Valletta has charged for driving into it since May 2007.
Cameras read your plate going in and coming out, and you are billed for the time between.
Most visitors do not need to drive in at all.
How the CVA works
There is no barrier and nobody stops you. The cameras do the work.
The charge is worked out from how long you stayed, so a short visit costs little and a full day costs more.
It applies on weekdays during the day. Evenings, Sundays and public holidays are free.
The bill arrives afterwards. A hire car company will pass it on to you with their own admin fee on top, sometimes weeks later.
Residents of Valletta and Floriana are exempt, as are motorcycles and some vehicle classes.
The simplest way round it
Park outside and walk or take the ferry in.
Valletta is small enough to cross on foot in twenty minutes, end to end.
The MCP and Floriana car parks sit just outside the walls. The Barrakka lift brings you up from the waterfront.
The Sliema and Three Cities ferries both land at the bottom of the city.
Where to leave the car
MCP in Floriana is the large underground one and it is the easiest to find a space in.
The open ground by the Crowne Plaza and along Floriana’s edge is white bay, free, and full by nine on a weekday.
Park and Ride at Blata l-Bajda runs a shuttle in. It is the cheapest option for a full day.
Bay colours are worth knowing before you leave the car anywhere. They are covered in what the colours mean.
Parking is the real argument against a hire car
There are a lot of cars on a small island and the old towns were built long before any of them.
In the villages the streets are narrow and the spaces are fought over.
That is worth weighing before you book. A car earns its keep for beaches, Gozo and the countryside, and costs you time everywhere else.
Mdina is closed to traffic without a permit, and the Three Cities are barely easier than Valletta.
More on driving here
Charges, permits and where to leave a car are on the parking page.
There is more on what driving here is like, including the roads and the way roundabouts work.
