Valletta is smaller than most people expect, a city on a peninsula, built on a grid and finished almost in one go. It is named for Jean de Valette, the Grand Master of the Knights of St John, who led the defence of Malta during the Great Siege of 1565, when an Ottoman fleet landed and fought for months before withdrawing. Afterwards the Knights decided to build a new fortified capital on the bare ridge between two deep harbours, and construction began in 1566. The streets run straight, sloping down to the water in steps, and bastions rise from the sea. The whole city is on the UNESCO list, and it was a European Capital of Culture in 2018.
The big sight is St John's Co-Cathedral, plain outside and extravagant inside, with gilded walls, a marble floor of tombstones and a pair of paintings by Caravaggio, including his huge Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. It is the only painting he is known to have signed. The Upper Barrakka Gardens look across the Grand Harbour to the Three Cities, and a salute gun fires at noon and four in the afternoon. The view of the fortifications and the harbour is one of the best in the Mediterranean.
Driving in Malta is on the left, a legacy of British rule, and the roads can be chaotic. Valletta itself is largely traffic-restricted, so park outside the gates, in Floriana, which has plenty of space. Heading out, the island is small, and roads are busy and narrow, with stone walls on both sides. Cars squeeze through tight bends and buses do not give way. The coast has quieter stretches, and the cliffs at Dingli, in the southwest, are a good place for sunset.
Fuel is easy to find in Floriana and on the main roads. Food is a mix of Sicilian, Arab and English influence, with pastizzi, savoury pastries filled with ricotta or peas, sold for small change in every street. Rabbit stew is the national dish. The ferry to Sicily runs from near Valletta to Pozzallo, and it is the route for riders heading on to the Val di Noto and its Baroque towns. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons.