For one night in October, Valletta stays open. Palaces, museums, government buildings and galleries that are normally ticketed, restricted or shut open for free until the early hours. The whole city fills with people walking between them.
It is the best night of the year to be in the capital. The appeal is not any single venue but that a city usually locked by seven is entirely open at two in the morning.
Doing it well
Pick three things
The queues are real and trying to see everything means seeing the inside of queues. Choose three buildings you want and treat the rest as a walk.
Most of the appeal is the streets anyway: music in the squares and doors open on buildings most residents have never been inside.
What is normally ticketed
Go late
The crowd thins after midnight and the buildings stay open. The last two hours are the best of it by some distance.
Do not drive. Valletta closes to traffic and the approaches gridlock. Use the ferry from Sliema or the Three Cities.
Harbour ferries
Buildings you cannot normally enter
Government offices, palaces and private collections open their doors for free, alongside the museums that are ticketed the rest of the year.
The programme is published a few weeks ahead. Read it before the night rather than on it.
Museums and sites
Notte Bianca moves within October and is announced a few months ahead. It is one of the few Maltese events worth planning a trip around, so confirm the date before booking flights rather than after.