Photography in Malta: five amazing views
To celebrate the release of my Malta Photography Tour with Light&Land, here are five of my favourite spots for photography on the Maltese Islands
Malta is an amazing location for photography enthusiasts
Malta is essentially my second home. My Dad was Maltese, and I spent many happy times exploring the Islands with him when I was younger. I was visiting Malta before my passion for photography was born, so in many ways, it was my visits to this gem of the Mediterranean that helped formulate my interest and artistic style.
These islands are an incredible location for travel, street, and landscape photography, so I knew I had to lead a tour here when I started my collaboration with the good people at Light&Land. Spread across three main islands, Malta, Gozo, and Comino, the former being the largest, there are a huge number of photo opportunities to explore, whatever your main interests. Some of my favouite (and arguably best) shots across the documentary and landscape genres have been captured on my visits to Malta, so I’m incredibly excited to spend a few days there in October 2026, accompanied by enthusiastic photographers.
In celebration of my tour going live, I thought it was about time I created a list of my favourite places to shoot. It is by no means an exhaustive list, and doesn’t necessarily reflect the final itinerary of my tour, but hopefully it should give any travelling photographer an idea of where to begin, once you land.
The upper barrakka gardens
The gardens are fascinating for the architecture and the views
The Upper Barrakka may be somewhat of a tourist trap these days, but it’s the gardens are still a great spot for photography. The stone arches have always be a draw to me, and I love to explore the contrast of the geometric shapes, especially in the midday sun and for black and white imagery.
Read more: The unmissable sights of Rome (and how to shoot them)
I enjoy capturing the interplay of the lines and arches, standing out against a deep blue sky. Meanwhile, the gardens themselves are perfect for flower photography, while the views over the Grand Harbour are unmatched. If you like people-watching, the benches dotted around the area are frequented by colourful characters that make ideal street photography subjects.
The grand harbour
Few views are as iconic as this one across the Harbour
The Grand Harbour is one of the biggest attractions on the Island of Malta, being one of the most important in Europe, strategically and economically. Having played a significant role in World War II, it grew to be essential for the Maltese economy and one of the largest tourist attractions in southern Europe.
The view from the Upper Barrakka Gardens, across to the ‘three cities’ of Vittoriosa, Senglea, and Cospicua, is unmatched in the Archipelago. At sunrise, the scene is beautifully back-lit, while dusk views benefit from warm side-lighting. I like to contrast the blue of the water with the yellow limestone of the traditional Maltese buildings. Speaking of which…
The streets of Valletta
The covered balconies define many of the urban views in Malta
There’s a reason Malta has played host to film crews for decades; the streets are wonderfully atmospheric. The covered balconies, or gallariji, are iconic in their own right, being unique in their design and frequency. The beige limestone of many buildings in Malta, old and new, contrasts beautifully with a bright blue sky and with the colourful paintwork of the many residential buildings.
I especially like to use a long lens to compress perspective, bringing together multiple colours in the frame like a patchwork of saturated paintwork and yellow stone negative space. This is one of the topics we’ll discuss on my tour, as it can be a challenge to make sense of all the details in such a crowded location. We’ll learn to find images in the chaos and use colour and texture contrasts for dramatic effect.
The gardens
An approaching storm over the Lower Barrakka gardens demonstrates why Malta is an important naval refuge!
Malta likes its gardens. A lot. There are many to choose from, both well-known and more obscure, but you can be certain that you’re never far from a quiet space to escape the hustle and bustle of island life. My personal favourites are the Hastings Gardens, overlooking Marsamxett Harbour, and the Lower Barrakka Gardens. The latter are often much quieter and more contemplative than the tourist-heavy Upper Gardens, and they offer gorgeous views out into the Mediterranean.
The Hastings Gardens are a haven of peace early in the morning or late in the afternoon
Rural Gozo
A classic view off the beaten track
The great thing about having family in a place is that they know all the best spots that the tourists never think to go. A short ferry ride away from the main island of Malta is Gozo, its largest neighbour. Gozo is often greener than Malta, and has (so far) seen less urban sprawl. That means much of the countryside is unspoiled. I enjoy exploring the many farm tracks and viewpoints over the fields, admiring the rustic limestone buildings dotted throughout. There’s nothing better than a summer evening, capturing landscapes while listening to the cicadas. It sounds like a bit of a cliché, but this is real Malta. At least it’s how I imagined it from how my Dad described the landscape from his time growing up on the islands.
Find out more about my tour to Malta, which runs from 26th - 30th October, 2026, below: