Valletta bastion circuit

The Valletta bastion circuit is an urban walk of about 4 km around the edge of Malta's fortified capital, starting at City Gate at the entrance to the old town. No driving or permit is needed: most visitors arrive by bus at the Valletta terminus just outside the gate, and parking is limited, so the walk is best approached on foot or by public transport. The route is easy in technical terms, with roughly 60 m of cumulative ups and downs, but it includes many stone steps and some steep ramps, so it feels more demanding than the distance suggests. Allow about 1.5 to 2 hours at an unhurried pace, longer with stops. The surface is paving, limestone setts and asphalt, with no scree or exposure beyond bastion edges that have parapets. Shade is patchy: the bastion tops and the gardens offer some, but long sections of the walls are open to the Mediterranean sun. From City Gate the route follows the upper bastion streets to Hastings Gardens, which look over Marsamxett Harbour and Floriana. It continues across the city to the Upper Barrakka Gardens, known for the Saluting Battery and views over the Grand Harbour and the Three Cities. Below them, the Lower Barrakka Gardens hold a neoclassical monument and a quieter outlook. The walk then reaches the Siege Bell Memorial, which commemorates those lost in the Second World War siege of Malta, before ending at Fort St Elmo on the tip of the Sciberras peninsula, where the harbours meet. Sensible turn-around points are the Upper Barrakka Gardens, for a shorter loop, or the Siege Bell Memorial if the fort is not on the plan. Water is not available along the walls themselves, but cafes and kiosks sit at the gardens and along the main streets, and the shelter of churches, museums and the covered lifts offers relief from heat or rain. There are no refuge huts; the whole route stays within the built-up city, so help and public toilets are never far away. The Barrakka Lift connects the Upper Barrakka level with the waterfront below, which offers a way to shorten the descent or climb.