Valletta Food Tour - Eat Like A Local

Carmel was a great guide through the food and history of Malta. He was able to answer all our questions and was so keen to share stories about Malta’s past and present. Food tours are always best when the food is enjoyable and you have a context for enjoying it. The 3+ hours were worth the money as we learned so much.

Our party took this tour on the first day of our stay in Malta. It was a relaxing way to ease into several days of touring, giving us enough basic history information to appreciate the way the local cuisine has been influenced by other cultures and conquering entities, and to get our bearings as we planned our time for the rest of our visit. We recommend taking this tour early in your stay so you know what excellent Maltese cuisine tastes like and can continue to pick out great places for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Well worth doing! I learnt so much about the different foods and history behind them. Our guide Matthew was excellent, very informative on food and general history of Malta. I would highly recommend visitors to Malta do this tour, we had do many different tastings along the way, we were more than full by the end. An opportunity to visit places you'd not know were there and would differently go back and revisit.

This was my first time in Malta and I didn't know what to expect food-wise so I was grateful to have Matthew as a guide to show us the highlights. He did a wonderful job weaving in the history of the country with the history of the cuisine, especially how other cultures have influenced the food. It's not typical that I love the food at every location during a food tour but this was the exception, everything I tried was unique and full of flavor!

Great food tour and a really enjoyable way to experience Valletta! Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and did a great job incorporating the history of Valletta and Malta throughout the tour without making it feel like a history lesson. The Maltese foods we tried were well chosen and gave us a great introduction to the local cuisine. The tour was also very well paced. We had plenty of time to enjoy the food at each stop, along with bathroom and water breaks, and never felt rushed. I would plan for about 3–3.5 hours. My only negative was that there was no description of who to look for at the meeting point. There were several tour groups and guides around, so I ended up walking around asking different guides if they were leading the food tour. Our guide was wearing a yellow shirt, and simply including something like that in the meeting instructions would have made him much easier to find. One tip: bring a bottle of water with you. You can buy water along the way, but having your own will save you from spend time standing in line for it at the stops. Overall, a great mix of food, culture, and history, and I would definitely recommend it while visiting Valletta.

Fascinating insight into Valletta, its food and its culture, the guide knew his stuff. Would thoroughly recommend

This is a walking tour. Be prepared for uneven surfaces. We went on September 7th. It was very hot!! Go as early as possible. Bring a hat or umbrella. My group of 4 thoroughly enjoyed our guide, Matthew. Very knowledgeable and incorporated the history of Malta together with the food of Malta.

Learning about the food and history of Malta together was great! You'll experience a mix of savory pastries to sweet treats. Bring a lot water, comfortable walking shoes, and sunscreen/umbrella to shield you from the sun.

Fantastic tour! James is friendly, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about Maltese history and food. The stops were delicious and well chosen, and his storytelling made the whole experience even better. Would definitely recommend.

Carmel was a great guide, he had so much knowledge of Malta … especially Valletta. He took us to amazing places for traditional Maltese food. He was very patient and answered all of our questions

Great little tour. Adding in food to a history tour of the city definitely adds a little extra spice.

The food tour around Valletta was great, a really good way to get to know some history and culture of Malta whilst also be able to sample some interesting Maltese specialities…even if they were not all our favourite flavours, Maltese coffee is an acquired taste! Our guide Mathew is a Maltese National who is clearly very proud of his country and was very informative and approachable throughout. As a former soldier with the British Army he had an excellent rapport with the group and delivered a thoroughly enjoyable 3 hours. The actual walking is not taxing physically and there are plenty of stop offs along the way. My only major piece of advice for others who book this tour is don’t eat too much breakfast at your hotel beforehand (tricky, I know!)

Great food tour! So much delicious food and amazing commentary by our guide Carmel. He knew so much about Malta’s history and food. Thank you C! Wonderful!!!

Our tour guide, Carmel, was excellent. He regalled us with food information about Malta along with historical information. The food we sampled was all delicious - you definitely don't need breakfast! The walking pace was just right and, considering that Valletta is so hilly, relatively flat. The tour finishes with a sit down food tasting of 'street food' which is a lovely opportunity to chat with your guide and others on the tour.

A fun tour around the city where we tasted several local foods while learning how the history of Malta has been shaped by food. It ended up with a meal at a local restaurant. Be aware, the meeting point near the Parliament building is where several tours start, so you need to check that you are with the correct group. Matthew was very knowledgeable and it was an enjoyable tour.

Very enjoyable. Relaxed stroll around Valletta stopping off for a variety of local products, ending with a lovely "sampling" lunch.

Pleasant. Good mix of walking, street food stall, sit down with info and tasting. The ending stop, a restaurant was different than listed,much farther and at the bottom of a steep hill, creating difficulty for me to reach my next commitment.

This was such an amazing food tour . We got to try a lot of foods and learned some history about Malta along the way. Our guide Alizea * sorry if I spelled it incorrectly * was amazing also.

The lady was very knowledgeable , been to Malta many times but didn't know some of the places we were taken to. Recommended !

Our guide Alizea was so knowledgeable about the history of Maltese food and beverages, and we learned so much in addition to eating great local food!! You will definitely get your fill of snacks and meals and will not be hungry afterwards!

A really enjoyable food tour of Valletta. Matthew was a knowledgeable and friendly guide who shared some great local spots we wouldn't have found on our own. We tasted pastizzi, ftajjar, kwarezimal, traditional Maltese coffee, and chocolate with flavours infused with notable Maltese products. We finished the tour with a variety of dishes at a restaurant, including arancini, timpana, and imqaret. Good variety and generous portions; the tastings were easily enough to replace both breakfast and lunch. Recommended!

A great mix of food, history, and hidden gems. Our guide, Matthew, was brilliant, knowledgeable, engaging, and excellent at keeping the tour’s pace just right. The food was incredible and plentiful enough to keep us satisfied for the rest of the day. We enjoyed a variety of traditional local food, such as pastizzi, Maltese bread, coffee, and chocolate, before finishing at an amazing restaurant for a selection of local dishes. Highly recommended, especially the imqaret!

A very enjoyable experience expertly shepherded by Mathew…would highly recommend!

We were unable to attend this tour because the Google Maps 'pin drop' link provided directly on the Viator voucher was incorrect. It directed us to a location roughly one mile away from the actual starting point. When we finally managed to get a cellular signal to contact the operator, they were dismissive and blamed us for the error, despite the fact that we were standing exactly where their own digital link sent us. Additional issues: The written landmark description was vague and not recognizable on common mapping apps. The meeting area has zero cellular service, making real-time troubleshooting impossible. Zero customer recovery was offered after the technical failure of their own instructions was pointed out. If you book this, do not trust the 'Get Directions' link on your ticket. Confirm the exact coordinates with the operator 24 hours in advance.

A well-run tour that’s worth doing if you want to combine sightseeing with a food-focused experience. Matthew was friendly, knowledgeable, and kept the pace comfortable while sharing useful local context along the way. The stops themselves were varied and interesting, with Tal-Hwawar standing out as the highlight for the coffee, spices, and friendly locals. Lowlight was Il Pirata Valletta, as discussed with the tour guide. Overall, though, the tour was a good use of time and a solid way to experience both the history and flavours of Malta. Thanks Matthew.

We had a lovely time on this tour. Our guide, Giulia, was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about sharing the history of Valletta and Malta. There was a good amount of food on the tour and an interesting variety of local delicacies, including sweet and savoury.

A good overview of the history and food of Malta. Matthew was an excellent guide and he had an excellent depth of historical knowledge

Great experience, relaxed informative and fun. The tour was a great length not rushed yet contained great information easy stroll

The tour was really good. My guide, Alizea, was brilliant. She was really knowledgeable about the city, food and how it ties to the history of Malta. The food sampled was really tasty and excellent quality. Bonus points are given as well as the tour was still run despite only myself being booked on.

It was brilliant, beautifully constructed. very relaxing and plenty of time in the time given. I enjoyed the companionship of meeting new people.

We love taking food tours as a way to get to know a city. This one was perfect because we only were in Valetta for the day. We got to experience a diversity of foods, from street food to chocolate, to a lunch as the finale.

Thoroughly recommend - walking the streets of Valletta, stopping for food every so often, finishing in a restaurant!

Great guide, very clear, interesting facts. Fsb selection of Maltese foods to try. Highly recommended.

Really good tour-very knowledgeable guide who was very helpful -great selection of pastries/chocolate/ traditional sandwiches /plate of traditional foods and coffees -exceptional value and very enjoyable

We had a great time. Matthew (our guide) was knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. Would highly recommend this tour. Great value as well.

A first for us experiencing a walking tour with a food tasting theme and it didn’t disappoint! Our guide, Matthew, was both knowledgeable, interesting and made a point engaging with his whole group. We loved mixing both the history of Malta (specifically Valletta) and how the history influenced the food. We got to taste a wide variety of local quisine and trust me you will not leave hungry! Great few hours, well worth the money

The food tour was excellent. Alizea combined great food experiences with the interesting food history of Malta. We started off gently with pastizzi and after various stops, the whole tour culminated in a visit to the central market with a selection of Maltese street food. A really enjoyable tour - highly recommended.

Mathew was an excellent guide. Very Informative and the food was linked in to the history of the city

This was a wonderful way to learn about the food and some of the history of Malta. Our guide Matthew was very knowledgeable, friendly and interesting and the tour was easy paced. There was plenty of food included and the stop at the Chocolate District was an unexpected bonus.

This is a wonderful experience. We had a great time, and the food was spectacular. I highly recommend this tour. The food was good and the tour was leisurely and informative.

This is the third review I have done of a Colour My Travel walking tour. By sheer coincidence, the guide, Matthew, was the same guide we had on our last walking tour of Valletta one year ago, so when we arrived at the meeting point and realised we knew the guide, we anticipated another great tour. And we were not disappointed. Matthew clearly knows his country’s history very well and even thought this was primarily a “food” tour, he told us much about the social history relating to various foreign cultures that have influenced and shaped Malta today. Arriving at the meeting point, Matthew was easy to spot with his yellow t shirt and umbrella, and should you ever be uncertain, the Colour My Travel guides all have official ID. He told us how the tour was going to unfold, then told us some background history to give context to the tour. We then had a short walk just outside the city gate, to a stall where we sampled “pastizzi”. Even with something as simple as this, Matthew gave little local insights: alway buy your pastizzi from these busy little stalls because they have such high turnover and footfall, that you alway get freshly cooked pastizzi; they don’t have time to sit on a shelf getting old! The next stop was back inside the city on top of the ramparts, learning about the great lengths taken to store grain to make bread (which we would sample later) in case of siege; again this context really helped to Illustrate the tour. We then continued to a chocolate shop; no more than 3 or 4 minutes walk before another very interesting talk on the history of chocolate in Malta This pattern of a short walk and a stop to look at something interesting or try food continues throughout the tour, including a 20 minute break at Upper Barraka Gardens for a Ftira (Maltese bread sandwich) before moving on. This tour would be suitable for anyone who is maybe slightly less mobile because the distances involved aren’t huge and there are plenty of opportunities to stop. The tour ends in an undercover mall where you get to sample 6 different kinds of typical Maltese food: not a huge amount of food but certainly enough to keep body and soul together. All the while, Matthew keeps up his excellent commentary and pointing out things of interest. I would highly recommend this tour; as someone who loves food and history myself, I found it very informative, highly engaging and of course, very tasty!

Matthew took us to 9 different spots with a delicious treat at each. The final stop was the Central Market where we enjoyed a meal with 5 different typical foods. Along the way we learned many facts about the food and the history of Valetta. I highly recommend tis tour, which combines a food tour with a walking tour.

The tour was very interesting, we ate lots of different foods, and learnt a lot about Valletta. Alizea was a really great guide, and she was very knowledgeable. We were grateful for her helping to accommodate for my partner’s nut allergy :)

Great tour with Matthew. He always kept us informed about what we were doing next. Lots of history as well. The food was amazing at each stop and his information about each one was great. So much to try and couldn’t eat it all in the end! Would highly recommend this tour.

My first time in Valletta and this took me about the city. The guide took us to different areas to try different Maltese food, from street food to chocolate to coffee and finasly different starters in a restaurant. I totally enjoyed this experience.

It was a good tour and Alizea was a great guide. The food choices were very good but it was too much for me. We did walk around a bit and the pace of everything (walking, seeing other sites, eating, distance) was well planed out through the 2.5 hours.

The meet place, the new Parliament Buildings is a big area. The place to meet should be more defined, such as “the new parliament buildings in front of the…. Statue of…? Or the ….?

Matteo showed us some fantastic local eateries and shared stories of the history of Malta and how it has influenced the food culture. A really interesting 3 hours

The food tour was a lovely experience. The guide was well-versed in history and quite knowledgeable about Maltese food. I tasted a wide variety of food, drinks and snacks and felt full when the tour was over. The other tourists I was with during the tour were very friendly and the hosts of the restaurants and cafes we visited were good hosts. As a picky eater I enjoyed the tour.