Maori Bar

Maori is the bar Valletta locals mean when they say they are going for a drink by the water. It sits on the shoreline below Fort St Elmo, in the small harbour inlet known as Il-Fossa, and takes its name from HMS Maori, the WWII destroyer whose wreck still rests in the bay just offshore. Divers surface a few metres from the terrace; regulars watch them from hammocks slung along the front. The bar is lesbian-owned and has become the de facto meeting point for Valletta's queer and creative crowds. Rainbow flags fly over the door, murals cover the stone walls, and the programme runs from poetry readings and live music to LipGloss, the monthly queer dance night that packs the seafront on a Saturday. When Malta Pride opens its September week, the opening night happens here. Do not expect polish: the charm is in the mismatched chairs, the salt on the railings and the fact that the Mediterranean starts where the terrace ends. Drinks are simple and fairly priced, sunsets over Marsamxett Harbour are free, and the crowd is a genuine mix of artists, students, divers and queer locals rather than a tourist scene. Opening hours run Wednesday to Sunday evenings, roughly 6.30pm to 1am, and the walk down from the city gate takes about ten minutes along the fortifications. Combine it with an evening loop of Valletta's bastions and you get the best low-key queer night the capital offers.