Hastings Garden: the sunset gem of Valletta
With platters, cocktails and live sports on a big screen, it might just be the most underrated too.
The sun goes down over the harbour: a kitty warms his bottom on the sun-baked stone, unimpressed by the view.
Introvert rating: 🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿
Quiet, with only a handful of people in an area roughly the size of 1.5-2 football pitches.
Food: Food (pinsas, platters and ftiras) from EUR 4.50 to EUR 25, plus drinks from the kiosk
Parking: Very limited - your best bet is the car park at Triq Vincenzo Dimech 10 mins away. Local parking is nearly always full.
Entry fee: FREE
Toilets: Nice & clean with locks but no toilet paper!
Accessibility: There are a lot of steps leading to the garden from Republic Street, but you can also reach it via Triq Id-Dejqa and Old Mint Street
Calm away from the buzz of Republic Street: the evening sun on your face
If you are one who needs a battery recharge, even just a quick one after some shopping, then step this way. Hastings Garden is no Hanging Gardens of Babylon - a point reflected in a few Google reviews of the place - and you may even be underwhelmed by the sight of soil. But the garden is more than that.
Lord Hastings - minus a hand - has been here since 1826
Overlooking Marsamxett Harbour, … The statue in the centre is on top of the final resting place of Lord Francis Rawdon-Hastings, a British governor of Malta who fought in the American War of Independence. He is missing a hand; it was cut off and buried in Scotland, clasping his wife’s.
Local regular: 13-year-old Paddy takes a break during his evening walk while his human enjoys the sunset
Cocktails with friends: this corner of the garden is set up for the kind of evenings you’ll look back on
Food: The menu offers five Roman pinsas (one vegetarian) priced between EUR 10.50 and EUR 15. Platters range from a plate of nachos to share at EUR 9 all the way up to the Mix Platter at EUR 25. The ftiras filled with mortadella, Parma ham or tuna cost EUR 4.50.
My personal favourite is the sharing option: two glasses of local wine and a selection of local cheese for EUR 15. What a perfect way to spend your time nattering away with a mate.
Drinks: The drinks menu goes on for pages and pages, but to summarise, expect (signature) cocktails, mocktails, beer and wine, all priced from 1.80 for a coffee to EUR 90 for a bottle of Moet & Chandon. Beer costs EUR 3.50 to 6 with larger 500 ml servings available for Strongbow, Thatchers and Moretti.
No need for the football to come home; it’s on at Hastings Garden
Look, but don’t eat: these pale oleander flowers are gorgeous but highly toxic
Free, clean and close by: the toilets are well-maintained but bring your own tissues just in case
