Upper Barrakka Gardens

The Upper Barrakka Gardens sit on the St Peter and St Paul bastion at the highest point of Valletta's harbour side, laid out as a private garden for the Italian knights in the 1660s and opened to the public in 1824. The terrace gives the standard view of the Grand Harbour, the Three Cities opposite and the dockyard creeks. Below it the Saluting Battery fires a gun at noon and again in the late afternoon, a practice revived in the 2000s.

What you actually see

• The harbour view - the classic outlook over the Grand Harbour to the Three Cities.
• The Saluting Battery - a gun fired at noon and in the late afternoon below the terrace.
• The arcade - the surviving colonnade at the back of the garden.
• The Barrakka lift - the vertical lift connecting the gardens to the harbour quay.

When to go

Year round; the noon gun is the busiest moment. Early morning and evening are quietest. Summer midday on the terrace is very hot.

Honest expectations

The terrace is crowded around the noon gun and getting a clear view then takes arriving early. The garden itself is small. Cruise ship days fill it entirely.

Nearby

Fort St Elmo is northeast, and the Grand Master's Palace is in the city behind.