Balluta Bay
Swim below a neo-Gothic church and a row of Art Nouveau apartments, on a small curve of seafront a short walk from Spinola Bay. The promenade's restaurants are just above the shore.
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Walk round Spinola Bay to dinner on the restaurant terraces, then sleep in Balluta, with Spinola Bay between you and Paceville's clubs.
Town guide, Malta. Meridian Dispatch.
Ninety seconds on St. Julian's
Balluta Bay, and the Balluta side of Spinola Bay. Paceville, above St George's Bay, is Malta's main nightlife district, and its music, crowds and traffic run into the early hours.
Routes 13, 13A, 14, 16, 21 and TD13 link the Valletta terminal with Sliema and St Julian's, so no change of bus is needed.
Balluta Bay is the nearer swim, a short one off rock and steps. For sand, St George's Bay below Paceville is small and man-made, and busy in summer. In 2026, community officers patrolled it on weekends and public holidays from 4 July to 30 August, between 10:00 and 18:00.
Not from St Julian's itself. The Valletta ferry sails daily from The Strand in Sliema, a walk along the seafront. It keeps a winter timetable from 1 November to 31 May with earlier last sailings, and a summer one from 1 June to 31 October.
The feast of St Julian generally falls on the last weekend of August, and the procession with the statue of the saint leaves on the Sunday evening. The parish publishes each year's programme.
Two Airport Direct routes serve St Julian's from Malta International Airport, MLA. TD3 runs every 30 minutes via Msida, Gżira and Sliema, and TD2 runs every 30 minutes, continuing past St Julian's to Pembroke. Fares are paid to the driver, in cash or by contactless card.
Choose it for nights out, and sleep at the Balluta end if you want quiet ones.
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St Julian's wraps round three small bays, Balluta, Spinola and St George's, joined by a promenade along the water. Portomaso's marina and the streets of Paceville fill the point between the last two.
in the water
Two hotels look over Balluta Bay and one over Spinola Bay. The resorts sit by St George's Bay and on Dragonara Point, next to the sand.
12 min from Spinola Bay
9 min from Spinola Bay
3 min from Spinola BayEach list runs from the hotel nearest Spinola Bay.
Grouped by what each place is best for, from the swims at Balluta and St George's to the marina and Paceville after dark.
Balluta Bay to St George's Bay is about 25 minutes on foot along the water, so every place here is a walk from your room.
Swim below a neo-Gothic church and a row of Art Nouveau apartments, on a small curve of seafront a short walk from Spinola Bay. The promenade's restaurants are just above the shore.
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The one sandy beach around Sliema and St Julian's, below Paceville, its imported sand mixed with pebbles. It usually stays calm in a north-westerly, when the Tower Road front turns rough.
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Come to the small harbour at the heart of St Julian's for dinner on a terrace by the water, then a walk along the seafront promenade towards Sliema.
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A neo-Gothic stone front with pointed arches and a rose window, facing Balluta Bay. Entry is free outside services, and modest dress is expected.
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Yachts moor in an enclosed basin below the Portomaso tower, with cafes along a paved quay. From the street, a long staircase leads down to the water.
Richard England's white LOVE letters on the Spinola Bay waterfront, set so the word reads the right way round in the water. Calm water gives the clearest reflection.
A 17th-century palace built for a knight of the Order of St John, just above Spinola Bay. Only the front garden and the restaurant in the cellar are open, so see it from outside.
An Art Nouveau apartment block of carved balconies and columns beside the Carmelite church. The flats are private homes, so look from the promenade across the bay.
Clubs, bars and late restaurants pack a few steep streets above St George's Bay. The music runs into the early hours, and Friday and Saturday are the busiest nights.
Concrete wave-breakers between Dragonara Point and Portomaso have grown into an artificial reef, now a marine conservation area. Jet skis work these waters in summer, so dive with a marker buoy.
The small harbour at the centre of town, ringed by restaurant terraces, with the LOVE letters on its quay and a knight's palace above it.
Come to the small harbour at the heart of St Julian's for dinner on a terrace by the water, then a walk along the seafront promenade towards Sliema.
Read the guideRichard England's white LOVE letters on the Spinola Bay waterfront, set so the word reads the right way round in the water. Calm water gives the clearest reflection.
A 17th-century palace built for a knight of the Order of St John, just above Spinola Bay. Only the front garden and the restaurant in the cellar are open, so see it from outside.
The southern bay, where Sliema meets St Julian's. Cross the promenade for the neo-Gothic Carmelite church and the Art Nouveau Balluta Buildings beside it.
Swim below a neo-Gothic church and a row of Art Nouveau apartments, on a small curve of seafront a short walk from Spinola Bay. The promenade's restaurants are just above the shore.
Read the guideA neo-Gothic stone front with pointed arches and a rose window, facing Balluta Bay. Entry is free outside services, and modest dress is expected.
Read the guideAn Art Nouveau apartment block of carved balconies and columns beside the Carmelite church. The flats are private homes, so look from the promenade across the bay.
Rock tiers and steps at Balluta, the town's one sandy beach at St George's, and an artificial reef offshore for divers.
Swim below a neo-Gothic church and a row of Art Nouveau apartments, on a small curve of seafront a short walk from Spinola Bay. The promenade's restaurants are just above the shore.
Read the guideThe one sandy beach around Sliema and St Julian's, below Paceville, its imported sand mixed with pebbles. It usually stays calm in a north-westerly, when the Tower Road front turns rough.
Read the guideConcrete wave-breakers between Dragonara Point and Portomaso have grown into an artificial reef, now a marine conservation area. Jet skis work these waters in summer, so dive with a marker buoy.
The seafront walk from Balluta round Spinola Bay to Portomaso, in the order you pass each stop.
A neo-Gothic stone front with pointed arches and a rose window, facing Balluta Bay. Entry is free outside services, and modest dress is expected.
Read the guideYachts moor in an enclosed basin below the Portomaso tower, with cafes along a paved quay. From the street, a long staircase leads down to the water.
Richard England's white LOVE letters on the Spinola Bay waterfront, set so the word reads the right way round in the water. Calm water gives the clearest reflection.
A 17th-century palace built for a knight of the Order of St John, just above Spinola Bay. Only the front garden and the restaurant in the cellar are open, so see it from outside.
An Art Nouveau apartment block of carved balconies and columns beside the Carmelite church. The flats are private homes, so look from the promenade across the bay.
Terrace dinners on Spinola Bay, cafes round the marina, and the clubs of Paceville into the early hours.
Come to the small harbour at the heart of St Julian's for dinner on a terrace by the water, then a walk along the seafront promenade towards Sliema.
Read the guideYachts moor in an enclosed basin below the Portomaso tower, with cafes along a paved quay. From the street, a long staircase leads down to the water.
Clubs, bars and late restaurants pack a few steep streets above St George's Bay. The music runs into the early hours, and Friday and Saturday are the busiest nights.
Start with a swim at Balluta Bay. Stone steps lead down from the promenade to rock tiers and small pebbles, below the twin spires of the Carmelite church. Cafes and kiosks sit a few steps from the water.
Dry off and look back across the bay at the Balluta Buildings, whose carved Art Nouveau front reads best from the far side. Then follow the promenade north to Spinola Bay, a walk of a few minutes, and find the LOVE letters on the quay.
Carry on to Portomaso, where a long staircase drops from the street to the marina. Beyond it, the road climbs through Paceville and down to St George's Bay for an afternoon on the sand.
Come back to Spinola Bay for dinner on a terrace over the fishing boats, when the lights reflect on the harbour. Paceville is a few minutes up the hill if you want the clubs; the promenade takes you home to Balluta if you do not.
Give a second day to Valletta. Walk the seafront to The Strand in Sliema for the ferry across, and come back on a direct bus. From November to May, the last boat back on Sundays and public holidays leaves Valletta at 18:30. On other nights boats run into the late evening.
Malta has one airport, at Luqa, south of St Julian's. Two Airport Direct routes, TD2 and TD3, run from it to the town.
Airport Direct 3 runs by Msida, Gżira and Sliema to St Julian's. Pay on board by cash or contactless card.
Airport Direct 2 runs to St Julian's and on to Pembroke. Like TD3, it leaves from the airport bus terminal, signposted once you exit arrivals.
Buy a fixed-fare ticket at the booth in the Welcomers' Hall. Give the hotel's name and bay, since Balluta, Spinola and St George's are on different streets.
Request the car once you land, then walk to the pickup point the app shows outside arrivals. Bolt sometimes moves that point, so check the app again as you leave the terminal.
The official pages this guide was checked against.
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