The Three Cities

Before Valletta existed, the Knights of St John made their home across the harbour in Birgu, and it was here, with neighbouring Senglea, that they held out against the Ottoman army in the Great Siege of 1565. Birgu was renamed Vittoriosa, the victorious, and together with Senglea (Isla) and Cospicua (Bormla) it forms the Three Cities, still ringed by massive walls. Today they are a quieter, more lived-in counterpart to the capital. In Birgu, wander the narrow lanes of the Collacchio, where the Knights’ first auberges stand, visit the Inquisitor’s Palace, one of the few surviving palaces of its kind, and walk out to Fort St Angelo on the point, restored and run by Heritage Malta, with commanding views back to Valletta. The marina below is lined with yachts and cafes. In Senglea, the Gardjola Gardens at the tip end in a stone watchtower carved with an eye and an ear, looking straight across the Grand Harbour.

Getting there is part of the pleasure. The Valletta ferry crosses from below the Upper Barrakka Gardens in minutes, or hire a traditional dgħajsa water taxi from the same waterfront for a short, scenic crossing. Public buses also run from the Valletta terminal: route 2 to Birgu, and routes 3 and 4 to Senglea and Cospicua. Wandering the streets is free; Fort St Angelo and the Inquisitor’s Palace each charge a modest entry.

Give it half a day: ferry over in the morning, explore Birgu and the fort, lunch on the marina, then walk round to Senglea for the Gardjola view in the afternoon light. In the evening the waterfront is calm and the view of floodlit Valletta is superb.