Sliema Audioguides

Sliema looks across the Grand Harbour at Valletta and presents a very different face. Where Valletta is fortified, historic, and government-weighted, Sliema developed as a residential resort: the place where Maltese professionals wanted to live when they could afford to leave the old cities. British colonial influence is visible in the Victorian villas and in Fort Tigne at the Dragut Point, a fortress built in 1793 to guard the harbor entrance. The British era left something else too: English still functions almost as a first language for many Sliema residents, though that is slowly changing.

The Sliema Front promenade runs along a rocky coastline that faces northeast toward the open Mediterranean.

There are lidos cut into the limestone for swimming and sunbathing, outdoor cafes spread along the front, and in the evening a promenade culture of walking, running, and sitting that is very Mediterranean in its rhythms. The Ferries area at the northern tip has the regular ferry crossing to Valletta, a 10-minute ride across the harbor that gives you one of the best views of the fortified capital's skyline.