Time Well Wasted: Herbert Ganado Garden, Floriana

Hidden in plain sight, Herbert Ganado Garden is the kind of place you walk past wondering how to get in

A special kind of quiet that only comes with trees, centuries-old stone and the sea. This man knows.

Introvert rating: 🌿🌿🌿 🌿 4/5

It is mostly quiet - you’ll hear friends on benches and in corners chatting away, bird song, sometimes a hum from a cruise ship below

Food: None. Plenty of cafes and food outlets can be found nearby

Parking: Limited parking on Triq Girolamo Cassar and the back streets behind St Anne Street

Entry fee: FREE

Opening times: No official opening hours were displayed at the time of writing. The garden was freely accessible during daylight hours when I visited.

Toilets: None. The nearest public toilets are near the Triton Fountain (about 10 min walk away)

Accessibility: The terrain is rough and uneven in places. Although some sections may be navigable with a stroller or wheelchair, there are stairs in the middle part of the garden and changes in level throughout. Depending on your mobility needs, you may find parts of the experience limiting or challenging.

Google reviews say ‘Nothing special’ but they miss the point. The garden lies at the intersection of old stone architecture, nature and the sea, creating something of a unique atmosphere. Does it look run down in places? Sure, but there is more to this place than meets the impatient tourist snapshots. Let me tell you how I enjoyed the garden and how you can too.

The welcoming shade: probably the best place to rest away from Malta’s unforgiving summer sun

The trick is to slow down. Ditch the schedule. Don’t look at the time. Then this place starts to make sense.

The first thing you notice are the friends. You pass them every few minutes: on a bench a dozen feet away, on a wall, playing cards in a clearing. But they are not invasive. If anything, the inaudible conversation creates an air of companionship. There is no shouting, no raucous behaviour; just friends catching up in bubbles of their own.

You might catch snippets of their conversation:

‘…but she didn’t want me to say, you know….’

‘…7, maybe 14, I’m not paying that for oranges.’

The beautiful thing about this garden is the space; you’re never in danger of not finding somewhere to sit. There are plenty of benches, walls and other spaces to sit and walk around. The trees provide enough of a canopy to feel like a park and there are different areas to experience; take your time.

‘Let’s meet at the wall’: friends catching up while taking in the views

The air feels different here. Leaving the traffic behind, the trees and flowers take up the space where man-made things were before. There is a breeze that comes straight off the sea, which you’d otherwise miss being on the wrong side of the wall or high up on the main road, which winds round and enters Valletta. The views of the sea are not as impactful as they are hypnotic. It is easy to stand at the railing and find that time slips away into a happy void. Take time to stare at the fort and the waters all around. So much blue. These seemingly small moments, though, are the stuff of memories. The sound from the sea here feels different too; there is a kind of hush. Hear it for yourself. You’ll see what I mean.

So much blue: gaze across the harbour, feel the warmth of the stone and the heat radiating from the railing

Look to your right and you’ll see a wall. Among the carvings I could make out were a cross, a possible date of 1899, the initials 'B.A.' alongside 1916, 'Daniel 1982', and what may be the name 'Joseph', although weathering makes some inscriptions difficult to read.

In a time before social media: people from the past have been leaving messages for us for more than a hundred years

The is a place with a violent past. The garden sits among fortifications built to defend Malta centuries ago, and during World War II it provided shelter for people whose homes had been destroyed by bombing. Today, friends sit chatting where soldiers once stood guard.

Time-melted stairs: centuries of footsteps have reshaped the stone

Herbert Ganado Garden won't appear on many lists of Malta's must-see attractions, but that's partly why I like it. There are more exciting and prettier places to be. But if you're looking for somewhere to slow down, listen to the sea, read a book or simply spend some time without feeling rushed, it's worth making the short walk from the bus terminus. Just don't expect to be impressed in the first five minutes. (The people who do end up writing ‘nothing special’ as a Google review!)

This is a place that rewards those who stay.

The sun shines on the righteous! Vinz heads back to the entrance… that bit more relaxed