For your Malta Harbour Cruise you will be picked up from your hotel in Malta at the time arranged with the tour operator and taken to board your vessel for this delightful excursion.
This tour takes you around the two harbours on either side of Valletta – Marsamxett Harbour and the Grand Harbour. These natural harbours have been in use since at least Phoenician times and have been strongly fortified and enhanced with extensive docks and wharves. Given Malta’s strategic position in the Mediterranean, the harbours have inevitably played a key role in the island’s history.
Grand Harbour was the base for the Knights of St John for 268 years, and after their departure it became a strategic base for the British for a further 170 years. In the late 16th century, it was affected by a tornado that killed 600 people and destroyed a shipping fleet. The Harbour saw much of the fighting during the Great Siege of Malta (1565 CE), when an Ottoman army attempted to oust the Knights of St John. The area was heavily bombed by the Axis powers during World War II.
Enlivened by a commentary in English and German, the cruise will take you around the many creeks and inlets and give you wonderful views from the sea of Valletta and the Three Cities of Cospicua, Vittoriosa, and Senglea. You will also be able to appreciate the scale of Malta’s historic defences – the famous forts of St Angelo, St. Elmo and Ricasoli – and you can see where the action took place during the Great Siege of 1565 and World War II.
After the 90-minute cruise you will have free time (90 minutes) to explore one of Malta's top shopping centres in Sliema or relax in the sun in one of the many cafes on this popular promenade (food and drinks payable direct).
At the end of the tour, you will be driven back to your hotel in Malta.