Malta Food Tour: Two Valletta Tasting Walks Compared

At $62 per person, the street food and culture walk is the more reviewed of the two: 1,454 reviews at 4.8. It is a 3-hour Malta food tour through the centre of Valletta, led by a licensed guide who speaks English and gives you the history of the city between the stops.

The listing names what you taste. Pastizzi, the pastry Malta eats on the go. Ftira, the Maltese bread. Rabbit, which the listing calls the national dish. Traditional sweets along the way, and to drink, a local lager and a Maltese soda. You walk past the main landmarks and through side streets with typical bars, so the food and the city come together.

Meet your guide at the entrance to Valletta: through City Gate, in front of the New Parliament Building. The listing asks you to be there by 9:20 am so the tour can start on time. Coming by taxi? The closest drop-off is near Triton's Fountain, a few metres from City Gate.

The second Malta food tour costs $56 per person for 3 hours, rated 4.7 from 679 reviews. It leans further into the story of the city: how foreign powers shaped Valletta over the centuries, the mix of artistic and architectural styles they left, and the mark they made on the Maltese language and on what people eat.

Your guide links the city's history to the Knights of St John in the mid-16th century and explains how Valletta became an important, cosmopolitan harbour city. Between the stories you stop several times for traditional Maltese food and drinks. The listing does not name the dishes or the drinks, so if one dish matters to you, the street food walk is the surer bet.

The walk ends with practical help: tips on where and what to eat during your stay, and where to shop for Maltese food. It finishes on Melita Street. The listing places the start at Triton Fountain in one line and on the right-hand side past City Gate, next to the parliament building, in another; either way, look for a guide in a yellow shirt with a yellow umbrella.

For a Valletta food tour Malta has two listings worth your time, and both begin within a few steps of each other at City Gate. That makes the choice simple: it comes down to what you want on the plate and how much history you want with it.

If you want to know exactly what you will eat, pick the street food walk; its listing names each tasting. If you would rather hear the story of the city and leave with a list of places to eat for the rest of your trip, pick the food and drink walk. Either one fits into a morning.

Book the street food walk. For most people it is the better Malta food tour: named tastings, a lager and a soda, a licensed guide and the higher rating, 1,454 reviews at 4.8, at $62 per person.

Vegetarian, using a wheelchair, or keen on history? The food and drink walk at $56 per person suits you better.

A Malta food tour fills a morning; the sea can fill the next day. Our top pick, the boat and bus day from Sliema, costs $50 per person for 7.5 hours: a boat to Gozo, time in Victoria and a stop at the Blue Lagoon. Compare it with the other ten in our shortlist of boats to Comino.