VacationSelector
The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat
MuscatThe Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque
Valletta from the water, Valletta
VallettaValletta from the water

Photos: Muscat by Alli Khalil, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Valletta by Pho Tomass, Pexels License.

Muscat or Valletta?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Muscat for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Muscat’s own page.

Choose Valletta for

  • getting around
  • nightlife
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Valletta’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Muscat 72, Valletta 68: Muscat leads by 4 points.
Food & drink. Muscat 44, Valletta 55: Valletta leads by 11 points.
Culture & sights. Muscat 55, Valletta 76: Valletta leads by 21 points.
Nightlife. Muscat 14, Valletta 46: Valletta leads by 32 points.
Nature & outdoors. Muscat 70, Valletta 56: Muscat leads by 14 points.
Day trips. Muscat 62, Valletta 76: Valletta leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Muscat 52, Valletta 58: Valletta leads by 6 points.
Getting around. Muscat 20, Valletta 62: Valletta leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Muscat 42, Valletta 38: Muscat leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Muscat 45, Valletta 50: Valletta leads by 5 points.
Live music & performing arts. Muscat 40, Valletta 44: Valletta leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Muscat 55, Valletta 32: Muscat leads by 23 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Muscat and Valletta.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Muscat
48match

Wins on wellness and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Valletta
Best match
55match

Wins on getting around and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Muscat in July

33 °Cdaytime high
30 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
31 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Valletta in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
MuscatValletta

Where the figures come from

Muscat's sunshine is measured 32 km from the centre, at Seeb, International Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Muscat: 1991-2020 normals, Qaboos Port (3.4 km from centre). Valletta: 1991-2020 normals, Luqa (5.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureMuscatValletta
Official languageArabicEnglish, Maltese
CurrencyRial Omani (OMR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCG240 V, 50 HzG230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+4UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number968112
Elevation69 m56 m
Main airportMuscat International Airport (MCT)31 km from centre83 non-stop destinationsMalta International Airport (MLA)6 km from centre113 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-14 days

By the numbers

MeasureMuscatValletta
City population1,421,4095,197
People per km²4066,496
Museums within 10 km1016
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km03
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months6 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Muscat or Valletta somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.