Fort St Elmo - National War Museum
Fort St Elmo - National War Museum
4.5
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Visitors at Fort St Elmo can experience the impressive grounds of the fort, including the splendid architecture of the two chapels dedicated to St Anne. Among the most notable artefacts inside the museum one finds the military armour of the Order of St John and the Ottoman Turks, the Gloster Sea Gladiator N5520 FAITH, Roosevelt’s Jeep ‘Husky’, and Malta’s award for gallantry, the George Cross.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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- Gemma K22 contributionsAmazing museum!As a history buff and I also run a history TikTok account, as soon as I had the trip to Malta booked I researched Malta museums and found Fort St Elmo. I didn’t look into the museum too much as I like to think it can spoil the experience if you have seen everything before visiting The fort itself is stunning, amazing views, a great walk around and the war museum is housed within the fort. The museum was fantastic, gave a real insight into Malta’s history. I am a big WW2 buff so this museum didn’t disappoint as its main focus is on both world wars. At only €10 for an adult ticket it’s an absolute bargain Would recommend to anyone who would like to learn more about the islands history, well worth a visit!Visited October 2023Traveled as a coupleWritten October 18, 2023
- MarkymisfitChester, United Kingdom159 contributionsA treasure trove of history!This was a late addition to our day in Valetta so only had an hour and a half here and it deserves more time! A well thought out, fascinating run through the military history of Malta and Gozo full of amazing insight and artefacts. From ancient civilisations to the present day - I challenge you to not get emotional about the epic voyage of the Ohio! A must visit!Visited October 2023Traveled with familyWritten October 24, 2023
- Glenn MPenrith, United Kingdom41 contributionsVery interesting museum displayed inside a great FortThe museum takes you through all of maltas battles up to and including the 1st and 2nd World wars. It is inside the Fort, which in itself played an important part in the story. Don't miss the George Cross which was awarded to malta, it is after the battleship presentation.Visited October 2023Traveled with familyWritten October 27, 2023
- Chris MReading, United Kingdom17 contributionsVery good museum with outstanding views from the fort on a sunny day!The museum itself is very good focusing on Malta's extensive military history, whilst placing it in the wider geopolitical context. Don't miss the final audio visual section 7. It runs every half hour and requires a slight signposted detour from the exit route but is very well done. On a clear sunny day (as I had) there is the significant bonus of outstanding views back towards Valletta, the Three Cities and the Mediterranean from the fort as you wonder round outside between the galleries. I was fortunate to be at the highest point just before sunset. Its worth seeing the In-Guardia parade if there on one of the Sunday mornings it is on. You can get a combo ticket which is worth the price.Visited November 2023Traveled soloWritten November 5, 2023
- Ronald RStromness, United Kingdom341 contributionsA good attraction, but great on Sunday with the paradeThe Fort does a good job of telling the story of Malta's military experiences and warfare through the ages. Lot s of good displays and information boards, don't miss section 7 after the cold wars talks. It tells the story of St Elmo's watchmen thro time,it seemed a fitting end. We were lucky enough to visit on the Sunday and paid extra to see the Knights parade, is was very well done and well worth seeing as well as quite informative, well done to all those involved. We enjoyed the day and it was to us well worth the price we paid to enter, but we really like military history and forts and castles. The fort was god in itself but the parade was the icing on the cake.Visited November 2023Traveled with familyWritten November 24, 2023
- Daniel TLondon, United Kingdom31 contributionsA very interesting museum.A very interesting museum. I really liked how they wound the history of the Valetta and the fort around not only the wider history of Malta but also the major events happening around the world. It was a bargain and well worth spending a few hours. It really helped us understand Malta.Visited November 2023Traveled as a coupleWritten November 25, 2023
- Jenny WManchester, United Kingdom72 contributionsHighly recommendedHighly recommend the National War museum. Great views from the Fort. The museum is very well laid out and early explains the history of the island. The section about Malta during the Second World War is very emotional and really helps you understand what they went through.Visited December 2023Traveled soloWritten December 12, 2023
- Mark-Cindy-ENanoose Bay, Canada138 contributionsInteractive historical experienceGreat historical site with lots to do and see. The fort is easy to find in Valletta and we spent over an hour exploring the nooks and crannies and lots of displays. It also provides great views of the harbours.Visited April 2023Traveled as a coupleWritten December 19, 2023
- LPdoestravelNewcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom43 contributionsEnjoyable experienceThe Fort is interesting to visit, and was very quiet when we visited in January. The War Museum has artefacts from across all the different eras and influences the island has encountered. You can easily spend a couple of hours here. We also paid for a ticket including the Malta Experience, a small cinema beside the museum which shows a 45 minute video of the island's history. It's worth it to buy in the combined ticket, but not worth buying on it's own.Visited January 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten February 2, 2024
- Nez DHuntington, New York858 contributionsA perfect blend of education, relaxation, and appreciation for Malta's historical significance.Our visit was a captivating journey into history, providing an excellent way to spend one to two hours. The self-guided tour allowed for a leisurely exploration of the site, with ample opportunities to immerse oneself in the past. Despite the need for quite a bit of walking and navigating a few steps, the experience was rewarding, offering a glimpse into Malta's rich historical narrative. The museum's collection of historical props and informative videos added depth to the experience, bringing to life the stories of the past. Visiting in February had its advantages, as the site was relatively empty, allowing for a peaceful and uninterrupted exploration of the grounds. Additionally, the opportunity to pause and take in the breathtaking views further enhanced the overall experience.Visited February 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten March 5, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
3,154 reviews
Excellent
1,715
Very good
1,047
Average
304
Poor
59
Terrible
29
Mike P
1 contribution
Jun 2022 • Couples
A superb museum in Valletta, Malta. A well presented walk through the complex history of Malta, and how it survived several sieges and repeated changes of nationality, with Turks, French and British amongst others claiming it as their territory.
The museum is located within Fort St Elmo, and finding the actual entrance to the Fort was not as easy as it could be. It is now adjacent to the entrance to "The Malta Experience" with its array of flags outside.
A small coffee shop provides a welcome break, and we found that we needed at least tho hours to do the many sections justice. Some clever audio visuals help to explain things, and the excellent time-line displays really bring home the relationship of Maltese history to other world events.
We'll worth the senior entry price of 7.5 euros per person.
The museum is located within Fort St Elmo, and finding the actual entrance to the Fort was not as easy as it could be. It is now adjacent to the entrance to "The Malta Experience" with its array of flags outside.
A small coffee shop provides a welcome break, and we found that we needed at least tho hours to do the many sections justice. Some clever audio visuals help to explain things, and the excellent time-line displays really bring home the relationship of Maltese history to other world events.
We'll worth the senior entry price of 7.5 euros per person.
Written June 13, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mike D
Manalapan, NJ162 contributions
Jan 2020 • Couples
A nice history of the island and all of the conflicts that raged in and around Malta.
The views from the museum are spectacular and the history is provided in an interesting and interactive way.
While we were most interested in the WW2 history, understanding the island nation as a crossroads to history is important.
We went early on a Saturday when the museum was quite uncrowded and one could take their time at each exhibit.
The views from the museum are spectacular and the history is provided in an interesting and interactive way.
While we were most interested in the WW2 history, understanding the island nation as a crossroads to history is important.
We went early on a Saturday when the museum was quite uncrowded and one could take their time at each exhibit.
Written January 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mauro and Gerardo
1 contribution
Feb 2020
When my son told me about the War Museum in Valletta , I was a bit reluctant as we had already been to the one in London and I was not impressed. But my son insisted, and as we had nothing else to do, we got on the courtesy bus to Valletta and went to the War Museum. I was pleasantly surprised as how good it was, it started with a short film about the role of Malta in the 2nd world war, and then we had a guided tour of the facilities ( Thanks Mike !! ), Mike was the guide, very knowledgeable and prepared to answer questions.
So, in short, not to be missed.
So, in short, not to be missed.
Written February 24, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Greg
Paris, France7 contributions
Oct 2021 • Couples
I would skip this.
Most of it is sprawling walls where guns once stood - with smoke areas off limits. The sea views are about the same as you see before entering. The gun mounts were nothing compared to what you can send in Normandy for free.
We almost missed the actual “museum” after walking 20 minutes since there were no signs or map of the grounds given.
Once you enter that huge empty courtyard, you go up to seven separate rooms.
There were a few interesting items but very few. A number of items were missing. Many were not very impressive, In many cases the items were “like” what people of the era might have used rather than being authentic.
The most impressive artifacts were a few armored breast plates but they had scant explanation and I am not convinced they were actually from Malta.
The other thing I was looking forward to was a more thorough knowledge of what happened during the two famous sieges.
Luckily I learned a lot more from some YouTube videos than from this. In fact it wasn’t clear what the conclusion was to the Turkish siege since the last video room was playing audio but no video.
I found the text on the walls ok but minimal. Chronological but you might skip 2000 years from one to the next and all kinds of irrelevant info about stuff in other countries. Frequently people stand there reading for a long time and block the view.
Most of it is sprawling walls where guns once stood - with smoke areas off limits. The sea views are about the same as you see before entering. The gun mounts were nothing compared to what you can send in Normandy for free.
We almost missed the actual “museum” after walking 20 minutes since there were no signs or map of the grounds given.
Once you enter that huge empty courtyard, you go up to seven separate rooms.
There were a few interesting items but very few. A number of items were missing. Many were not very impressive, In many cases the items were “like” what people of the era might have used rather than being authentic.
The most impressive artifacts were a few armored breast plates but they had scant explanation and I am not convinced they were actually from Malta.
The other thing I was looking forward to was a more thorough knowledge of what happened during the two famous sieges.
Luckily I learned a lot more from some YouTube videos than from this. In fact it wasn’t clear what the conclusion was to the Turkish siege since the last video room was playing audio but no video.
I found the text on the walls ok but minimal. Chronological but you might skip 2000 years from one to the next and all kinds of irrelevant info about stuff in other countries. Frequently people stand there reading for a long time and block the view.
Written October 23, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Badforever
London, Canada1,715 contributions
Feb 2022 • Couples
A very informative self guided tour. The museum is within the actual Fort. Great views of the harbours from every direction. They use original buildings within the Fort to conduct the history tour. They have divided the history of Malta into 7 segments or time periods. If you have already done the Malta Experience tour - segments 1 and 2 are duplication but help reinforce what we learned yesterday. Each time period segment includes video depictions, displays, artifacts, weapons, costumes etc for each period. The actual George Cross is in segment 5. Segment 6, the post war period was not as well done; displays were non functioning or absent. Not until writing this review did we realize there was an external Segment 7! We saw no signage to lead us there, sadly. Also the snack bar was closed. We paid 18 euros for 1 adult and 1 senior. It was worth the money. We spent 1.5 hours and did not look at EVERY artifact. Look for bundle packages to this and other museums such as the Malta Experience to save money. Wish we had!
Written February 23, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Christos F
Kalamata, Greece96 contributions
Mar 2020
When you are in Malta, you have to visit knight's ''home''.
It is a nice castle but nothing more than this. But the War Museum which is inside it is really good. It covers Malta's history form the ancinet years till the 20th century.
Best option is to buy the combined ticket (14 euros) for St Elmo and Malta Experience and visit it AFTER you've watched the documentary at Malta experience (you can read my review for this place to be informed about)
Duration is about 2 hours.
It is a nice castle but nothing more than this. But the War Museum which is inside it is really good. It covers Malta's history form the ancinet years till the 20th century.
Best option is to buy the combined ticket (14 euros) for St Elmo and Malta Experience and visit it AFTER you've watched the documentary at Malta experience (you can read my review for this place to be informed about)
Duration is about 2 hours.
Written March 14, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Gemma K
22 contributions
Oct 2023 • Couples
As a history buff and I also run a history TikTok account, as soon as I had the trip to Malta booked I researched Malta museums and found Fort St Elmo. I didn’t look into the museum too much as I like to think it can spoil the experience if you have seen everything before visiting
The fort itself is stunning, amazing views, a great walk around and the war museum is housed within the fort. The museum was fantastic, gave a real insight into Malta’s history. I am a big WW2 buff so this museum didn’t disappoint as its main focus is on both world wars. At only €10 for an adult ticket it’s an absolute bargain
Would recommend to anyone who would like to learn more about the islands history, well worth a visit!
The fort itself is stunning, amazing views, a great walk around and the war museum is housed within the fort. The museum was fantastic, gave a real insight into Malta’s history. I am a big WW2 buff so this museum didn’t disappoint as its main focus is on both world wars. At only €10 for an adult ticket it’s an absolute bargain
Would recommend to anyone who would like to learn more about the islands history, well worth a visit!
Written October 18, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mustafa Grump
East Garston, UK186 contributions
Oct 2021
Spent a pleasant couple of hours wandering aroud the fort. It contains several well laid out museums covering key periods in the fort's history and plenty of good views over the harbours and out to sea. Very few people about when we visited in Oct '21 but I imagine it could become quite crowded at peak periods. There's a small cafeteria and gift shop located inside but no restaurant at the time of writing.
Written October 11, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AByrne123
Galway, Ireland34 contributions
Jan 2020 • Family
We really enjoyed our visit to Fort St Elmo. It was very informative and the museum was well laid out. It was very clear where to go next. The translations in the museum are only in English though which could be an issue if you are not a native speaker. Overall we really enjoyed our visit!!
Written January 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
409ScopeWizard
Torquay, UK13 contributions
Jan 2020
We went expecting a history of war and got that but more delightful was the history of Malta lesson! The museum, set in the nicely restored Fort St Elmo, presented the history in 5 parts each in a different building. But throughout the visit the very cleverly displayed timelines for significant Maltese, war and world historical events created a great overview of Malta and its place in the world. Really well done and worth a visit if you wish to understand Malta and the world!
Written January 13, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We will be docking in Valetta in May 2025 on a cruise ship. Can you get to this museum independently?
Written October 10, 2024
Hi
Are you able to explore the site from the outside without having to go into the National War Museum?
Thank you.
Written July 26, 2019
Yes , I would agree with the comments that are saying it is well worth going inside ,as there’s plenty to see and you really get much more insight into the significance of the island.
Written October 11, 2024
Can I buy the Multi site Valletta ticket at the museum or does it have to be online?
Do I need I.D. to prove I am a “senior “? I like to believe I don’t look my age.
Thank you
Written June 23, 2019
I bought a Birgu senior ticket (3 sites for 9 euros). Just asked at the first one and they supplied the ticket so I assume Valletta will be the same. I took my passport but was never asked for proof once. Mind you I probably look older!! Enjoy your trip
Written June 23, 2019
Hello! Can you access the lower fort area on a visit? As seen in the movie 'Midnight Express'
Written February 21, 2017
Hi Mark.
To get into the forts moat, do as follows. When you passed the duck area, follow the way up to the small gate, then you go down left towards to the officearea...follow the shore, it is a little bit rocky...but keep going on 100-200 meters, on right hand side you have an non official entrance through the stonewall, there you can go into the moat. There are an other way also, when you passes the small gate turn right, and follow it uphill via the path, when you are at uphills top, turn left and follow the steep side gently...go a few meters..you see a stonestaircase leading down or up, depends on which way you get in. Go down there, and you are in the moat. Down in the moat at the walls are small entrances in to the wall...you can go in there but you need a flashlight, because it is very dark. It was really interesting and fun, it as almost like an old adventure game called "Guild of Thieves" from 1987, you can this game on the net. Good luck.
Written February 24, 2017
What are the circular pedestals in front of the fort?
Written July 1, 2016
You might be talking about the grain storage built by the knights.The tops are raised and circular. These were sealed granarys that were only openedwhen needed
Written July 1, 2016
Has it reopened yet or only Sunday's still?
Written April 9, 2015
Yes it is open to the public all year round thanks
Written June 10, 2015
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