Valetta, Malta

[Grumpy100]

When you get off the ship in Valetta, Malta are you close to anything?

Can you just walk around and see stuff and can you book a tour from the pier like seeing the Blue Grotto and maybe the city of Marsazloxes. I heard it was quite lovely.

Please advise. Thanks.

Otherwise I will have to take the ships tour. I do not want to be gone all day.

[YoHoHo]

Valletta is a fabulous port of call. Make sure you're out on your balcony or up on deck coming into the harbor – the views are not to be missed. It's so easy to imagine sailing into this port during the times of the Knights of Malta and the many battles.

 

The port itself is extremely busy with many docks for shipping, industry, and recreational yachts and a cruise ship terminal. After disembarking it is not difficult to walk through the terminal area to the main road. Along that walkway there are a number of souvenir shops, restaurants and a few vendors for tours. The availability in their offerings will vary depending on the time of year and the number of tourists.

 

Once you walked up to the main road you can catch a local bus that would take you to the main square outside the entrance into the old city center. It is actually a very busy hub for buses that go all over the island. I have read that unfortunately all the old buses are being replaced with new homogeneous vehicles. If there are still old ones available they have wonderful character each being individually decorated by the operators. For only a little bit more you can buy a ticket that is good for the day and for the little bit extra I think it's worth it to not have to be concerned about buying more tickets to go elsewhere for the return.

 

From the cruise port should be able to catch a taxi if you want as well. Also there is a way to walk through the park a and take an elevator up several levels so that you could walk to that main square. It is very hilly and quite a hike otherwise. We've not tried finding a route to walk up the hills nor were we successful in finding that elevator but doing a search on this board you might find better instructions.

 

There are many things to do in Malta. The history here is incredible from ancient and modern military to prehistoric sites. We have been here twice and have both toured the island and simply walked around Valletta itself. It does make for an interesting and relaxing afternoon.

 

If you want to do more do a little online research as there are lots of options though just a stroll around Valletta is nice as well.

[Turtles06]

When you get off the ship in Valetta, Malta are you close to anything?

Can you just walk around and see stuff ...

 

You bet! You dock right at the foot of town. As stated in the comment above, you can walk uphill (or take a bus or a cab) into Valletta (we never found the elevator either), which is a charming old city of wonderful streets, stone steps, and breathtaking views across the harbor. Do not miss St. John's Co-Cathedral, not only because of the famous Caravaggio hanging inside, but also because of the incredible interior. Walk out to the Upper Barracca Gardens for views across the harbor. Etc.

 

And, as noted above, make sure you are up early that day and out on a top deck -- don't miss anything of your sail in. The Grand Harbor of Valletta is one of the most stunning natural harbors in the world.

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[marama]

Its easy - if you dock near the Valletta waterfront where most cruise ships go to, there is an attractive row of restaurants and a few shops. Nice for a drink or light meal. Then head to the right and follow the road keeping the sea on your right for about 10 minutes - you will See the first part of Victoria Gate (where the road goes through a small tunnel). That is next to the Barrakka lift which takes you straight up into the city. There are spectacular views from the top and a nice cafe.

 

Those who don't mind a few steps can continue through the tunnel/gateway and turn left at the small roundabout, up the hill - keep on going and take the steps on the left once you are through the main city (Victoria) gate. Just keep following the steps up (warning - quite a few!) and you will be right in the centre of Valletta. If you don't fancy it going up, its a nice walk back down - just look for St John (san Gwann) street, which will take you back down to Victoria Gate. Theres a good lunch stop (Sicilia) right above the gate. Or you can go to the nearby British Hotel or Grand Harbour hotel and enjoy an inexpensive meal overlooking the Grand Harbour.

[ROCruiser]

Short cut direction through the parking garage to the city without hiking up the long way here.

[Grumpy100]

Its easy - if you dock near the Valletta waterfront where most cruise ships go to, there is an attractive row of restaurants and a few shops. Nice for a drink or light meal. Then head to the right and follow the road keeping the sea on your right for about 10 minutes - you will See the first part of Victoria Gate (where the road goes through a small tunnel). That is next to the Barrakka lift which takes you straight up into the city. There are spectacular views from the top and a nice cafe.

 

Those who don't mind a few steps can continue through the tunnel/gateway and turn left at the small roundabout, up the hill - keep on going and take the steps on the left once you are through the main city (Victoria) gate. Just keep following the steps up (warning - quite a few!) and you will be right in the centre of Valletta. If you don't fancy it going up, its a nice walk back down - just look for St John (san Gwann) street, which will take you back down to Victoria Gate. Theres a good lunch stop (Sicilia) right above the gate. Or you can go to the nearby British Hotel or Grand Harbour hotel and enjoy an inexpensive meal overlooking the Grand Harbour.

 

The Barrakka lift, is that a cable car?

[cboyle]

I posted the following on another Malta thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=39540010&postcount=14

[marama]

Grumpy,

 

 

Something got lost in translation - 'Lift' is what we Brits call an elevator!

[Sonora5]

we did a private guided tour through maltatravelnet.com in January. WE combined with several other cruise criticers. It was a nice day, we didn't get enough time in St John's-it is really spectacular- and I could have done without the Hagar Qim tour. The walled city of Medina was worth seeing.

 

I think there is a HOHO bus also.

 

Definitely be outside when you sail in to Valetta-amazing views, beautiful harbor.

[ade99]

We have just finished a trip on the silhouete and docked in Valleta around lunchtime. We walked off the ship and about a ten minute walk to the entrance to the new elevator which took you rit up to the town.

 

There were also a lot of people who simple got on a hop on hop off bus and spent a lot of the day seeing the entire island at good value around 15euros.

[canagal]

We have just finished a trip on the silhouete and docked in Valleta around lunchtime. We walked off the ship and about a ten minute walk to the entrance to the new elevator which took you rit up to the town.

 

There were also a lot of people who simple got on a hop on hop off bus and spent a lot of the day seeing the entire island at good value around 15euros.

 

We will also be visiting Valletta on the Silhouette in Sept. Planning on taking the lift up to the town- when you leave the ship which way do you turn?:confused: Thanks for your help

[Terpnut]

We will also be visiting Valletta on the Silhouette in Sept. Planning on taking the lift up to the town- when you leave the ship which way do you turn?:confused: Thanks for your help

Looking at the dock, the lift is way to your right.

[Terpnut]

One Valletta tip: if you have any interest in seeing the Hypogeum (https://booking.heritagemalta.org/), make sure you book your tickets waaaaaaaaaaay early! Remember, the Hypogeum admits only 10 people per hour for the 8 hours they are open to the public each day, so it is limited to 80 persons per day! Tickets are currently only available for mid-October 2013 or later! Not to be missed! :)

[Yokeko]

One Valletta tip: if you have any interest in seeing the Hypogeum (https://booking.heritagemalta.org/), make sure you book your tickets waaaaaaaaaaay early! Remember, the Hypogeum admits only 10 people per hour for the 8 hours they are open to the public each day, so it is limited to 80 persons per day! Tickets are currently only available for mid-October 2013 or later! Not to be missed! :)

 

We are planning to visit the Hypogeum in November and wonder how to get there and about how much time it will take. I am not sure what time to make our reservations if we are docking at 8am.

 

Thank you!

[Terpnut]

We are planning to visit the Hypogeum in November and wonder how to get there and about how much time it will take. I am not sure what time to make our reservations if we are docking at 8am.

 

Thank you!

It's about a 10 minute drive and you can probably just take a taxi to/from. The timed entries are hourly so your guided tour is just under an hour. I hope you are not sailing until the second half of November because they're already sold out through November 11th. Edited October 30, 2013 by Terpnut

[realnice46]

When you walk off the ship and out of the port, take one of the Hop On & Of buses. We took the first one it was less crowded, better priced and made more frequent stops. I t was a good way to see a lot of the city.

 

Don't miss the Blue Lagoon. So much better and easier to do than Capri. You go into at least 5 or 6 caves. I think the price was about 7 Euros. The bus drops you off at the top of the hill and then a short walk down to the boats.

 

This particular route also took us to the little fishing village of Marsolox.

[texancruzer]

We just returned Sunday from our 4th Med cruise ...... we visited Valleta for the first time on this Med cruise. We also booked a private tour and had a wonderful day.

 

The small villages, Blue grotto, Mdina and Valetta were all included. Very relaxing as we werent rushed at all and our guide, Joan was amazing. We enjoyed Malta a lot.

[TMLAalum]

We booked a private tour with Amy Pace http://maltatourguidesite.com/Home_Page.html

 

We had 12 people total from our roll call who signed up. Because it was Sunday, we couldn't visit the St. John's co-cathedral, but nonetheless our day was full! Our group opted not to visit the Blue Grotto, but Amy will include it if you wish because she customizes the itinerary. We stopped at a church just before Mass began in one of the 3 cities, then on to Mdina for a walking tour. We made several stops for photo ops before heading to the Tarxien ruins. We had an hour of free time in Marxalokk, then a few more stops before ending the day overlooking the harbor and arriving just in time for the cannon salute.

 

Amy was one of the best tour guides we've had, and our opinion was echoed by the others on the tour. I highly recommend booking her if your cruise stops in Valletta!

 

PS-one of the strangest sights we saw on Malta was a large painting on the side of a building in the countryside depicting the Cleveland Indians' mascot....

[lidopuppy]

We just returned Sunday from our 4th Med cruise ...... we visited Valleta for the first time on this Med cruise. We also booked a private tour and had a wonderful day.

 

The small villages, Blue grotto, Mdina and Valetta were all included. Very relaxing as we werent rushed at all and our guide, Joan was amazing. We enjoyed Malta a lot.

 

 

We are visiting Malta next fall and are looking for tours. Would you mind sharing what tour that you took so that we can look into it? Thank you in advance.

[verga]

We just got back from the Silhouette and visited Valetta on Nov 10 (Sunday). Our group of 6 also opted for a private tour with Joan Sheridan - joan@maltatourguide.com. Joan is the wife of the owner of Malta Travel.

 

Joan is so knowledgeable about the history of Malta. For details, here is her website.

 

http://www.maltatourguide.com/malta_private_tours

 

Our 7/8 hours tour covered walking tours of the following attractions:

- Valetta

- Grandmaster's Palace (replacing St John's Co-cathedral)

- Hagar Qim

- Marsaxlokk fishing village

- Mdina

 

Unfortunately our tour was on a Sunday so St John's Co-cathedral was not opened for public tours but Joan timed our tour so that we were able to get in during Church service to view the inside of the church which was awesome. We covered quite a cross section of Malta's culture and history (approx. 7000 years of history) in one day. There was a bit of walking to do but no climbing or uphill walking.

 

The cost of the tour for our group of 6 was 295 E (350 E for 8 people) plus approx. 12 E pp for admission fees. Tips are additional/optional. She was so good, we gave her and the driver handsome tips.

 

Since we would usually have big breakfast at the ship, we opted for a short lunch break at Marsaxlokk and added the Blue Grotto boat tour (8 E pp) in our itinerary.

 

We had set-up private tours at each of the ports visited during our 13 nights Adriatic cruise. We had great tour guides at Koper, Ravenna, Split, Valetta and Naples.

[texancruzer]

We are visiting Malta next fall and are looking for tours. Would you mind sharing what tour that you took so that we can look into it? Thank you in advance.

 

We also used Joan....... awesome day !

[lidopuppy]

We also used Joan....... awesome day !

 

Thanks so much everyone!!! We still have 315 days (not that we are counting) but the planning is half the fun!!!

Edited November 18, 2013 by lidopuppy

[lamchops]

You bet! You dock right at the foot of town. As stated in the comment above, you can walk uphill (or take a bus or a cab) into Valletta (we never found the elevator either), which is a charming old city of wonderful streets, stone steps, and breathtaking views across the harbor. Do not miss St. John's Co-Cathedral, not only because of the famous Caravaggio hanging inside, but also because of the incredible interior. Walk out to the Upper Barracca Gardens for views across the harbor. Etc.

 

And, as noted above, make sure you are up early that day and out on a top deck -- don't miss anything of your sail in. The Grand Harbor of Valletta is one of the most stunning natural harbors in the world.

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

 

If you're in average shape (some would say I'm below average) you can have a DIY walking tour with some research. Valletta is a spectacular port of call and one of our favorites. We walked up the Victoria steps and headed through town towards Fort St. Elmo. From there we worked our way to the Barraca Gardens and Seige Bell area. We spent the last couple of hours in the town area browsing. An inexpensive and wonderful day in port as well as working off some calories.:D

Edited November 19, 2013 by lamchops

[texancruzer]

While the town of Valetta is pretty nice, I cant imagine NOT going to Mdina. What a neat place ! And the countryside on the way there is interesting too. Just a thought for those planning their day ;)

[lidopuppy]

While the town of Valetta is pretty nice, I cant imagine NOT going to Mdina. What a neat place ! And the countryside on the way there is interesting too. Just a thought for those planning their day ;)

 

Thank you for your input...Mdina sounded (and looked) very nice as we were researching. We are excited for all of the ports on our cruise, but Malta does look like a surprisingly wonderful place!