The Upper Barrakka Gardens sit on top of the bastion at the highest corner of Valletta.
They look straight down into the Grand Harbour and across at the Three Cities. They are free, and they are the best view in the city.
The view
From the arches you see the whole harbour at once: the dockyards, the creeks, Fort St Angelo and the waterfront below.
Cruise ships come in underneath you, which gives you the scale of the place in one go.
Early morning and the hour before sunset are the two times worth planning for.
In between the light is flat and the arches are full of people waiting for the same photograph.
The gun fires twice a day
The Saluting Battery is on the level below the gardens. A gun is fired at midday and again in the late afternoon.
You can watch from the gardens above for nothing, or pay to go down onto the battery itself.
From above you see the smoke and hear it perfectly well. Going down is for people who want to be next to it.
Get to the railing about ten minutes before. The gardens fill for it.
Getting up there
There is a lift from the waterfront that saves the climb, and it costs very little.
If you have come across on the ferry from the Three Cities, it lands you at the bottom of it.
The lift ride takes under a minute and rises about 58 metres through the bastion.
From City Gate it is a five minute walk on the level, which is the easier approach on foot.
What else is in the gardens
Shade, benches, a cafe and a set of monuments, with the Lascaris War Rooms cut into the rock directly below.
It is one of the few places in Valletta where you can sit down for an hour without buying anything.
The other Barrakka
The Lower Barrakka Gardens are further along the same bastion and are much quieter.
The view there is of the harbour mouth and Fort Ricasoli, with the Siege Bell Memorial next to it.
Both are free and both are open all day. Ten minutes separates them along the walls.
For more like this, see the list of free things to do on the islands.
