Positives: Our tour guide Alana was excellent - she knew so much history about the whole city and spoke with real passion and and knowledge to bring this to life. We got to see a lot of Valletta and it was very convenient being picked up and returned to our own hotel. I wasn’t particularly interested in the film shown at the Malta Experience beforehand, but actually it was a really interesting way to look at Maltese history. Negatives: This isn’t a half day tour. Including an hour’s travel time each way, we were out for a total of 8 hours, significantly more than the approx 4 hours which was advertised on booking. There is near continuous walking and I don’t believe the trip page makes clear you will need appropriate footwear etc. A member of our group was a few months after foot surgery and we may have not gone with this trip if we had known it would be more than 4 hours walking. There was about a 30 minute queue to get into the cathedral, we were not clear if this was factored into the 4 hour time advertised. Despite the long duration of the trip, there was very little free time in Valletta to get something to eat or drink, or to do a bit of shopping. Overall this was a worthwhile experience but very different to what we had signed up for.
About Activity
What's Included
Includes
- Entry ticket to an audio-visual show about the history of Malta
- Pick-up and drop-off transfers (choose your preferred location from one of our meeting points)
- Licenced tour guide
- Admission ticket to St. John's Co-Cathedral (only if you book the option 'Including Cathedral')
Excludes
- Optional ticket to St. John's Cathedral is not included if you book the option 'Without Cathedral'
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities (optional)
Departure & Return
Departure Point
- 9:30 AM is the approximate start time of the activity and not the time when you will be picked up from your hotel (or closest meeting point). At least a few days before the date of your activity, you need to make sure to contact the tour operator to confirm your pick-up location and pick-up time. Your pick-up time can be any time between 8:30 AM and 9:15 AM, depending on where you are staying. If your pick-up location is a hotel, please wait outside near the main entrance. Do not wait in the lobby or inside the hotel. When the guide or driver arrives, they will have a list of names and will ask those waiting outside for identification. They will not enter the hotel to look for guests. Transportation will not wait for late arrivals. If you miss your morning pick-up, you will not be able to join the tour later. Once the tour has started, it cannot be interrupted to accommodate latecomers.
Itinerary
During this tour, we will walk through the bustling streets of Valletta, admiring the stunning buildings (some dating back to the 16th century) and the distinctive architecture of the city – the city is Baroque in character, with elements of Mannerist, Neo-Classical, and Modern architecture. We will walk past the Grand Master's Palace, the recently restored St. George's Square, and many other remarkable landmarks.
A visit to the Upper Barrakka Gardens is a must; here, you can take in breathtaking views of the magnificent Grand Harbour, providing a perfect backdrop for memorable photographs. The gardens are located on the upper tier of Saints Peter and Paul Bastion, which was built in the 1560s. The bastion's lower tier contains the saluting battery. The garden's terraced arches were built in 1661 by the Italian knight Fra Flaminio Balbiani. They were originally roofed, but the ceiling was removed following the Rising of the Priests in 1775.
Then we will visit the marvellous co-cathedral dedicated to St. John the Baptist, built by the Order of the Knights of St. John soon after the Great Siege of 1565 and completed in the year 1577; it is unquestionably one of the world’s most magnificent cathedrals. Here you will be able to appreciate and admire all its riches: the adorned interiors, carved stone walls, painted vaulted ceilings, beautiful paintings, precious relics, rich baroque art, and opulent altars. The entry ticket and guided tour of the cathedral are optional (select this option when booking). If you select the option that does not include the visit to the cathedral, while the rest of the group will have a guided tour of the cathedral (approximately 45 minutes), guests booking this option will have some free time to roam around the streets of Valletta until we meet again with the rest of the group at a designated time and place.
Before the end of this half-day tour, we will enjoy a must-see audio-visual show. Educational, informative, and entertaining, the show runs through the turbulent history of a small island nation that has overcome almost unimaginable odds to survive and prosper. The audio-visual show will enrich your understanding of the islands, its people, and its rich history through beautiful imagery and a gripping commentary. The audio-visual show is generally done at the end of the tour at the Malta Experience theatre; however, the provider reserves the right to change the time and venue for the audio-visual show without prior notice.
Language Offered
Additional Info
Cancellation Policy
Reviews
We were bussed across town to a theater where we sat for 45 minutes waiting to see a movie. The walking guided tour was brief and was not very informative and did not cover much of Valletta. The last hour was free time which we didn’t need since we were staying in Valletta. I was expecting more in depth information and to visit many more sites in Valletta. There were too many people on the tour and it was just chaotic. I would not recommend this tour especially for the price.
I want to start off by saying please, please check your app a day before and day of for this tour. I was left and it was MY FAULT. All I knew was I was supposed to meet tour at 9:30am at my hotel. After the time passed, I looked in the app and I had an message to meet at 8:40am. However, the tour operator was WONDERFUL. They had me to take a taxi to meeting point and guide waited for us. I never got an email or notification from viator I had a message. The tour was lovely. I would buy again and recommend
This was a good trip but the guide seemed to be going through the motions without any emotion. The tour was good but it could have been a whole day rather than half (add a boat trip?) I would still recommend, though.
Excellent walking tour which was split into three language groups. The French and English together but the guide was excellent and plenty of photo time whilst he explained in both languages. First section was historic centre, followed by co cathedral with an hour of free time to explore further in the cathedral or outside before Malta Show Experience a 40 min history of Malta film. Would recommend
Well-organised tour. My guide, John Paul, knew everything about Valletta and made sure we saw as much as possible. Absolutely worth every penny.
Ninka was an exceptional guide. She knew the history of Malta and walked us through the city like a pro with excellent commentary.
Very poor meetup instructions in Valletta. As a result we were lost and missed our tour which was not cheap. We did try to meet up with the group at another point but it was too late to connect with them. I would hesitate to use this company again.
Guide was fabulous 👌 Kept rather large party together well Had superb knowledge of Valletta and brought city to life . Co cathedral was stunning. Malta experience was informative (45 mins too long) I'd prefer more walking time with the guide. Pick up was not as organised or timely as usual. However as soon as guide appeared...... tour was great.
Old Valetta is beautiful and absolutely steeped in history. The Co-Cathedral is magnificent and an art lovers paradise. Jenika (excuse the spelling) our guide was fantastic.
Fantastic trip. Guide nigel imparted fascinating information. All very well organised. Superb sights and a very good value excursion
The cathedral was absolutely beautiful , So glad we visited it The tour was very good and informative.
Tatianna was an excellent guide,very informative and knowledgeable and did the tour at a steady and acceptable pace.She gave clear Instructions as to where and when to meet where necessary.
The tour was very well organized and the tour guide was very knowledgeable and good to understand. The visit to Valletta was excellent.
We really enjoyed our Valletta tour, Sylvia was lovely and very genuine in her delivery. We were so glad we booked it as we would have missed so much.
Valentina was a very knowledgeable, personable and organised guide. She told us lots of stories with humour and panache on our half day tour. The time flew and we learnt lots about this fascinating city!
The tour was great. We got to see everything that was on offer and our guide had a wealth of knowledge. The hotel pick up was a real plus the only slight negative was the time we had to wait for all the guest to arrive. I would have thought with a small tour they could have picked us up at the same time. Waiting in the heat was not ideal.
Lovely day exploring Valletta, English speaking tour guide very knowledgeable and friendly also making sure we got the correct transport home, perfect half day tour
The tour guide was fantastic, nothing was too much trouble for her, very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful.
Here are some of the reasons why we would not do this tour again: - our tour was bilingual. This means that every single sentence was pronounced first in English and then in German immediately after. So say goodbye to a continuous narrative and good luck trying to make sense of anything when the conversation gets faster. -it's also means that on a 3-hour tour you're really getting only one and a half hours worth of content. - the narration was pretty basic and it sounded like reading off bullet points or reading from a textbook. If there was any personal insights then it was lost on us. - Highlights of the tour was supposed to be the St. John co-cathedral, which while pretty in itself was poor experience because it was PACKED with people so much that it felt like you are in a city bus, during the rush hour, trying to make your way from one end to another. - additionally, this tour description lists several items to be "included" in the tour (such as access to the Baraka Gardens), but all those things are in fact free. And there are a few other things that I'm not going to nitpick over, but just know that if you're reading this and find this review valuable have in mind that this experience really is worth zero Stars. In the end, we left the tour before the end. I don't want to complete this review without giving a suggestion, and my suggestion is this: Malta has such an amazing Rich history and these stories are definitely worth hearing. However this kind of tour won't give you that. So instead find a smaller, more personal tour. Maybe you will have to pay more but if you get something out of it it will be worth it. This tour cost us $65 each and it was a total waste of money.
This tour description said a ‘traditional harbour boat’ was included and the reason we booked this particular tour. There was no harbour boat ride and the guide didn’t know anything about it. Very disappointing!!!! We contacted Viator for a partial refund but this was refused even though the details of the tour were not met. Not good enough Viator!!!! Having said this the tour guide Maria was very very good. Very knowledgeable about the history of Valletta, had a friendly manner and was interesting to listen to. Really disappointing we did not get the tour we had actually booked!
Hotel pick up and drop off worked like clockwork. Pleasant and informative guide, who was very aware of individual needs of the group. Well informed re history of Valletta. I would have liked a bit more pre the knights. Cathedral spectacular.
Our guide was amazing! And Valetta is absolutely beautiful. We loved walking through the city and learning tons of awesome facts. We got in to see lots of great attractions as well. I would 100% recommend.
We met on time at the agreed location, a small group of about 12 people and moved slowly through the town of Valletta under the direction of the very knowledgable guide who continued to provide information and details of all the historical buildings on our path from one end of the town to the other over the 3 hours period. There was a break of about 30 minutes for restroom and coffee in the middle of the tour and overall it was a very pleasant morning.
St Johns Co Cathedral, is located in Valletta the capital of Malta. This magnificent Cathedral is a must do when you visit Malta
<p>As veterans of many low cost group tours, our expectations werent that high but nevertheless the tour operator found ways to disappoint. </p> <p>For starters, after meeting their rep outside our hotel, we were taken to a meeting less than a 2 min walk from our hotel. We then had to wait nearly an hour in the hot sun and humidity with little to no shade as we wife young child waited for others to join. I recognize that waiting is inevitable when groups gather but it is inexplicable why they made us go to the meeting point so early when it literally was within site of our room and we walked directly in front of our hotel to begin the tour!</p> <p>While the wait might be explained away, there really is no excuse for having a 40 person walking tour in a loud and crowded tourist area. With this number and no use of portable mics, it was virtually impossible to hear the guide unless you were standing next to or in front of her - which meant only 10/40 persons at any given stop could hear her synopsis of the site.</p> <p>Due to the large group size large contingent on the senior side, this inevitably meant the group could only move between tourist sites as fast as the slowest member. This meant we inevitably only saw a fraction of what we could have seen if the group was much smaller. It also meant we often were given walk by explanations of historical sites that only 5-6 persons could ever hear because the group typically was strung out along an entire block or more due to the narrow streets and sidewalks!</p> <p>I could go on and on but you get the picture.</p> <p>On the plus side, the tour was relatively inexpensive 44/adult, 1/2 price for children, gave you an opportunity to take pics of tourist highlights and the route gave one a decent layout and sense of direction of Valleta for later excursions on our own. But if you are truly interested in learning anything about what you see then pay extra and book a smaller tour group.</p>
Our guide was knowledgeable & easy to understand & follow. He gave us advice on lots of the citys iconic sights & some helpful tips.
The tour was very well handled and organized. It was a breath of fresh air to actually have some professionals dealing with this tour. My guide was Elena and she was very pleasant and told us a lot of details about Malta and Valletta. It was a walking tour so be prepared to walk. But no worries: it is not hard at all. You get to wonder on the pretty streets of Valletta. What I would change about it maybe? Make it longer :). Have more hours and more points to visit. Other than that, it was lovely. The history movie about Valletta and Malta was very good and a must see! Thanks for being so well organized and prepared.
<p>Great guide who explained everything well. For me this was the best introduction to Valletta</p>
We were picked up and dropped to our hotel which was really great considering how hard it is to find parking in Valletta. Our guide Maria arrived late cos of an accident but I think she more than made up for the lost time. She didn't rush but still touched on the all the important landmarks and history of Valletta and the island. The co Cathedral was amazing and the Malta experience a great ending to the tour. For 38 Euros incl. entrance fees its a real steal!!!!
<p>There was a lot crammed in - the Triton Fountains, the government building, the chapel behind it, a walk through town, a visit to the Cathedral then on to The Malta Experience, which I didn't know was also included. The tour lasted about four hours and it was great to be picked up and dropped off to and from the hotel. Excellent value for money and tour guide was good. Best bit - the cathedral. It really is something to behold.</p>
<p>It was excellent. Very pleasant tour of Valletta, and the St. John's Co-Cathedral was breathtaking!</p>
<p>My tour guide was excellent, fantastic knowledge and took his time to explain in two languages as guests were English and Italian.<br/> I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Would definitely recommend this tour. I was a solo traveller and felt completely safe. Was picked up and dropped off from My Hotel.</p>
<p>This was a great tour. I believe our guide was Maria, though it has been some time since I took it. I took this tour the day after I arrived in Valletta, and I felt it was a nice orientation to the city without taking too much time. We spent a lot of time at St. John's Co-Cathedral, and it is worth spending some time there. Unfortunately the Grandmaster's Palace was closed, so we didn't get to visit there. We went to the Armoury instead. I think it could be expanded slightly more to include more destinations such as the waterfront, and perhaps a nice place for lunch, but the half day tour is fine as well.</p>
<p>The tour was not well organised and started late as not everyone had arrived. There was no break for a drink, which was necessary in the heat. Only half of the group finished the tour.</p>
<p>This is a good tour for a quick overview of Valletta. Could have used a bit more time and more of the highlights of the city and there are many. Hannah our guide was great, even though she had to go back and forth in two different languages, she did it very smoothly.</p>
<p>I pre-booked this tour not knowing how accessible these places would be while I was actually staying in Valletta. But it's probably a good tour to do if you are on a short visit/stay in the area.</p>
<p>Huge crowd so the tour guide was fighting against background noise and the tour was multi lingual so there was a tendency to tune in and out</p>
<p>We got unlucky. They are doing a lot of renovating of the Palace so not much to see right now.<br/> Does not include Armory visit but you can do that on your own since Palace is last place tour stops at.<br/> Upper Garden has great views but you need to be there are 12:00 or 16:00 to see them fire the cannon.<br/> Seeing the city by boat is best. Either a narrated tour or a little boat close to the bottom of the lift by the gardens.</p>
<p>We were escorted by a well informed and eloquent guide. The tour was well paced and gave us a excellent overview of the role the Knights of the Order of St John had in determining the history and character of the Malta and its people.</p>
<p>Had a wonderful time. The tour guide was excellent.</p>
<p>Same tour guide. Not great at volunteering information. Very quick in and out of museums. They should charge more and give more information. It's a historical tour, not a shopping tour.</p>
<p>Everything worked out perfect. We enjoyed the guidetrip and our guide was very good and knew a lot about Maltas history.</p>
<p>Vanessa gave me his tour even though I was he only person attending. That was excellent as often companies cancel if numbers aren't up.<br/> She knew her history and then took me round at an appropriate pace.<br/> Really good orientation for my first day in valetta</p>
<p>Hannah our guide did a very good job of switching between German and English to accommodate everyone in our group. The driver and assistant who picked me up from my hotel were very pleasant. However the driver who took us back to our hotels was rather rude. I forgot Hannah wouldn't be accompanying us on the bus and regret not having thanked her for a very interesting morning.</p>
<p>Great tour for seeing the best bits of Valletta. We were staying in Valletta, so we feel like we could have done it ourselves but if we were not staying in Valleta and had a day/half day to see the whole town, then this tour would have been ideal.</p>
<p>I wasn't on the trip - I booked it for my grandparents for my grandad's 80th birthday - however they came home from holiday and he immediately filled me in on their trip with you guys, which they absolutely were over the moon with. They loved all the places they were taken, and couldn't speak highly enough of their guide for the day. You were also very accommodating when they thought they may have to change the date (turned out they didn't need to but said you were very good and willing to help re-arrange if needed.) Thank you very much :) Highly recommended :)</p>
<p>I enjoyed this tour seeing artefacts, historic buildings and so much more. Our tour guide made everything so engaging and it was a pleasure to go with the flow as we walked through Valetta visiting the gardens, church, palace etc. The tour guide was so knowledgeable and glad to have undertaken this tour.</p>
Anita is a very competent guide. The tour was a lot of fun, and we learned quite a bit about Valletta.
The final film, the best of the tour. Unfortunately, our experience with this tour did not meet our expectations, especially considering the price (38€/person in August 2025). Firstly, the tour was delayed both in pick-up time and start, which significantly reduced the time of the visit. The advertised duration was about four hours, but in reality, the actual journey time was only about one hour. With a half-hour free stop at the Upper Barakka Gardens. Added to this was a free time of one hour and, at the end, a stop to watch the 45-minute Malta Experience video. The latter felt more like a filler than an integral part of the tour. Although they had the same as the guide, but in more detail, related and clear. The guide, Elena, although very friendly, had some difficulties with Spanish that made the explanations confusing and disjointed, which made it difficult for us to follow the story and the data that were trying to transmit. On several occasions, we were left feeling that important details were missing. In addition, the free time of one hour to visit the cathedral was a weak point. For those of us who didn’t have the ticket included, we were offered no alternatives or directions, leaving us with a dead time when we didn’t know what to do unless we explicitly asked. In short, the combination of delays, a very short actual tour time, confusing explanations and poorly managed free time makes the price excessive for what is offered. We have information from other travelers who made a much more complete and enjoyable free tour.
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