Tigné Point, Sliema's corner facing Marsamxett

Tigné Point is where Sliema runs out of land. The tip pushes into Marsamxett Harbour and puts Valletta right in front of you, end to end. I treat it as the full stop to a walk along the front rather than a place to head for on purpose.

Shopping with a view

Malta Public Transport presents Tigné Point as a shopping and entertainment complex, and that’s the job it does. If you’ve run out of sun cream, need a charger or want a last-minute present, you can sort it here without crossing to the capital. No official source I’ve found gives the shop opening hours, so I won’t guess them.

My advice is not to stay indoors. The point of coming is outside, on the water’s edge, as the domes and walls opposite light up in the evening. It’s the picture heading this page and, to my mind, the best view of Valletta you can get without boarding a boat.

Swimming off the rocks at Tigné

Sliema’s coast is rock from start to finish, and the Tigné area is one of the favourite swimming spots listed by Blue Flag Malta, which runs the award nationally. The water is deep and, by the same account, clean and clear. The Blue Flag itself belongs a little further along, at Fond Għadir, where MTA lifeguards are on duty. With small children or weaker swimmers, I’d head there rather than to an unsupervised ledge. The rest of the shore is covered in my guide to Sliema, the base facing Valletta.

A military past you can’t walk into

The name comes from Fort Tigné. UNESCO mentions it on its Tentative List, among the Knights’ fortifications around the harbours, which run to some 25 kilometres in all. The British kept arming this coast. Fort Rinella’s website explains that Malta had two batteries built for an Armstrong 100-ton gun, one in Sliema and one at Rinella, meant to counter Italy’s battleships of the day.

I haven’t found an official listing saying Fort Tigné can be visited, so I’m not selling it as a sight. If you want to see one of those 100-ton guns in place, the one open to the public is at Fort Rinella in Kalkara, and the others are sorted in forts in Malta.

Getting to Tigné Point

It sits at the end of the Sliema promenade, a short walk from the Sliema Ferries quay. From Valletta, the boat is the most direct route, non-stop and €3 by day. Check the times for the Sliema to Valletta ferry before you set off, as they change between summer and winter. From the airport, the TD3 stops in Sliema every 30 minutes for €3, with room for suitcases on board.