Lascaris War Rooms

What makes it special

The complex opened in 1940 to hold the combined war headquarters of all three armed services underground, out of reach of air attack. The tunnels were cut into the rock beneath the gardens and the casemates of the Lascaris Battery.

The heart of it is the Fighter Sector Operations Room, with its plotting tables and wall maps. Period telephones and communications equipment fill the rooms around it, and further operations rooms and support offices open off the same tunnels.

A newer exhibition, Operation Husky, sets out the invasion of Sicily in 1943 and the planning behind it. Original RAF map tables are among its displays, so the second half of the visit moves from defending the island to the landings launched from it.

Visiting

Two routes lead down to the entrance, at the eastern end of Lascaris Tunnel in Lascaris Ditch. The main one starts at the Upper Barrakka Gardens by Castille Place: walk east along Battery Street and take the steep stone steps down into the ditch.

The second runs from the bus station, at the Saint James Ditch end, through Ganado Gardens.

Buy the ticket at the War Rooms desk, or at the Saluting Battery in the gardens, where staff also give directions. Then join a guided tour or take an audio guide round the rooms, and finish with the administrative rooms, the audio displays and the museum shop.

Tips

Coming off the Three Cities ferry, ride the Barrakka Lift up from the Valletta Waterfront. It leaves you right next to the gardens and the War Rooms entrance.

If the way down is unclear, look for the brown tourist signs. They run from the bus station, and from the stairs beside the Saluting Battery entrance near the gardens.