A series of bays that once bobbed with traditional fishing boats (a handful remain), St Julian’s became the place for wealthy 19th- and early 20th-century Maltese to build their Neoclassical seaside villas. A few can still be seen here – one houses the Villa restaurants in front of the Malta Marriott hotel, another the Dragonara Casino – but they have been subsumed into the later 20th- and 21st-century tourist industry that now dominates the area.
At each end of the St Julian's coast is a sandy beach (topped up annually with imported sand): to the northwest, the party beach at St George’s Bay, to the southeast, little Balluta Bay where St Julian’s merges seamlessly into Sliema. Between and around these bays lies rocky shore (much of it swimmable), and plentiful bars, restaurants and hotels, from intimate boutiques to sprawling resorts. Here are some of the best….
