Visiting Malta: when to go, budget and itinerary across the islands

Built by the Knights of St John after the Great Siege of 1565, Valletta takes two days on foot: the co-cathedral, the Grand Master's Palace, Fort St Elmo and gardens perched above the harbour. Across the water, the Three Cities, Birgu, Senglea and Cospicua, are a 10-minute ferry away and keep a neighbourhood life the capital has lost. For a base, Sliema, linked to Valletta by a 10-minute ferry, offers more choice and prices often a quarter lower.

A 25-minute drive from Valletta, the fortified former capital of Mdina has only a few hundred residents and empties of day-trippers around 5pm: that is the time to walk it. Neighbouring Rabat hides St Paul's catacombs, and the Mosta Rotunda, whose dome survived a bomb in 1942, lies on the way. Further south, the Dingli Cliffs drop 250 metres into the sea. One day covers it all, two nights let you enjoy it in peace.

Malta's south-east holds most of its Neolithic heritage: the Paola Hypogeum, an underground sanctuary carved around 4000 BC, the Tarxien temples, then Hagar Qim and Mnajdra facing the sea. The Hypogeum admits only a few dozen visitors a day, so book several weeks ahead, at around 40 euros per ticket. On Sunday mornings, the Marsaxlokk fish market fills the harbour with painted boats; allow half a day before heading off for a swim at St Peter's Pool.

The Cirkewwa ferry takes 25 minutes to reach the island of Gozo, more rural, greener and cheaper, which deserves at least three nights rather than a day trip. In between, Comino has a single hotel and is mostly visited by boat from Mellieha or Sliema. From Valletta, a catamaran reaches Pozzallo in about 1 hour 45 minutes: enough to combine Malta with Sicily and southern Italy in the same trip.