A weekend in Malta, from Saturday in Valletta to Sunday in Mdina

A weekend in Malta more or less plans itself once you’ve checked two things. St John’s Co-Cathedral is closed on Sundays, and Marsaxlokk’s fish market happens on Sundays. With those two pieces in place, Saturday is for the capital and Sunday for the rest of the island, and two days go a lot further than you’d expect.

Saturday in Valletta, while St John’s is open

With only Saturday for the capital, I’d be inside the Co-Cathedral first thing, move on to the Grandmaster’s Palace and be in the Upper Barrakka Gardens before 12:00 for the noon gun at the Saluting Battery. It’s the same morning I suggest for Malta in one day, and I wouldn’t change a thing, because it works.

The afternoon I’d do differently. Rather than shut myself in another Valletta museum, I’d hop across the harbour to Cospicua by boat and spend the rest of the day in Birgu, where the Order settled in 1530, decades before the capital existed. There you’ve got the Inquisitor’s Palace, open Tuesday to Sunday for €6, and Fort St Angelo, the Knights’ headquarters. If I could only pick one, it’d be the fort for its view of the harbour. The Three Cities deserve longer, but an afternoon is enough to get the idea and want to come back.

What to do on Sunday morning

Set the alarm a little earlier and catch the TD10, the direct bus that runs from Valletta to Marsaxlokk on Sundays only. It’s the fishing village of the south, with luzzu boats painted blue, yellow and red, and Sunday is market day. There’s no ticket and no timetable to keep, and I’d wander it slowly before the heat builds. If you’d rather lie in, routes 81 and 85 go there every day too.

Sunday afternoon in Rabat and Mdina

From Marsaxlokk I’d head back to Valletta terminus and hop on one of the routes up to Rabat. As a single ticket lasts two hours including changes, with a bit of luck the connection costs nothing extra. In Rabat I’d have lunch and go into St Paul’s Catacombs, which cost €6 and open every day, Sunday included.

Mdina is right next door, through its gate. Late afternoon is when I like it best, when you can feel that the whole city has just 201 residents. Wander without a map, find Bastion Square and look out over the walls. For Game of Thrones fans, Malta Public Transport confirms that the Mdina Gate appeared in the series.

If your two days fall midweek

Then the order loosens up, but check two things. Mondays first, when the Domvs Romana in Rabat, the Inquisitor’s Palace and some other smaller Heritage Malta sites stay shut. Then the Marsaxlokk market, which is a Sunday affair. Midweek I’d swap that morning for more time in Birgu or a visit to MUŻA, and keep Mdina and Dingli for the afternoon of day two, just as on the Sunday plan.

The sunset that rounds off the trip

Routes 52 and 56 serve Dingli. Rising as high as 230 metres according to Spain’s Foreign Ministry, the cliffs face west, so the sun goes down right in front of you. It’s free, and all you need is decent shoes and some care in the wind near the edge. There’s more detail in my guide to the Dingli Cliffs.

Where to stay and getting in from the airport

For two nights I’d stay in Valletta or Sliema. The first puts all of Saturday within walking distance, and the second has more hotels and the ferry to the capital close by. Both are on Airport Direct, the TD4 to Valletta and the TD3 to Sliema, every 30 minutes for €3. I compare the areas in where to stay in Malta.

Flying from the UK, the timing looks realistic from most of the country. On a single late-September day in 2026, the airport’s departures listed eleven UK destinations, from Heathrow and Gatwick to Newcastle, Edinburgh and Belfast.

What I wouldn’t try on a weekend is Gozo. It fits, but only by dropping Mdina or half of Valletta, and the island is far more enjoyable with a whole day. If you’ve got a third day, that’s where it goes, as in my Malta 3 day itinerary. A full week brings in Comino and a night up in Mellieħa for the northern beaches, which I lay out in my Malta 7 day itinerary.