Upper and Lower Barrakka, Valletta's two balconies over the Grand Harbour

If I could show someone who’d just landed only one spot in Valletta, it would be this one. From Upper Barrakka you take in, at a glance, what explains Malta, a vast natural harbour, the Three Cities opposite with their forts, and the Knights’ city sitting on its bastions. And below you there’s a cannon that goes off twice a day.

What exactly are the Barrakka Gardens?

There are two of them, both public gardens on Valletta’s walls above the Grand Harbour. The upper one, Upper Barrakka, has the gun battery, the lift and the best views. The lower one, Lower Barrakka, sits further east on Xatt il-Barriera and is quieter. VisitMalta places it on the bastion edge overlooking the entrance to the Grand Harbour, with views from the harbour mouth to Fort Ricasoli, Bighi Palace, Fort St Angelo and the creeks of Birgu and Kalkara. Among the trees stands a monument to Sir Alexander Ball, one of the leaders of the Maltese uprising against the French in 1798, who went on to become Malta’s first British Governor.

Upper Barrakka I know more about, and most of it concerns what’s under it or next to it. The Saluting Battery occupies the lower terrace, and according to the Lascaris War Rooms website you enter the battery through the gardens, where you also buy your ticket. And 150 feet beneath gardens and battery is the British war headquarters now open as the Lascaris War Rooms.

History, busts and Les Gavroches

Upper Barrakka didn’t start out as a public park. According to VisitMalta’s listing, it goes back to 1661, when it was the private garden of the Knights of the Italian langue, whose auberges stood next door. It only opened to the public in 1824, and the Second World War left it badly damaged. Today its paths are lined with busts, statues and plaques recalling people and events from Maltese history.

The piece I’d look out for is a bronze group called Les Gavroches (the street urchins), by an early 20th-century Maltese sculptor. It shows three children hurrying forward, and the idea was to capture the extreme hardship of those years. Among all the worthies in stone, it’s the statue that tells you most about the Malta of the time.

What you’re looking at

Across the water are the Three Cities, Birgu (Vittoriosa), Senglea (Isla) and Cospicua (Bormla), which Malta Public Transport sums up as narrow streets, old fortifications and museums. The fortress on the point of Birgu is Fort St Angelo, already the harbour castle by 1274 and the Order’s headquarters from 1530, decades before Valletta existed. Knowing that changes the view, because you’re looking from the new city back at the Knights’ first base. If you fancy crossing over, start with the Three Cities of Malta.

The gun salute and how to see it properly

The battery fires at 12:00 and 16:00, Monday to Saturday, and the Saluting Battery itself recommends turning up about 15 minutes early. Watching from inside the battery costs €3 (€1 for ages 5 to 15). Behind it is the Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna, a non-profit heritage trust staffed by volunteers, and it’s card-only, so don’t count on paying cash.

I think the €3 is money well spent; it’s one of the cheapest tickets in Valletta and the money supports a trust that depends on its visitors to keep going. Everything about the firing, the small museum and the wartime tunnels that start from the battery is on my page about the Saluting Battery in Valletta.

The Barrakka Lift and the Three Cities ferry

Beside the gardens is the Barrakka Lift, which deals with the drop between the city and the waterfront where the Three Cities ferry comes in. Malta Public Transport explains that passengers crossing from Cospicua are given a lift ticket. For me that’s the nicest way into Valletta from Birgu or Senglea, because you step out straight onto the viewpoint. The crossing times are all on the Valletta ferries page.

Near the lift there’s also a tallinja Bike station, Malta’s shared e-bikes, with the first thirty minutes costing €3 if you don’t have a transport card. With a tallinja or Explore card the first half hour drops to €1.50, which makes a quick ride along the harbour front a genuinely cheap option. Bear in mind that Valletta itself is steep and stepped, so the bikes make far more sense down by the water than they do inside the walls.

Fitting it into your visit

Upper Barrakka is a couple of minutes from Castille Place, on the south side of the city. I’d slot it in mid-morning, between St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta and the Grandmaster’s Palace, timed to catch the 12:00 gun. From here the Battery Street steps lead down to Lascaris, so if the war interests you, now’s the moment.

What I can’t give you is opening hours or an entry fee for the gardens themselves. VisitMalta’s listing has them open every day, with public toilets, but gives no hours or price, and I won’t guess at them. For another harbour lookout, the Gardjola Gardens in Senglea face this way from across the water.