Playing the Valletta scavenger hunt: the essentials
The Valletta scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone: you walk from landmark to landmark, solve a riddle at each one by looking closely at what is in front of you, and unlock the stories and legends behind it. It takes about 3 hours, with around 45 minutes of actual walking over 3.4 km and 10 stops, and you start whenever you like.
Highlights include the Tritons' Fountain at City Gate, the Upper Barrakka Gardens above the Grand Harbour, St John's Co-Cathedral, the Great Siege monument, the Grandmaster's Palace on St George's Square and St Paul's Pro-Cathedral. The Knights of St John built Valletta on a narrow peninsula with a grid of straight streets, so the city is compact and easy to explore on foot.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 45 min · 3.4 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
A city of knights, bastions and harbour views
Clues set in limestone and bronze
Each of the 10 stops carries a riddle about something on the street: the stone lids of old granaries in a square, three Tritons holding up a basin, a Latin inscription beneath a coat of arms. The answer is there for anyone who looks closely and reasons it out, with no history degree required.
Sieges, salutes and a Caravaggio
Solved riddles open the stories: the Great Siege of 1565, when the Knights and the Maltese held out against the Ottoman army, the guns of the Saluting Battery below the Upper Barrakka Gardens, still fired for ceremonies, and Caravaggio, who painted his Beheading of Saint John the Baptist in Malta in 1608. With earphones in, you can let the audio narration do the telling.
From Floriana through City Gate
Google Maps leads you over 3.4 km, around 45 minutes of actual walking, from Floriana through City Gate into the grid of straight streets the Knights laid out on the peninsula. The views open up at the Upper Barrakka Gardens, high above the Grand Harbour and the Three Cities.
Three hours, at your speed
The game leaves plenty of room for a coffee or a long look across the harbour, and it remembers where you stopped if you carry on tomorrow. Starting from your hotel rather than Floriana? Choose another first stop in the app.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of players. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Play when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Valletta's hunt for first-timers, families and groups
A first visit to Malta's capital
The Co-Cathedral, the Grandmaster's Palace, Renzo Piano's Parliament and the Upper Barrakka Gardens all lie on one route, so a single game gives you a solid first picture of the city. The riddles make sure you notice details most visitors walk past.
Children who like knights
Bronze Tritons, a monument with three bronze figures standing for Faith, Fortitude and Civilisation, and a terrace where guns are fired in salute keep younger players curious. A grown-up plays in the team and keeps an eye on the busy streets.
Conference groups and friends
Up to five players form a team, each on their own phone, so colleagues after a meeting or friends on a long weekend can play side by side. The city itself is the course, and there is nothing to rent.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Teams of up to 5 work best; bigger groups split into several teams, one ticket per player.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The route: from Floriana through City Gate to St John's, Palace Square and St Paul's
10 stops · about 45 min walking · start: St Publius Parish Church (Floriana) · finish: St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral
The hunt starts in Floriana, just outside the city walls, at St Publius Parish Church, then enters Valletta at the Tritons' Fountain by City Gate and passes the Parliament of Malta designed by Renzo Piano. It heads to the Upper Barrakka Gardens and the Church of St Catherine of Italy, continues to St John's Co-Cathedral, Great Siege Square, the National Library and St George's Square, and finishes at St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral. If City Gate or the Upper Barrakka Gardens is closer to where you are staying, start there and let the app put the stops in a new order; and because the riddles stay outside on squares, façades and monuments, neither the Co-Cathedral nor the palace asks you for a ticket during the game.
Open the route map ↗
1St Publius Parish Church (Floriana)Start
Floriana's parish church, just outside Valletta, was begun in 1733 and is dedicated to St Publius, who according to tradition welcomed St Paul after his shipwreck and became Malta's first bishop. Bombs destroyed part of its façade and its dome in 1942, and the wide square in front is dotted with the round stone lids of old underground granaries.
2Tritons' Fountain
The Tritons' Fountain outside Valletta's City Gate was created by the sculptor Vincent Apap between 1952 and 1959: three bronze Tritons hold up a wide basin, a symbol of Malta's bond with the sea. The basin collapsed in 1978, and after a full restoration the fountain was officially inaugurated in 2018.
Read the full story →
3Parliament of Malta
Malta's Parliament House stands just inside City Gate and was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano as part of his redesign of the city entrance. The parliament moved here from the Grandmaster's Palace in 2015. Look at the two blocks raised on pillars and clad in Maltese limestone, cut so that the facade lets in light while giving shade.
4Upper Barrakka Gardens
The Upper Barrakka Gardens were laid out in 1661 by the Italian knight Flaminio Balbiani as a retreat for the knights of the Italian langue, and opened to the public after 1800. The terrace looks over the Grand Harbour and the Three Cities, and below it lies the Saluting Battery, where ceremonial gun salutes are still fired.
5Church of St Catherine of Italy
The Italian knights built this church in 1576 to plans by Girolamo Cassar, next to their Auberge d'Italie. An octagonal church was added in the 17th century, and Mattia Preti painted its dome and gave the church its altarpiece showing the martyrdom of St Catherine of Alexandria.
6St John's Co-Cathedral
The conventual church of the Knights of St John was built in 1573–1577 to designs by Girolamo Cassar, behind a deliberately plain façade. Inside are Mattia Preti's painted vault, hundreds of inlaid marble tombstones of knights and Caravaggio's Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, painted in Malta in 1608.
7Great Siege Square
Great Siege Square on Republic Street lies between the Law Courts and the side of St John's Co-Cathedral. Its monument by Antonio Sciortino honours the Great Siege of 1565, when the Knights and the Maltese held out against the Ottoman army, with three bronze figures representing Faith, Fortitude and Civilisation.
8National Library of Malta
The National Library, known as the Bibliotheca, was designed by Stefano Ittar and was one of the last buildings the Knights put up before the French took Malta in 1798. It keeps the archives of the Order of St John, and a marble statue of Queen Victoria stands in Republic Square in front of it.
9St George's Square (Palace Square)
St George's Square is overlooked by the Grandmaster's Palace, seat of the Grand Masters of the Order and later of the British governors, and today the Office of the President of Malta. Opposite stands the Main Guard, where a Latin inscription of 1814 beneath the British coat of arms records the islands' attachment to Britain.
Read the full story →
10St Paul's Anglican Pro-CathedralFinish
St Paul's was paid for by Queen Adelaide, widow of King William IV, after her stay in Malta, and built between 1839 and 1844 on the site of the Auberge d'Allemagne, the inn of the German knights. Its tall spire is one of the landmarks of the Valletta skyline when seen from Marsamxett Harbour.
Read the full story →
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Aline – France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Super façon de visiter lune ville qu’on ne connaît pas !!! À refaire !
Austria –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Nette Idee um Valetta kennenzulernen. Für jüngere Kinder war es dann doch zu viel historischer Input. Aber wir sind gut durchgekommen und die Rätsel waren alle gut lösbar bis auf das letzte.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
An sich war die Führung super und auch die Handhabung der App war einfach, nur die Rätsel waren manchmal etwas mehrdeutig.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Die Schnitzeljagd war sehr gut zu Fuß zu meistern. Manche Aufgaben hätten gerne schwerer sein können.
Austria –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Die Schnitzeljagd ist sehr zu empfehlen. Sie ist auch für Teenager spannend, da es Rätsel zu lösen gibt. Weiters erfährt man in kurzen Texten einiges über die Geschichte der Stadt und der historischen Stätte. Schön ist auch, dass man sie im eigenen Tempo machen kann und so auch Zeit zum Genießen der Eindrücke oder eines Kaffees hat!
Croatia –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Very fun, I love the concept. We got to see the most important things at our own pace and when we wanted to.
Flavy– France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Sympa pour connaître les principaux monuments de la ville.
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Parfait rien a redire
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Die Idee ist klasse und die Rätsel waren einfach zu lösen. Es wäre schön gewesen, wenn der Hinweis, dass man die Tour im Hellen machen sollte, irgendwo gestanden hätte. Schade ist auch, dass man nicht einfach zurückgehen kann. Außerdem wurden manche Lösungen nicht gespeichert. Etwas mehr Hintergrundinformationen zu den nicht enthaltenen bedeutenden Sehenswürdigkeiten hätte ich mir auch gewünscht.
United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Very fun activity, make sure you have suitable walking shoes because there are a lot of uneven roads, slopes and stones.
Switzerland –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Lustige Erfahrung. Sehr kurzweilig. Leider hat man doch nicht alle Ecken der Stadt gesehen. Hinweise zum Beispiel auf die Waterfront gab es nirgends.
Juan– Spain –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Actividad muy dinámica e interesante, perfecta para hacerla en pareja y conocer la ciudad. se me hizo algo corto , quizas meter algún punto intermedio o dar la posibilidad de realizar acertijos opcionales estaria genial
United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
A fun way to explore the city as a family.
Belgium –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Heel leuk om iets te weten te komen over Valetta op een spannende manier!
Ilona– Poland –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Not many options to chose, however very good to remember something.
Luca– Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Attività giocosa che ti permette di visitare la città divertendosi in gruppo! Consigliata!
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Rätsel zu einfach und die Tour an sich nicht spektakulär. Leider nur 10 Stopps. Ein paar “Insider” News wären super.
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Très bien pour visiter La Valette
Barney– United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Although very cheap and easy, this surprised us by being a brilliant highlight and the perfect way to start our 4 day trip to Malta (staying in Valletta). The reason: you start whenever you want and go at your own pace: you could do it in an hour but we took the opportunity to keep stopping and get used to the layout of Valletta so took half a day (!). By the end, we knew our way around, had seen the main sights of Valletta, and were much entertained too. One word of warning: you will need some tech skills: make sure you download the app in advance (we did this before leaving UK) and make sure you know how to use Google Maps (tell it you’re walking not in a car). The clues were very clever, and you can ask for hints if you get stuck. Many thanks for this hunt!
Austria –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Wirklich nett aber mit 10 Stationen viel zu kurz. Die letzte Station war bei uns nicht zu schaffen, weil es wegen Restauration nicht zu sehen war. Sehr schade.
Switzerland –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Wir, zu zwei ich und meine Tochter fanden es sehr kurzweilig, Plant sicher einen 1/2 Tag dafür ein. Es ist perfekt für die schönsten Sehenswürdigkeiten in Valletta zu sehen. Beim Brunnen auf jeden Fall vom mittleren Essens-Stand Samosa essen. Die waren perfekt, extrem gut!?? ??Wir werden die Schnitzeljagd in einer andern Stadt auf jeden wieder einmal machen. Euch viel Spass!
Luxembourg –
Collected on GetYourGuide
We ran out of options of what to do in Malta, so this was an ideal occasion to go explore further into Valletta. (For approximately 1 hour)
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Appli ludique, permets de se diriger facilement vers les principaux sites à visiter Je recommande ??
United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Great idea, got to see quite a bit of the city but strangely not all the main sites though guess there are quite a lot in Valletta. we enjoyed it, took us a couple of hours with a pitstop for a drink half way through.
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Activité sympathique mais niveau un peu trop facile pour des personnes habituées. Cela nous a tout de meme tenus 1h en faisant des arrets magasins et en faisant pas mal d’aller retours entre les endroits (le parcours aurais egalement pu etre optimisé). Attention egalement le parcours ne permet pas de visiter certains endroits emblematiques comme le fort St Elmo
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Die Rätsel waren verständlich aufgebaut und man würde an die wichtigsten Spots geführt. Der Start des Rätsels hat einen riesigen Parkplatz nebenan, wo man für 3€ am Tag parken kann. Das letzte Rätsel war leider etwas abseits der Innenstadt und der Ort nicht so schön. Ansonsten würde ich es jedem empfehlen!
Netherlands –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Het was een hele leuke (niet te moeilijke) puzzle-wandeltocht door Valetta. Wij hebben ervan genoten. Had nog iets langer mogen duren.
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Une manière originale de découvrir la ville en famille. Les enfants ont adoré
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Activité très intéressante par contre groupe important et en deux langues. Nous n’avions pas d’écouteurs donc nous n’avons pu entendre toutes les informations.
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Quizz pas toujours réalisable car beaucoup de travaux en ville.
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
L’idea è carina e ti permette di visitare la città facendo qualcosa di diverso.
Heli– Finland –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Tosi hauska tapa kiertää nähtävyydet. Arvoitukset eivät olleet liian vaikeita ja teinikin tykkäsi.
Switzerland –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Interessante Art die Stadt kennen zu lernen. Die Rätsel waren aber doch swhr einfach und das ganze hätte noch etwas länger sein können. Zudem hätte ich mir noch einige Tipps gewünscht, was man sonnst noch alles anacheuwn kann.
Austria –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Wir haben das erste Mal auf diese Art und Weise eine Stadt erkundet und es wird nicht das einzige Mal bleiben 🙂 Sehr kurzweilig, wenn gleich auch nicht sonderlich schwierig zu lösen. Tipp: Kurz vor 12 lohnt es sich an der Saluting Battery zu sein!
Slovenia –
Collected on GetYourGuide
A very fun experience and a nice way to get to know the city.
Switzerland –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Sehr zu empfehlen! Wir konnten auf diese Art wunderbar und spielerisch die schöne Stadt entdecken.
Malta –
Collected on GetYourGuide
A real fun family activity
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Les énigmes sont un peu compliquées mais c’est un bon moyen de découvrir la ville. C’était amusant
Eleonora– Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Modalità molto carina per visitare una città, le descrizioni e i giochi sono interessanti e divertenti. Un paio di indovinelli però non avevano molto senso
Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Molto simpatica, dovete, però, essere più precisi negli indizi
Greece –
Collected on GetYourGuide
GREAT!!!
Greece –
Collected on GetYourGuide
very good
United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Great tour to get around the city and see the sights but the scavenger hunt itself was too difficult which really took the fun out of it!
Romania –
Collected on GetYourGuide
The starting point was a bit far from our initial arrival point in Valetta (by ferry from Sliema), but this was a very interesting was of visiting the city. This was the first time I went on a self guided tour with riddles and puzzles along the way and I’ll try to do it this way again in other cities I’ll visit. I recommend it if you want an interesting way to explore.
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Uns hat die selbstgeführte Tour super gefallen. Man hat viel von Valletta gesehen und dabei kleine Rätsel gelöst. So war es nicht “nur” eine Sightseeing Tour. Das Tempo bestimmt man selber, genauso kann man weitere Zwischenstops einlegen. Tipp: die ersten 2/3 Stationen sind außerhalb der Stadtmauer und können gut mit dem E-Scooter zurückgelegt werden. Weiterzuempfehlen 🙂
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Die Schnitzeljagd besteht aus 10 Fragen / Sehenswürdigkeiten. Gut ist, dass sie auch Sehenswürdigkeiten außerhalb der Stadtmauern von Valetta erklärt. Die Fragen fanden wir gut gemacht. Wir waren 3 Erwachsene und die Schnitzeljagd war eine willkommene Ablenkung zu den sonstigen Stadttouren. Die Erläuterungen wiederholten sich innerhalb des einzelnen Textes leider. Sodass man beim Vorlesen schauen musste was man bereits einmal gelesen hat. Wünschenswert wäre auch, verschiedene Informationstexte oder Möglichkeiten zur Auswahl zu haben. Der angebotene Text war sehr Zahlenlastig (1560;1876;…) und Fremdwörterlastig (neoklassizismus, etc) eher für Erwachsene historisch begeisterte Menschen geeignet. Ein bisschen Auflockerung der Texte/ einfachere Schreibweise täten diesen gut. Gerade, da die Schnitzeljagd sicherlich häufig auch mit Kindern gemacht werden. Ansonsten hatten wir einen lustigen Nachmittag mit vieeeeelen Kaffeepausen.
Greece –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Very nice route around Valletta and some of the most important attractions. Nice and challenging puzzles!!!
Germany –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Interessante Schnitzeljagd mit vielen wichtigen Sehenswürdigkeiten. Die Rätsel sind fast alle mit Köpfchen zu lösen außer zwei (heilige Katharina & triton Brunnen). Da wollen sie was von dir was du nicht erahnen kannst, fand ich irgendwie anstrengend. Aber mit den Tipps war es ok. Hätte mir ein Funktion gewünscht die mir sagt ob Wort oder Zahl hier richtig ist. Achtung für Spieler das letzte Denkmal wird gerade renoviert und deshalb war das Rätsel nicht lösbar. Haben jetzt einen Gutschein für eine weitere Aktion bekommen und werden es bestimmt noch mal nutzen. Ist zu schaffen
United States –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Found it to be more challenging than expected, not really our cup of tea
jonathan33 –
A super activity for a city such as Valletta is! Small , walkable with much history! We learnt many things about the city and the navigation was great!