Attard, Lija and Balzan sit next to each other in the middle of the island and are always called the Three Villages.
They are quiet, green by Maltese standards, and about twenty minutes from both Valletta and the airport.
Why they are grouped together
The three grew into one another until the boundaries stopped being obvious on the ground.
Locals still know exactly where one ends. A visitor walking through will not notice crossing from one to the next.
Each keeps its own parish, its own feast and its own band club, which is where the distinction still bites.
What they look like
Old cores of narrow streets and stone houses, with larger villas and gardens around them.
This is where a lot of the older money lives, and it shows in the size of the doorways.
San Anton Gardens sit in Attard, next to the President’s palace. They are open to the public, free, and one of the few places on the island with real shade.
The Church of St Mary in Attard is one of the best Renaissance buildings in Malta and is usually empty.
Ta’ Qali is on the doorstep, with the crafts village, the national stadium and the aviation museum.
Staying in the Three Villages
It is central, calm and cheaper than the coast for the same standard of room.
The trade is that you are not walking to a beach, and the evening bus service is thinner than in Sliema.
For a car, it is one of the easiest bases on the island. You are inside the ring rather than out on a peninsula.
Mdina is ten minutes away, the airport fifteen, and the northwest beaches about half an hour outside peak traffic.
Lija in August
Lija holds its feast in early August and is known for its fireworks even by Maltese standards.
If you are staying there that week, it is either the reason to go or the reason to move.
Attard and Balzan hold theirs in June and July, so the middle of the island is busy across all three months.
Eating there
The restaurants are village restaurants rather than tourist ones, and they fill with locals on a Sunday.
That makes it a good base for a Maltese Sunday lunch without driving far.
Book anywhere on a Sunday. Turning up at one o’clock will not work.
More on choosing between areas is on the where to stay comparison, and there is a piece on what a village core is.
