Valletta hosted it’s very first Christmas market and it is worth the hype! From an ice rink to various food huts, the Fairyland Santa’s City Christmas market is truly the perfect destination for families and Christmas market lovers!

Hello & welcome back to my blog! I am currently back in Malta visiting my friends and family for Christmas, and this post is going to be a very festive one. For the first time, Valletta hosted it’s own Christmas market and it was magical. This is the first time I have ever attended a Christmas market in Malta!

My best friend and I headed over to Valletta to explore the market and obviously take a lot of pictures (we took 500 pictures in three hours) and furthermore, I had to write a blog post about it! So here we go.

SOMETHINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:

☆ Valletta is Malta’s capital city

☆ The Christmas market is located just outside the city gates close to the bus terminus

☆ Parking in Valletta is only available for residents. You can either find parking in the nearby town of Floriana or pay for parking

☆ The Christmas market is being held from 12th December until the 5th of January.

☆ Opening hours are as follows: Monday-Thursday & Sunday: 10:00 am – 20:00 pm and Friday – Saturday: 10:00 am – 23:30 pm.

☆ You can use public transportation. Keep in mind that buses stop between 10 pm – 11 pm depending on the location. More info here

☆ Compared to other European markets, our Christmas market is smaller but it is less crowded!

☆ The Christmas market is kid and stroller friendly

☆ All photos in this blog post are taken by my bestie Jasmar from BeeHiveVisuals. Check him out!

Let’s begin!

Twinkling lights, Christmas music and the smell of mulled wine. Christmas has, without a doubt, hit our capital.

When you first enter Valletta, you’ll immediately spot small huts selling all kinds of delicious goodies lined next to each other in front of the Phoenicia hotel.

There are benches where you can sit down and enjoy a glass of mulled wine and a kannol. Each hut is marked with a sign saying what products you can find. There was one dedicated to Lindt Chocolate and it took everything in me not to buy one of these cute chocolate teddy bears!

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This isn’t the main part of the market. The heart of Valletta’s Christmas market is in the square outside the entrance to the city. I was mesmerized when I we walked there and saw what they had set up!

On your left, you will see a Ferris wheel also known as Rudolph’s Big Wheel. You can see it from everywhere around central and southern Malta. I also spotted it when I was landing! You need to purchase tickets to be able to get on it and the prices are €6 for adults and €3 for children.

From the very top, you can see all of Valletta and the nearby towns! Unfortunately, we didn’t get on it. However, I am going for one last time before flying back to Germany and I am going to conquer my fear of heights and get on that wheel!

Opposite the Ferris wheel, there is a huge snow globe all lit up and you can go inside. To some it looks like a snow globe, but to me it looks more like a Christmas ornament!

Further up, opposite the stunningly lit Triton Fountain, you’ll see the Carousel. Known as Santa’s Magical Carousel, it was a popular spot among kids! The prices are: for one ride €2.50 and for two rides you pay €4.00.

Malta is a Mediterranean Island where getting snow or ice is virtually impossible because it is warm all year round. However, at the Fairyland Santa’s Christmas Market, you can find the Penguin Ice Rink! I was genuinely surprised when I saw pictures on Facebook of an ice-rink in Malta. The organizers achieved the impossible haha. The prices are: for 50 minutes for adults €15 and children for 50 minutes, the price is €10.

All over the square where the market is being held, you can find more huts selling all kinds of foods from pizzas to burgers and hot dogs. I was in the mood for a hot dog and was pleasantly surprised that the sausage was a Weisswurst. Next to the food huts, there is a bigger hut where you can sit down to drink and eat! These are very common at other European markets and are usually filled with drunk people slamming their beers and singing very loud. Since I went on Tuesday night, it was very quiet!

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And then of course, you cannot forget the Christmas tree.

It was beautifully decorated and it made my little Christmas obsessed heart very happy. All in all, I absolutely loved everything about our very first Christmas market. I am very happy that we finally have one!

Other activities at the Christmas market include: Elf’s Train, Santa’s Grotto and Virtual Polar Saber.

All in all, we had so much fun and would definitely recommend going to the Valletta Christmas market! The market is kid friendly and there is a lot of activities for kids compared to other European markets where all you do is pretty much walk from one hut to another.

Valletta wasn’t the only place we went that night.

On our way home, we drove through Sliema and spotted this giant gift box all lit up. I immediately parked my car as we had to take some pictures. It was dark but we still managed to make it work. When there is a will, there is a way!

Other recommendations:

Want to go shopping and still be in the Christmas spirit? Head over to Tigne Shopping Mall and you will love it! My favorite one is the Baci Christmas tree.

Visiting the Malta Info Guide website (click here) to see a list of all the Christmas activities happening around the island during this time of year!

And that brings an end to this magical, Christmassy post! I am super happy that I managed to go to one Christmas market this year and I am even more happy that I went to a market in my home country! It was about time we had our own market and it exceeded my expectations!

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While you’re still here, make sure you’re following me on Instagram to keep up with my adventures & pin this blog post to your Pinterest boards!