Grand Harbour - Valletta
Strange as it seems, the primary reason that Malta has been so popular with invading nations and civilisations has nothing to do with its fine food, plentiful fish, scenic views, exciting night life or stunning weather. Nope, historically it’s always been more to do with geography than hotels!
More specifically, it’s to do with the fact that Malta is conveniently situated in the middle of the Mediterranean - a handy stopover on the way from Europe to Africa. And digging even deeper into the reasons it’s down to the fact that Malta has a very Grand Harbour at Valletta.
This natural and extremely deep deepwater port that means landing on Malta has historically been very easy to do. But the fact that it’s also easy to defend, provides very well-protected haven for ships and as you can get the biggest of big ships in there without any hassle, means it’s also been very desirable from a military and strategic point of view.
Truth is, if you were going to brief Mother Nature about how to create the best imaginable natural harbour, then this would be the result. And it has made Malta a very handy little island to have control of.
It’s inevitable that at some point during your visit to Malta you’ll find yourself gazing at the stunning view across the Grand Harbour to the historic Three Cities with Fort St Angelo and Fort Ricasoli standing guard on the opposite side. You might even be gazing at it from one of the rather splendid new restaurants in the recently-renovated Valletta Waterfront area.
And we would heartily recommend that you do, because the line of 19 warehouses, built 250 years ago by the Grandmaster of Valletta, Manoel Pinto da Fonseca, is beautiful. The historic buildings now house bars, restaurants and souvenir shops, and are specifically aimed to cater for the thousands of passengers that arrive here on luxury liners.
Although, as if to hammer the above message home, if there happens to be a cruise ship in at the time, then the only view you will have will be of the side of the boat. That’s how deep this harbour is, how big the boats are that can use it and how close they can get to the shore.
And when you bear in mind that there are a good number of fairly sizable boats that were scuttled in the port sitting on the seabed, and these mighty ships still cruise comfortably over them, then you begin to realise – it’s really deep!
You should not be unduly astonished to learn that many different operators are keen to take you on a pleasant sightseeing cruise around the picturesque Grand Harbour in a variety of different vessels. The most popular are the brightly coloured luzzu fishing boats or a peaceful ride in a traditional dghajsa – a small boat rowed by your friendly boatman.
You’ll get great views of Valletta and its impressive skyline from the water not to mention being taken up close to giant liners and commercial tankers and cargo ships the size of several football pitches that appear to have 10-storey blocks of flats perched on top of them.
You can see a list of sightseeing cruise operators by clicking on the link below or click on the Dghajsa Experience link for details of a romantic package offered by our sister site, Something Different.
