Sliema and St Julian's sit side by side on the north-facing coast, separated by a ten-minute walk along the seafront. Together they form the busiest tourist strip on the island — more hotels, more restaurants, more bars per square kilometre than anywhere else in Malta. That is both the point and the problem. If you want everything within walking distance, you will find it here. If you want quiet, local, and unhurried, you will not.
This guide covers both areas honestly, including the Valletta ferry that changes how you use the whole coast, what is genuinely worth your time, and what to skip. If you are still deciding where to base yourself, our where to stay guide covers the full island comparison.
Most visitors arrive not knowing there is a difference. There is. Sliema is older, quieter, and more residential — still very much a town where Maltese people shop, have coffee, and take the evening walk along the front. St Julian's, and specifically the Paceville quarter within it, is younger, louder, and built almost entirely around tourism and nightlife. The two bleed into each other around Balluta Bay, which sits roughly on the boundary.
The honest rule of thumb: if you have young children, want easy evenings, and prefer to walk to restaurants without running a gauntlet of club promoters, stay in Sliema or the St Julian's side nearest Balluta. If you are in your twenties, travelling light, and the nightlife is a large part of the point, Paceville makes sense. Everyone else — couples, older travellers, people who want a base for day trips — will find Sliema the more liveable choice.
This is the single most useful piece of practical information for anyone staying on this stretch of coast. The passenger ferry runs from Sliema Ferries — the main waterfront bus terminus area — across the harbour to Valletta in roughly twenty-five minutes. It avoids the bus journey, which requires going into Valletta's bus terminus and then walking in from the gate, and it drops you directly at the Valletta waterfront, which is a far better arrival point for the city. The views crossing the Grand Harbour are also, frankly, extraordinary.
Check current timetables and fares on visitmalta.com before you go, as services vary by season and operator. The ferry runs frequently during the day and is almost always the better choice over the bus if you are heading to Valletta. Adults pay €3.00 for a day single or €5.00 for a day return; children pay €1.00 for a day single or €1.50 for a day return. Current fares are listed at vallettaferryservices.com. Route 15 from Sliema Ferries to Valletta also exists if you prefer the bus or if the ferry is not running — the summer single fare is €2.50, or €2.00 in winter (19 October to 13 June). A 7-day unlimited Explore Card costs €25 and is worth it if you are basing yourself here for a week and plan to move around; a 12-journey card costs €19 and suits shorter stays.
Full bus fare and route information is on publictransport.com.mt. Note that routes X1 and X4 were discontinued in April 2025 — if you are reading older advice that mentions those routes, it no longer applies.
The honest answer is that Sliema and St Julian's are bases, not destinations in themselves. What you do here is mostly eat, swim off the rocks, walk the front, and then go somewhere else for the day.
The seafront walk from Sliema down toward St Julian's and Spinola Bay is worth doing at least once, ideally in the early morning or evening. Spinola Bay is genuinely pretty — fishing boats still moor there, and the surrounding restaurants make it a reasonable place to sit with a drink even if some of the menus are aimed squarely at tourists.
For swimming, the flat limestone rocks on Sliema's seaward side are where locals swim. They are not glamorous but they are clean, and on a calm day the water is excellent. There are ladders into the water at several points. If you want a sandy beach, route 222 runs between Sliema Ferries and Ċirkewwa (the Gozo ferry terminal) and passes Golden Bay and Għajn Tuffieħa on the way — both proper sand beaches and far less crowded than anything closer to Sliema.
The main reason to stay here for culture and history is access to Valletta. St John's Co-Cathedral costs €15 to enter and is worth every cent — the Caravaggio paintings alone justify the trip. The Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, a prehistoric underground burial complex that is one of the most remarkable sites in the Mediterranean, costs €35 and must be booked at least two to three months ahead in summer; July and August slots sell out that far in advance, so check availability the moment your dates are confirmed via heritagemalta.mt.
The range is genuinely good. The trap is the obvious tourist restaurants along the seafront and around Spinola Bay, where a dinner main can reach €30–40 per person before wine. You do not need to pay those prices to eat well.
A lunch main at a decent local restaurant — not the seafront tourist strip — runs €10–20 including a soft drink. Dinner mains at a mid-range restaurant are typically €14–22, with a bottle of wine adding €15–25. A pastizz — the flaky pastry filled with ricotta or mushy peas that every Maltese person eats at some point during most days — costs €0.35–0.50 at a proper local pastizzeria, or €0.60–0.75 in a tourist-zone café. They are best eaten hot from the tray. A ftira (a Maltese bread sandwich, usually tuna, olives, tomato, capers) from a local sandwich shop costs around €3.50–5.50 and is one of the best cheap lunches on the island.
Sliema has more local eating options than St Julian's. Walk a street or two back from the front and the prices drop and the clientele shifts toward Maltese. That is the general principle: the further from the water, the more honest the menu.
A Cisk — the local lager, and perfectly decent — costs €2.50 in a local bar up to €5.00 in a tourist venue. A coffee at a local bar is €1.50–2.50; budget €3.00 or more if you are sitting at a seafront café.
Paceville is a compact cluster of clubs, bars, and fast food outlets in the back streets of St Julian's, and it functions as the main nightlife hub for the entire island. It is genuinely lively from around midnight to the early hours, draws a young international crowd, and has all the predictable associated issues: noise, queuing, occasional disorder, and pricing that reflects captive demand.
If you want to go, go. It does what it says. Club entry varies but expect to pay €5–15 depending on the venue and the night, with drinks priced accordingly. A pint of Cisk in this area will be toward the top of the €2.50–5.00 range. Weekends in July and August are the busiest; if you want the experience without the full crush, a weeknight in June is a reasonable compromise.
If you do not want to go but are staying nearby, use TripAdvisor or Google Maps satellite view to check how close your accommodation is to the club strip before you book. Complaints about Paceville noise are consistent and predictable. The area is small enough that you can easily tell in advance whether your hotel is too close for comfort.
The tourist harbour restaurants at Spinola Bay. The setting is attractive and the prices reflect it regardless of what the food is like. Mains at €30–40 per person is not difficult value to find elsewhere with a short walk. Eat somewhere with fewer fairy lights and the same view from a distance.
Open-top bus tours departing from Sliema. They are slow in traffic, the commentary is generic, and you will cover the same ground better and cheaper by bus. If you want an overview of the island, Malta's public bus network is comprehensive and a 7-day Explore Card at €25 gives you unlimited travel for a week.
The shopping malls. The Sliema waterfront area has a handful of commercial centres that feel identical to anything in any European city. If you need something practical, they are convenient. As a tourist activity, there is nothing here you cannot do at home.
Paying seafront café prices for breakfast. The mark-up is significant for no gain in quality. Walk one street back, find somewhere local, and have the same coffee and toast for considerably less. A coffee that costs €1.50 locally does not become €3.00 for any reason other than the postcode.
Assuming Paceville is the whole of Maltese nightlife. It is not. Valletta has a growing bar scene, particularly around Strait Street, that is more interesting and considerably less shouty. Worth an evening of comparison.
The ferry from Sliema Ferries is the best option — roughly 25 minutes across the harbour and a far better arrival point than the bus terminus. Route 15 bus also runs the route; the summer single fare is €2.50.
No. Sliema and St Julian's have rocky swimming areas. For sand, take route 222 toward Golden Bay or Għajn Tuffieħa — both are proper beaches and worth the bus ride.
Sliema, or the Balluta Bay end of St Julian's. Both are manageable with children; just keep well clear of the Paceville quarter unless your children are old enough to find nightclub noise entertaining.
At least two to three months in summer. July and August slots sell out that far in advance. Book the moment your travel dates are confirmed at heritagemalta.mt.
The 7-day Explore Card at €25 gives unlimited travel and is the best value if you are moving around. There is no 24-hour pass. A 12-journey card at €19 suits shorter stays.
Probably not. It is a small area built around bars and clubs. Valletta's Strait Street area is more interesting for an evening drink without the noise and crowds.