map of Valletta from Malta Tourism Authority*

*Starting our walk through Valletta. Some of the streets are steep and we had to navigate some stairs, but overall not bad.*

*Beautiful blooms even when we visited during the middle of winter*

*How can you not explore streets and alleys that look like this?*

*Loved all the painted balconies and shutters*

*Opera house ruins near the entrance to the city*

*Beautiful details at the entrance to the library*

*Beautiful stone work everywhere and all the streets were cobbled*

*Some many interesting details around Valletta to take in. I particularly loved these door handles.*

*Beautiful banners everywhere for the Feast of St. Paul’s Shipwreck*

Make a Gelato Stop

After all that walking it’s practically mandatory to make a gelato stop regardless of weather or time of year. There are a ton of gelato shops in Valletta so you’re sure to find just what you’re looking for. We were looking for convenient so we stopped at Tiffany’s Gelateria as it was super close to our hotel where we were headed to drop Justin with Freya so she could take a nap. I wouldn’t say it was the best gelato we’ve ever had (some Gelato we had in Rome still holds that award) but you can’t really ever go wrong with gelato and the kids were in 7th heaven.

*A gelato break is always a toddler approved activity*

Explore the Moat

Exploring Valletta’s moat could easily be paired with your walk around the city or be saved for whenever you decide your toddler needs to burn off some energy. After dropping off Freya to take a nap, Jasper and I headed out to explore the moat that we’d crossed upon entrance to Valletta’s fortified city center. The construction of Valletta’s fortifications began in 1566 following its successful defense by the Knights of St. John from Ottoman invasion during the Great Siege. These fortifications included the construction of a large moat around the city that has since been turned into a sort of park with walking paths and trees. There are apparently several places you can access the moat, but we ended up getting to it by crossing the moat at the city gate entrance and then turning right in the plaza by the Titan Fountain to follow a path along the moat. The path rapidly became a downward sloping tunnel with flights of stairs and little windows facing the moat and at the bottom we found a metal gate facing a parking area where people can apparently park to access the moat. The gate was unlocked but very small, so I had to collapse the stroller I’d brought along in case Jasper suddenly refused to walk, and that did the trick. We got through and headed down the path at the bottom of the moat. The hewn rock walls towering over us were really impressive and it was cool to walk under the arches of the city gate bridge. The park area isn’t very big but we hung out for about half an hour while Jasper ran around and played with toy cars we brought along. We found an elevator on the city side of the moat that apparently you can take down to the moat (most likely for a fee) but there was a sign saying it was out of service, which I read later has been an ongoing issue. Overall, visiting the moat was a memorable experience that doesn’t require much time or effort to do. It’s also a great place to let a toddler run wild without worrying about them getting hit by a car or bicycle or constantly running into people, so the perfect place if your little one needs to burn off energy. There’s also plenty of shade so I reckon it would still be a good place to play even in the summer.

*The route Jasper and I took to reach the bottom of the moat*

*Looking down at the park in the moat from the city gate bridge*

*The tunnel we found along the edge of the moat to access the bottom of the moat*

*The lovely little park at the bottom of the moat*

*Jasper enjoying running around in the moat*

*Looking up at the city gate bridge from the bottom of the moat*

*Jasper thought it was a fantastic place to play with his matchbox cars*

Make a Stop at Ġnien Hastings Park

After exploring the moat, we headed back up the tunnel/pathway we’d come down and crossed back through the city gate entrance. We saw a flight of stairs immediately to our left as we passed through the entrance and decided to go exploring. It was a bit of a chore getting the stroller up the stairs by myself and I was definitely starting to wish I hadn’t brought it at all, but when we got to the top of the stairs we discovered Hastings Park, located on top of a bastion (a projecting part of a fortification that allows for defensive fire in several directions) on the city wall with great views of Marsamxett Harbor. There were also a few cannons sitting around that were cool to check out, as well as a memorial to Lord Hastings, the British governor of Malta in the mid 1800s who died at sea and is buried in the garden. I sat on a bench while Jasper played with his cars again in a patch of dirt. The park was a little dingy with trash here and there and not really looking in its prime being winter, but it was still a good shady place to sit down and take a break and let a toddler run and play. I reckon it would be nicer in the summer and worth a stop at least for the view and cannons.

*Jasper playing in Hastings Park. Note the cannon behind him.*

Take an Evening Walk

We decided to wrap up our second and last day in Malta with another evening stroll. All the buildings were beautifully lit up, bells were ringing, and it seemed everyone was out for a stroll. We decided to head back to Barrakka Gardens to see what the view looked like at night and were treated to lights twinkling over Grand Harbor and the garden beautiful lit up. After leaving the gardens, we passed the official offices of the Prime Minister of Malta and one of the cathedrals where the bell ringing was coming from before heading back to La Falconeria to put the kids to bed. It was a perfect end to our short time in Malta.

*Everything lit up and looking very enchanting at Upper Barrakka Gardens on our evening stroll*

*These arches were constructed in the 1600s*

*View over Grand Harbor at night. Apparently there are times when you can watch them fire the cannons.*

*The atmosphere was especially festive as Malta was celebrating the Feast of St. Paul’s Shipwreck while we were there*

Final Thoughts

One or Two Days?

Our time in Valletta was very relaxed, so I believe everything listed above could be done in a single day, especially since some of the activities can be done at the same time like walking the city, exploring the moat, and visiting Barrakka Gardens. Also, plenty of our activities were not “must do” like Hastings Park or eating out. That said, if your kiddo(s) do better taking it slow, two days may be perfect. Plus, there are so many museums and historic sites in Valletta that you could definitely do a second one on your second day. If we had a re-do of our time in Valletta, I would have visited Casa Rocca Piccola on our second day.

Visiting During the Off Season

We love to swim so I was a little disappointed to be visiting a country with fantastic beaches in February. That said, it was a quiet time to visit without cruise ships dropping off thousands of passengers and day time temps go into the 50sF, which felt fine in the sun, especially when we were walking. If you don’t like crowds and heat then we’d definitely recommend visiting during the off or shoulder season. If you can’t bear the thought of visiting Malta and not going to a beach, then stick with summer (or maybe shoulder season would work?) as it was definitely too cold to swim with a toddler when we visited.

Bringing a Stroller

There are a lot of fairly steep streets in Malta with stairs on either side for pedestrians, so not the most stroller friendly. That said, traffic is light and many streets are pedestrian only so we were able to walk up the middle of the streets and skip the steps most of the time. A lot of the steps were also exceptionally shallow so we actually able to push the stroller up and down them since it was a jogging stroller that could deal with the bumps. Basically, you can manage a stroller if you think your child needs it, but Valletta is also small so you can cover a lot of ground without a stroller if your toddler is a good walker. If you’re on the edge, look back over our photos to get a better sense of what having a stroller in Valletta is like.

Have you visited Valletta with children? What were your favorite places and activities? We and our readers would love to know for our next visit. Leave us a comment!

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