City guides Malta
Valletta
An EU island where English is an official language, UK plugs fit and nomad income is untaxed for a year, then taxed at 10 per cent. The bar is EUR 42,000 a year gross. The catch is the rest of the bill: rents in Sliema and St Julian's are near northern European levels, and the permit stops at four years and leads to neither permanent residence nor citizenship.
Every figure checked 8 Oct 2026
- EUR 1,100 to 1,500 a month Asking rent, one-bed, Sliema
- EUR 25 Personalised tallinja card
- EUR 0.50 to 1.00 each Pastizzi
- Country Malta
- Time zone UTC+2 06:21 there now
- Language Maltese and English
- Currency Euro (EUR)
- Plugs Type G, 230V. UK plugs fit
How far English gets you English is an official language, so it covers almost everything: banks, landlords, Residency Malta, the tax office and doctors. It stops in court, where the Constitution makes Maltese the language. It also thins out in older village parish life and at local-council and street level, where people switch to Maltese among themselves.
Honestly
Is this your kind of place?
It suits you if
Non-EU remote employees, freelancers and company owners earning comfortably over EUR 42,000 gross a year, who want EU time zones, English everywhere and a 10 per cent flat tax after a tax-free first year. It suits someone who can do without a car, ride most buses and some ferries free on a EUR 25 tallinja card and work from a Sliema or St Julian's coworking desk. It is a strong one-to-four-year base for someone who likes the sea and does not need a big city.
It does not suit you if
Anyone wanting a cheap base: a two-bed in St Julian's has a registered median of EUR 1,500 a month. Anyone who wants to settle, because the permit stops at four years and leads nowhere, and since 2025 citizenship cannot be bought either. Anyone who hates noise, building work, traffic and crowds: Malta is one of the most densely populated places in the EU, and took 539,655 tourists in August 2026. July and August average over 31 degrees with almost no rain. And if you want nature, anonymity or culture beyond the Baroque, the island will feel small within months.
Money
What everything else costs
| Registered rent, two-bed, St Julian's | EUR 1,500 a month median | Housing Authority register, first half of 2025. The middle half paid EUR 1,200 to 1,800 |
|---|---|---|
| Registered rent, two-bed, Sliema | EUR 1,300 a month median | Housing Authority, leases starting in the first half of 2024 |
| Asking rent, one-bed, Gzira | EUR 800 to 1,100 a month | The same aggregator, April 2026, the cheapest of the four areas here |
| Single bus fare | EUR 2.00 winter, EUR 2.50 summer | Two hours with transfers. Night, special and tallinja Direct routes EUR 3.00, the TD1 EUR 3.50 |
| Coworking day pass | EUR 35 | Regus and Spaces in Gzira and St Julian's. VAT not stated |
| Coworking monthly | Price not checked | None found on an operator's own site. Regus and Spaces quote EUR 9 a person a day only on 24-month contracts |
| Cappuccino | EUR 3.00 | One Swieqi cafe's delivery menu. An espresso is EUR 2.00 |
Paperwork
Can you legally stay?
| Steady income | A guaranteed source of income for at least five months, added up, from the date you apply |
|---|---|
| Evidence | The last three months of bank statements showing every transaction and the work income, plus an employment contract, service contracts, or a certificate of incorporation and share register |
| The threshold moves | It is a flat figure with no formula or indexation. It moved once, from EUR 32,400 in April 2024, and nothing official says whether it will move again |
| Official name | Nomad Residence Permit, run by Residency Malta Agency. Only for nationals of countries outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland |
| Who qualifies | Employees of a company registered abroad, freelancers whose clients have permanent establishments abroad, and partners or shareholders in a company registered abroad. Not work for a Maltese subsidiary, and not Malta-based clients |
| How long | One year from the day the card is issued, renewable three times at the Agency's discretion: four years at most. Apply two to three months before it runs out |
| Fee | EUR 300 per person to apply, plus EUR 100 per residence card |
| Tax | Nomad work income is taxed at a flat 10 per cent, and not at all for the first 12 months. The permit does not make you tax resident |
| Permanent residence | None. The permit does not lead to any sort of permanent or long-term residence |
| Citizenship | Not from this permit. Ordinary naturalisation needs five years' residence, the last 12 months continuous, and is discretionary. Citizenship by investment was abolished in July 2025 |
| Without a visa | American passports: 90 days in any 180 across Schengen. British passports: the same rule is expected, but it was not checked against an official page this time |
| Tax residency | More than 183 days in a year, or from the day you arrive if you come to establish your residence |
Where to live
Where to base yourself
-
Sliema
About EUR 1,100 to 1,500 a month asking for a one-bedThe seafront promenade, the ferry to Valletta and the most shops of any area, all on foot
The catch One of the most redeveloped towns on the island, and residents have protested over-development for years: expect a building site near any flat
-
St Julian's
About EUR 1,100 to 1,600 a month asking for a one-bed; EUR 1,500 registered median for a two-bedMost of the coworking and the tech and gaming employers are here or a short walk away
The catch The most expensive rent on the island, and anywhere near Paceville has loud amplified music and crowds on weekend nights
-
Gzira
About EUR 800 to 1,100 a month asking for a one-bedThe Sliema seafront, with Spaces and Regus coworking on the doorstep and a few hundred euros a month less rent
The catch The Strand is a main traffic route, and many flats facing it are noisy and dusty
-
Valletta
About EUR 1,000 to 1,500 a month asking for a one-bedA UNESCO capital, all walkable, with the ferry across to Sliema
The catch Steep, with stairs everywhere and few lifts, and since 2022 venues on several streets may play music until 1am
Timing
The best time to come
- Jan 16C, 89mm rain, quiet
- Feb 15.5C, wettish
- Mar 17C, drying out
- Apr 20C, 8 hours sun a day
- May 24.5C, crowds building
- Jun 29C, summer bus fare starts
- Jul 31.7C, peak crowds
- Aug 32C, 539,655 tourists
- Sep 28C, sea warm, storms return
- Oct 25C, crowds thinning
- Nov 21C, 90mm, low season
- Dec 17C, 90mm, damp homes
Come now Fine Avoid
March, April, May and October are the months. July and August average over 31 degrees, and August 2026 brought 539,655 tourists, up 14.7 per cent. Winter is mild and wet rather than cold, with highs around 15 to 17 degrees and about 90mm of rain in November, December and January. It is never empty: January to March 2026 still brought 806,563 tourists. The averages are from the UK Met Office for Luqa, on a page last updated in 2017.
Connectivity
The internet, honestly
That is Malta's median fixed download from Ookla data for the 12 months to August 2025, reported by DataReportal. There is no figure for Valletta or Sliema.
The cafes in Sliema and St Julian's are fine for a few hours of email, but they are small and loud, and from May to October they are full of tourists and a seat by a socket is hard to find. For daily video calls, rent a flat with fibre confirmed in writing, or pay for a desk. In July and August reliable air conditioning matters more than speed.
Work
Remote roles open to someone in Malta
A remote job is not in any one city. These are roles whose employer will hire someone living here, pulled from the board as you load the page.
Eating
What to eat, and what it costs
-
Pastizzi
EUR 0.50 to 1.00 eachFlaky ricotta or mushy-pea pastries from a pastizzerija: breakfast, lunch and the late-night snack
-
Ftira
EUR 4 to 8A ring of sourdough filled with tuna, tomato, capers and olives, the working lunch
-
Imqaret
EUR 1 to 2 for a few piecesDeep-fried date pastries, sold at the kiosk by the Triton Fountain outside City Gate
-
Stuffat tal-fenek
EUR 18 to 25 a mainRabbit stew, the national dish, and a sit-down weekend meal rather than an everyday one
-
Cappuccino
EUR 3.00Italian-style coffee culture. An espresso is about EUR 2
Days off
Worth a Saturday
-
Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, Paola
EUR 35, or EUR 40 last minuteA 5,000-year-old underground burial complex, the most remarkable prehistoric site on the island. Eight tours a day, and they sell out
-
St John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta
Price not checkedCaravaggio's Beheading of Saint John hangs in the oratory. Open 09:00 to 16:45, Monday to Saturday, last entry 16:00
-
Blue Lagoon, Comino
Free, but a timed slot must be booked. Boat fare not checkedTurquoise water, best in May, June or October. Visitors have been capped at 4,000 at once since May 2025
-
Gozo day trip
EUR 4.65 return on the Gozo Channel ferry, foot passengerA slower, greener island with the Citadella and Dwejra. Gozo Highspeed from Valletta is EUR 7.50 one way, or free with a personalised tallinja card
-
Sliema to Valletta ferry
EUR 3.00 single, EUR 5.00 return in the daytimeThe best ten-minute view of the Valletta skyline, then a walk round the city
The rest
Things the other guides leave out
-
Register the lease first
Your lease must be registered with the Housing Authority before you get the nomad card. Hostels, boats, caravans and PO boxes are refused
-
No free healthcare
Nomad permit holders need a policy covering the EU and the UK for at least EUR 100,000, prepaid for a year. Travel insurance does not count
-
Prove you lived there
Each renewal needs a bank statement with Malta transactions showing at least five months there in the previous 12
-
Local work breaks it
Working for your employer's Maltese subsidiary, or for Malta-based clients, disqualifies you
-
Buses are free with the card
A personalised tallinja card costs EUR 25 and makes most routes free. Tallinja Direct and airport routes never are
-
Citizenship cannot be bought
The EU Court of Justice struck down Malta's investor citizenship in April 2025 and Malta repealed it in July 2025. A guide that says otherwise is out of date
Work out whether you can actually afford to go
Every role on the board says which countries you can live in and still take it, so remote means remote.
Every figure on this page was checked on 8 Oct 2026. Prices move and rules change; tell us when something is wrong and we will fix it.