Sliema's Cafés

Places on Malta have a specific purpose in life. Valletta and Mdina are where you go for history, Gozo is where you go for peace and quiet, Paceville is where you go for a rowdy clubbing night out. So where do you hang out if you want to see and be seen by the in-crowd? Easy … Sliema.

This may be an old colonial town on the edge of the sea across from the Maltese capital city of Valletta but since the end of the Second World War it has undergone a dramatic change. It is now acknowledged as the chic and trendy commercial centre. It’s the place to go to people watch and shop for the latest fashions.

Most of the island's brand-name fashion outlets and boutiques are either located here or have branches in the area. Hell, there's even a Marks and Spencer shop! But there is more to Sliema that just shopping - specifically its ‘café culture’ – the art of hanging out, wasting time, looking cool and taking in some well-earned refreshment in the magnificent collection of pavement cafes.


Chilling out at these drinking holes, where you can buy various small local dishes and wines, is a daily highlight of Sliema life. People and tourists mix happily to enjoy the views from the wide, tree-lined promenades and put the world to rights as they watch it go by.

The seafront is also a mixture of the generations, with the beautiful young things strutting along towards the entertainment centre of Paceville and the not-so-young things relaxing and chewing the fat on the numerous public benches. They will often be playing nanny for their children's offspring, who are always eager to try the playgrounds in the well-kept gardens.

It is this lively, relaxed Sliema scene that greets you as you go into one of the pavement cafes' for your espresso or a quick lunch-time ftira, a delicious sandwich packed with Mediterranean produce like tuna, tomatoes, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and made from a large, traditional Maltese bread roll.

While you sit and ponder you will inevitably watch the big tankers and the cruise liners sailing by, followed by the tourist boats on their way to Gozo and Comino and the fishing boats coming in from a hard night's shift. All you need is a digital camera to capture it forever as you sit and take it all in.

You'll find a lust of cafes by clicking on the link to the Findit business directory below.