Sliema St Julians Bay and Mdina Malta

These are the liveliest spots in Malta for hotels, nightlife and shopping. Sliema, a thriving suburb, is a lot larger than Valletta. It's about a 5km (3mile) journey from Floriana to Sliema's Strand, passing by or through Pieta, Msida and Ta 'Xbiex, where yachts line the quayside. Sliema has grown fast in recent years and its general appearance is undistinguished, yet it has good shops, restaur¬ants and a range of hotels. The harbour shore is a con¬crete promenade, but the rocky northeast coast, facing the open sea, has suitable flat spots for swimming.

The peninsula facing Valletta was once a big military base, now being con¬verted to housing and leisure facilities. From the very tip, Dragut Point, the eponymous pirate bombarded St Elmo in the Great Siege. After St Julian's Point, with its fortified tower, now a cafe; you reach Balluta Bay, and then St Julian's Bay, an old fishing village that has sprou¬ted bars and restaurants. Be¬tween here and St George's Bay are luxury hotels, discos, and the Casino. The entire area is full of bathers on sum¬mer weekends. Inland to Mdina and Rabat Mdina is about 12km (7 miles) from Valletta, through busy Hamrun, an industrial suburb.

The road passes the aqueduct, built in the 17th century by Grand Master Wigna court and designed to bring water to Valletta. Off to the right from Attard, the San Anton Gar¬dens make a refreshing, shady retreat with subtropical trees and flowers, some giant ever¬greens possibly descendants of the islands' lushes past when plenty of rain and green¬ery supported abundant wild¬life. At the opposite end of the gardens is the official resi¬dence of the President; it was built as a sunnier palace in the 17th century by Grand Master Antoine de Paule. Further along the road, also branching off to the right, is Ta' Qali, a former airfield now converted into a crafts village.

Mdina Malta

This historic citadel is one of Malta's most beautiful spots. It may have been inhabited since the Bronze Age, and there were certainly Punic and Roman settlements here. The Romans called it Mel¬ita (honey); St Publius, the Roman governor, converted by St Paul and later to become first Bishop of Malta, lived here. When the Arabs fortified the promontory in the 9th cen¬tury they renamed it Mdina (the walled city) and separated it from its 'suburb', Rabat (another word for city). Also known as Citta Nota¬bile, Mdina was the first capital of Malta and later the Bishop's See and seat of the Universita, the government advisory body. Roger the Norman was greeted here as the island's liberator from the Arabs in 1090. When the knights decided that Val¬letta should become the capi¬tal, Mdina became Citta Vec¬chia (meaning 'old city').

The Silent City Malta

Now it is often called 'the silent city', intriguing and secretive narrow, practically deserted streets. Several of Malta's aristocratic old families still live here very dis¬creetly in enclosed palaces. Two main gates (both dated 1724) lead into Mdina. On the left is Greeks' Gate. Take the bridge across the moat from Howard Gardens and enter the town through Mdina Gate (the outline of an earlier gate is to the right of it). Just inside, Vil¬hena Palace is named after the Grand Master who had it built in the 18th century. It currently houses the quaint Museum of Natural History, whose most interesting exhibit shows the geological 'sandwich' of Malta and Gozo's rock formations.

Villegaignon Street is the main thoroughfare throughout, running through to the wall on the other side of town. To the right is the Convent of St Benedict, a blank walled building to which men are not admitted. The two churches are St Peter's and St Agatha's. On the left you'll see Casa Inguanez, the palace home of Malta's oldest titled family. Typically, the main entrance is in a side street.

The striking cathedral (the seat of the bishopric and 'co cathedral' with St John's in Valletta) is an outstanding ba¬roque work on an island rich in baroque art. Fronted by a pair of cannon, flanked by its two bell towers, it has three door¬ways with two different types of pilasters (Corinthian below and composite above), making an admirable facade when it is seen from the square. It was built by Lorenzo Gafa between 1697 and 1702 and is consid¬ered to be his masterwork. The interior, under an im¬pressive dome, is well propor¬tioned, yet very rich, and the marble mosaic floor covers the tombs of bishops and notables.

Notice the heavy wooden doors through the vestry are carved with snakes and other motifs. A lively fresco, The Shipwreck of St Paul, by Mat¬tia Preti, is in the apse, and to the left of the apse you'll find a silver processional cross, brought to Malta (according to tradition) by the knights from Rhodes. To the right of the Arch¬bishop's Palace, outside the Cathedral, the former seminary is the Cathedral Museum. Its fine coin collection will thrill any numismatist. Displayed in mirrored cases, it takes you from Carthage all the way to modem Europe, with stops at many historic moments.

Upstairs is a collection of paintings (Sicilian, Flemish, Spanish, 16th-18th centuries), superb Durer woodcuts, and delightful engravings by Rem¬brandt, Piranesi, Van Dyck and Goya. Some beautiful illumi¬nated choir books date from as early as the 11th century.

The oldest house in Mdina and airport car hire Malta

Just off the square in Ville¬gaignon Street, the Palazzo Santa Sophia's ground floor is reputedly the oldest house in Mdina, with a typical Maltese feature a 'stringcourse' of triangular corbels with balls attached to them. The upper floor was finished 600 years later to the original plan! The next big building on the left is the Church of the Annunciation. Its bells played an important part in the 1798 revolt against the French, who wanted to sell valuable tapes¬tries belonging to the church, but after an incident during which a young boy attacked the French Commandant Mas son, the bells were rung to call people from the neighbouring countryside.

After a good deal of brawling, the enraged Mal¬tese threw Masson to his death from the balcony of the no¬tary's house, in one of the first actions of the rebellion that lasted until the French were ousted in 1800. Mdina today is still a fascinating city to visit, and you can pre-book a hire a car from Malta Airport and explore the whole of Mdina and Malta within a few days.

Near to the end of Ville¬gaignon Street on the right is the Norman House, or the Pal¬azzo Falzon. The lower and earliest part of the house is a defensive facade with only slits for windows (14th-15th centuries). The later and upper section has attractive double arched windows. At the end of the street you will come to a large bastion with a magnificent view, ex¬tending to Mosta with its great dome and all the way to the spires of Valletta in the east.

Head for Greeks' Gate, divert¬ing along any of the narrow alleys on the way, and you'll see how the city was designed to create cool shade, as well as for defence purposes. Even if enemies penetrated the walls, they could be pelted with missiles from the rooftops, or cut off in deadened streets. At Greeks' Gate, you can see blocks of Roman masonry in the lower wall, and the out¬line of an Arab archway, illus¬trating the long history of this little jewel of a city.