Sliema and St Julian's are Malta's default base, and they are one continuous promenade rather than two towns – about 40 minutes end to end on foot. Sliema is the calmer half: shops, cafés, rocky lidos and the fast ferry to Valletta. St Julian's brings Spinola Bay, the resort hotels and Paceville at its northern edge.
Be clear about what is not here. There are no major historic sights and there is no sandy beach – the swimming is off flat limestone and lido ledges, and the skyline is apartment towers. What you get in exchange is a seven-minute ferry to Valletta, the best restaurant choice on the island, and boat departures you can walk to.
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Sliema or St Julian's: which end should you stay?
They run into each other, so this is a question of degree rather than a border. The practical differences are real, though, and they decide how your evenings feel.
| Sliema | St Julian's | |
|---|---|---|
| Character | Calmer, everyday, shop-and-stroll | Livelier, resort-led, uneven |
| The draw | The promenade and the Valletta ferry | Spinola Bay and the restaurant strip |
| Noise | Quiet at night | Paceville is loud; Spinola and Balluta are not |
| Swimming | Rocky lidos along the front | Rocky, plus small St George's Bay sand |
| Best for | Independent travellers, day trips by ferry and bus | Nightlife, big hotels, dinner by the water |
The short version: Sliema for calm and the ferry, St Julian's for evenings and a bay view. You do not have to commit hard either way, because the promenade links them in a single walk – but the address you book decides what you hear at 02:00.
For the island-wide comparison against Valletta, Mellieħa and the rest, see our where to stay in Malta guide, and our pick of the best hotels in Sliema and St Julian's for specific properties.
The promenade: what you actually do here all week
The seafront runs unbroken for roughly 3 km from Tigné Point round to Spinola Bay, and walking it is the thing residents and visitors both do most. Café terraces, ice-cream stops, swimmers on the rocks, and the Valletta skyline across the water for the whole Sliema stretch.
Sunset is when it earns its reputation. The Sliema side faces the bastions, so the light lands on Valletta rather than behind it, and the walk fills up accordingly in the hour before dusk.
Tigné Point and The Point mall sit at the Valletta end of Sliema – high-street brands, supermarkets and harbour views, and the practical centre of the area for anything you forgot to pack. It is where you go for a pharmacy or a phone charger, not for a sight.
The rest is food. This is the densest and most varied restaurant strip in Malta, running from cheap pastizzi counters to the seafood places around Spinola Bay, and it is the main reason people who could stay anywhere on the island stay here.
The Valletta ferry: the single best reason to stay here
The Sliema–Valletta crossing takes about seven minutes and runs every 30 minutes, from roughly 06:45 in the morning to about 19:15 for the day service, with a night service continuing to around 23:45.
It beats the bus comfortably. The road has to work its way round Marsamxett Creek; the boat goes straight across, with a view of the bastions that no bus route offers.
- Day fare: €3.00 single, €5.00 return – buy the return unless you are certain you are walking back
- After 19:30: €3.50 single, €5.20 return
- Frequency: every 30 minutes
- Last day crossing: around 19:15, with a night service to roughly 23:45
Once you are across, our things to do in Valletta guide covers the capital. A separate ferry links Valletta to the Three Cities on the far side of the Grand Harbour, compared in our Three Cities guide.
Swimming: rocky, not sandy
There is no sandy beach in Sliema or St Julian's. The coast is flat limestone foreshore with a string of lido pools cut into the rock, and people swim off the ledges all summer.
Set that expectation and it is genuinely good swimming – clear water, easy access, no sand in anything. Turn up expecting a beach and it is a common complaint about the area instead.
St George's Bay, on the far side of Paceville, has a small imported-sand beach if you want somewhere to put a towel without leaving the area. It is compact and it gets busy.
For real sand you go north to Golden Bay or Mellieħa, which our best beaches in Malta guide covers in full. From here that is a bus ride, not a walk.
Spinola Bay, Balluta and Paceville
Spinola Bay is the photographed part of St Julian's – a small inlet ringed with seafood restaurants and a few painted boats, and the natural place for a long dinner by the water.
Balluta Bay sits between Sliema and Spinola, with a small beach, the Art Nouveau Balluta Buildings and a quieter cluster of cafés. It is the calm counterpoint to what happens a few minutes north.
Paceville is Malta's main nightlife district: clubs and bars packed into a few streets at the northern edge of St Julian's, busy late and aimed at a young crowd. It is compact, which cuts both ways – you can stay in Spinola or Balluta and genuinely never hear it, but book inside those few streets and you will.
Our Malta nightlife guide covers what is actually worth your evening there.
Boat trips from Sliema Ferries
Sliema Ferries is a departure hub as well as a ferry stop, and that is a real advantage of basing here: the big boat trips leave from a point you can walk to.
The Blue Lagoon and Gozo cruises depart from here, as do harbour cruises looping the Grand Harbour and Marsamxett in about 90 minutes – the way to see the fortifications from the water rather than from a viewing platform. Party boats run from the same point through the summer.
The harbour cruise is the one that is specific to this area rather than a trip you could join anywhere on the island, and 90 minutes is about right for it.
Is Sliema a good base for Malta?
For most independent travellers, yes. You get the ferry, the best mid-range restaurant choice on the island, walkable boat departures and strong bus links, without needing a car. Malta is small enough that basing here puts almost everything within a day trip.
The honest case against: dense towers, rocky swimming and no historic core. If the trip is about beaches, Mellieħa is the better base. If it is about history and atmosphere, Valletta is. If you want a resort pool and late nights, that is the St Julian's end of this same promenade.
Sliema and St Julian's are not where you come for Malta's best sights – they are where you sleep well, eat well and leave from easily.
Base yourself at the Sliema end for calm and the ferry, the Spinola end for evenings, and skip both if sand or a historic old town is what the trip is really about.
01Is Sliema or St Julian's better to stay in?
Sliema is calmer and more practical – shops, cafés, rocky lidos and the seven-minute ferry to Valletta. St Julian's is livelier, with Spinola Bay, the resort hotels and the Paceville nightlife at its northern edge. They sit on one promenade about 40 minutes apart on foot, so the choice is about what you hear at night rather than what you can reach.
02How much is the Sliema to Valletta ferry?
€3.00 single and €5.00 return during the day, rising to €3.50 and €5.20 after 19:30. The crossing takes about seven minutes and runs every 30 minutes, from roughly 06:45 to about 19:15, with a night service continuing to around 23:45. Day fares quoted by third-party sites vary, so check vallettaferryservices.com before budgeting.
03Are there sandy beaches in Sliema or St Julian's?
No. The coast is flat limestone foreshore and lido pools cut into the rock, which is good swimming on a calm day but not a sandy beach. St George's Bay beyond Paceville has a small imported-sand beach. For proper sand you travel north to Golden Bay or Mellieħa Bay.
04Is Paceville noisy at night?
Yes, inside its own few streets – it is Malta's densest concentration of clubs and bars and it runs late. The area is compact, though, so accommodation in Spinola Bay or Balluta Bay, only minutes away, is quiet. Check exactly which street a hotel is on rather than relying on the district name.
05What is there to do in Sliema and St Julian's?
Walk the seafront promenade end to end, swim off the rocky lidos, take the ferry to Valletta, shop at Tigné Point, eat dinner at Spinola Bay and go out in Paceville. Harbour cruises, Blue Lagoon trips and Gozo cruises all depart from Sliema Ferries, which is walkable from most of the Sliema seafront.
06Is Sliema a good base for visiting Malta?
For most independent travellers it is the strongest option. The Valletta ferry, the island's best mid-range restaurant choice, walkable boat departures and good bus links mean you do not need a car. The trade is dense apartment towers, rocky rather than sandy swimming, and no historic centre of its own.
Featured image: Txllxt TxllxT / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0