Small but mighty! Valletta tops Conde Nast Traveller’s Best Cities in Europe 2025
Runner-up cities were Norway's Oslo and Austria's Vienna.
It’s official! Valletta has been crowned the best city in Europe for 2025 in Conde Nast Traveller’s Readers’ Choice Awards, scoring an impressive 97.33 for overall satisfaction. Following Valletta in its number one spot is Oslo in Norway, while falling in at number three is Austria’s Vienna.
The travel portal praised Malta’s capital as ‘small but undoubtedly mighty’, describing it as a jewel of the Mediterranean with an open-air museum of Baroque architecture framed by golden fortresses – a reference to the lush colour Malta’s limestone takes against the rising and setting sun.
Conde Nast Traveller cites Valletta’s narrow, winding streets that reveal glimpses of the turquoise sea, while eagle-eyed visitors might recognise Valletta’s striking backdrops from the big screen in Gladiator or the small screen in Game of Thrones.
Conde Nast Traveller recommends experiencing the city at dusk, when its historic streets and fortifications glow in a magical light, making it impossible not to fall in love.
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