Valletta: A First-Timer's Guide to Malta's Baroque UNESCO Capital

Three picks across the spectrum of how Maltese actually eat in the EU's smallest capital.

For the iconic Maltese institution: Rampila Restaurant, at St John's Cavalier, Valletta VLT 1311.

A properly atmospheric restaurant inside the 16th-century bastions of the Valletta city walls — properly serious traditional Maltese cuisine (the iconic fenkata rabbit stew, bragioli stuffed beef rolls, lampuki pie with the Mediterranean dorado fish, the famous pastizzi flaky pastries).

The vaulted-stone heritage dining room is among Malta's most architecturally significant restaurant settings.

For the modern, Michelin-starred pick: Noni, at 211 Republic Street, Valletta VLT 1117.

Chef Jonathan Brincat's one-Michelin-star restaurant in a converted 17th-century townhouse — properly serious modern Maltese cuisine emphasizing the iconic Maltese ingredients (gozo cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, the famous Maltese honey from the iconic Apis mellifera ruttneri Maltese honey bee subspecies).

Reservations 1-2 months ahead.

For the affordable, locals' standard: Is-Suq tal-Belt (Valletta Market), at Merchants Street, Valletta VLT 1175. The 1861-built Victorian covered market — fully renovated and reopened in 2018 as a contemporary food hall.

Proper Maltese counter food (the iconic pastizzi, hobż biż-żejt (Maltese bread with tomato paste, capers, anchovies, olives), the famous ftira flatbread). Walk-in friendly. For street-food pastizzi, the iconic Crystal Palace in Rabat-Mdina remains the most-cited Maltese pastizzeria.

For Valletta seafood with serious Champagne, the destination is Caviar & Bull, at The Reef, Strand Towers, Sliema (with a separate Valletta location at 27/29 Old Theatre Street).

Chef Marvin Gauci's properly serious seafood-and-steak restaurant with multiple locations across Malta — daily fresh Mediterranean catch (the iconic Maltese amberjack, denci, gilthead bream, plus international caviar selections), and a properly serious Champagne and Maltese wine list.

For a more iconic Valletta-specific alternative with the iconic Grand Harbour view, Phoenicia Restaurant Pegasus at the iconic Phoenicia Malta hotel offers proper Maltese-Mediterranean fine dining with serious Champagne service overlooking the Valletta bastions.

Maltese sparkling wines (Marsovin, Camilleri) are increasingly serious — the Maltese viticulture industry has developed substantially over the past two decades.

For a casual seafood-and-wine alternative, Lot Sixty One Coffee Roasters and the small wine bars along Strait Street (Malta's iconic historic red-light district that has been rehabilitated as a creative-and-nightlife quarter since the 2010s) serve proper Maltese seafood with serious sparkling-wine selections.

For an old-world historical stay in Valletta, the reference is The Phoenicia Malta, at The Mall, Floriana, Valletta FRN 1478.

Opened in 1947 — Malta's most historically significant Belle Époque luxury hotel, sitting on the slope between the Valletta bastions and the Floriana settlement just outside the city walls. 136 rooms across the original heritage building, fully restored 2017.

Queen Elizabeth II (who lived in Malta with Prince Philip during 1949-1951 — the iconic Maltese royal residency), Princess Margaret, Sir Laurence Olivier, and most British colonial-era heads of state stayed. The hotel's iconic terraced gardens overlook the iconic Marsamxett Harbour.

The Pegasus Restaurant with the iconic harbour view and the Club Bar continue the heritage atmosphere.

Pricing from around €350/night. Bookings via the official site.

For a smaller heritage boutique alternative within the Valletta city walls, The Saint John Hotel at 30 St John Street (a small heritage boutique in a 16th-century townhouse directly opposite St John's Co-Cathedral) is the contemporary boutique choice.

For a contemporary luxury alternative, Iniala Harbour House at 33 St Barbara Bastion (a 23-suite ultra-luxury boutique converted from a 17th-century townhouse, opened in 2019) is the modern luxury option.

Malta has been a surprisingly progressive LGBTQ+ leader despite its small size and historically conservative Catholic culture — Malta legalised same-sex marriage in 2017 and has ranked #1 on ILGA-Europe's annual Rainbow Map LGBTQ+ rights index for nearly a decade.

Malta also became the first European country to ban so-called "conversion therapy" in 2016. Malta Pride takes place in mid-September.

The neighborhood: There is no defined gay quarter in Valletta, but Strait Street (the rehabilitated former red-light district running parallel to Republic Street) has the highest concentration of LGBTQ+-friendly bars and is the iconic Valletta nightlife district.

The wider Maltese LGBTQ+ scene is concentrated in Paceville (the iconic nightlife district just outside St Julian's, 15 minutes from Valletta).

The bars and clubs: AXM Club at Paceville, St Julian's is the iconic central Maltese gay nightclub — long-running, multiple themed nights, the country's most-cited LGBTQ+ destination. Michelangelo in Paceville is the contemporary alternative.

In Valletta itself, StrEat Whisky Bistro on Strait Street is widely LGBTQ+-friendly with regular drag-show nights.

Saunas: Bears Bar in Paceville is the central men's bar-and-meeting venue.

The famous-person small museum: St John's Co-Cathedral, at St John's Street, Valletta VLT 1411.

The 1577-completed Catholic co-cathedral of the Knights of Malta — among Europe's most architecturally significant Baroque churches, with the iconic marble tomb floor (every square metre is a tomb of a Knight of Malta) and the most extensive Baroque interior on the island.

The Cathedral Oratory houses Caravaggio's Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (1608) — the only painting Caravaggio ever signed (he signed it in the painted blood of Saint John, beneath the body), and among Caravaggio's most powerful works. Closed Sundays for non-tourist services.

The recent landmark: MUŻA - Malta National Museum of Art, at Auberge d'Italie, Merchants Street, Valletta VLT 1175 — Malta's national art museum reopened in 2018 in the iconic 16th-century Auberge d'Italie (one of the original eight Auberges of the Knights of Malta — each housing one of the original eight nationalities of the Order).

The contemporary curatorial approach has rethought traditional museum display in a properly engaging way. Closed Mondays.

Pair with the iconic Grand Master's Palace on Republic Street (the iconic 16th-century residence of the Grand Masters of the Order of Malta, with the iconic State Rooms and Armoury).

1-3 day itinerary: Day 1 — Valletta historic centre walking (St John's Co-Cathedral and Caravaggio, Grand Master's Palace, Upper Barrakka Gardens for the iconic Saluting Battery noon ceremony, dinner at Rampila).

Day 2 — Three Cities boat day (Birgu/Vittoriosa, Senglea, Cospicua — the iconic Knights of Malta historic harbour settlements, with the iconic Fort St Angelo from where Grand Master Jean de Valette commanded the 1565 Great Siege of Malta).

Day 3 — Day trip to Mdina (the iconic medieval Silent City — the original Maltese capital before Valletta, 30 minutes by car) and the iconic Blue Grotto sea caves on the southern coast, or by ferry to Gozo (Malta's small sister island, with the iconic Ġgantija Neolithic temples — UNESCO World Heritage from 3600 BCE, older than the pyramids).