Especial St Julian's
Where to shop, eat and stay in Mercury, St Julian's
The Mercury quarter of St Julian's at walking pace: what to see, what it costs to book, the free piazza at street level and the terrace on floor 34.
Por Callum ReidThe parts of St Julian's worth the walk.
The Mercury Tower twists between its 10th and 13th floors, pale glass and steel rising straight out of a low limestone Paceville street. At its foot is Mercury House, built in 1903 as Electra House for the Eastern Telegraph Company. The square laid between the two is free and pedestrianised.
The tower, the 1903 house and the square between them
Mercury Tower (above the piazza) is 122m high and Malta's tallest building. Zaha Hadid signed the design off before her death in 2016, and the tower was completed in 2023. The corkscrew twist between the 10th and 13th floors is clear from the square below, where you can look and photograph without a ticket. There is no public observation deck. You get height through the restaurants and the hotel.
Mercury House (at the base of the tower) has an ornate honey-coloured Maltese limestone facade with arched windows and stone balustrades, restored and standing in front of all that glass. Cable & Wireless renamed it from Electra House, and its Grade II listing is why the quarter is called Mercury. The frontage and ground-floor lobby are free to walk through. Inside are bars, a museum and a spa.
The Piazza at Mercury spreads more than 4,000 sqm of curving pale stone across three stepped levels, with open-air terrace seating set between its flowing edges. It costs nothing and there is no door policy. Installations, buskers and live performers use the space, and it is busiest on summer evenings and weekends. The quarter around the square is stacked vertically: karting in the basement, bars and a museum inside Mercury House, a department store on the floor above and restaurants climbing the tower to a terrace on 34. The Upper Piazza holds the designer salon and the trattoria terrace.
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Odyssey Malta before 17:30
Odyssey Malta closes at 17:30 while the rest of the district runs late, so take it first. The 45-minute route through Maltese history goes through dark walk-through galleries of lit historical tableaux, then opens into a flying-theatre hall, Malta's first, where rows of chairlift-style seats hang in front of a large curved screen with wind and mist effects. Riders must be at least 100cm tall. The visit involves 20 to 30 minutes of standing and some stairs, and staff bring chairs and open lift access on request. It suits families. Book online in advance (€€).
Museum of Illusions Malta (inside Mercury House) opened in St Julian's in 2025 and uses the restored stone rooms of the 1903 building. Give it 45 to 90 minutes for the tilted anti-gravity room, the infinity-mirror tunnel of coloured lights and the vortex rotating cylinder, all of it hands-on. Adult entry is €16. Students and seniors pay €14, children €12. It opens daily into the evening, and it is the one stop in the district that holds up in rain. Tickets are sold at the door unless the museum is full, and online booking guarantees entry.
Planet Play (Level B1) runs several attractions under one operator in a basement arena lit by neon and gantry lighting. Velocity, Malta's first indoor karting, runs a multi-level circuit; the Elevate ropes course is strung across the ceiling void; Paradox VR and the Playtopia soft-play climbing structure fill the rest of the floor. Book the level as a single half-day. Weekend sessions need booking ahead, and party packages include team-building on the ropes course (€€).
The spa in the old telecoms vault
Dee Spas at Mercury occupies a post-WWII telecommunications hub below the building, cut into raw honey-coloured limestone. An indoor heated pool sits under low light inside the converted vault, with a herbal bath, saunas, a steam room and a spa bar off it. Treatments go by appointment, and there are couples' rooms (€€€). They do not take walk-ins.
Shopping on Level 1 and the Upper Piazza
Barlowes (Level 1) holds more than 20 premium brands across one open-plan floor, pale terrazzo underfoot and a continuous backlit ceiling above brand-by-brand bays. Paul Smith, Polo Ralph Lauren, Barbour and Michael Kors each have their own. Everything is on the one floor, so you do not trail between separate unit doors. It opens 10:00 to 22:00 daily, and Intimissimi and other tenants run styling events (€€€).
Sarto x Super F# (Upper Piazza) carries more than 70 designer labels in a quiet salon: sparse rails of Valentino and Givenchy against polished stone and brass, full-height glass looking onto the square. That selection is why this counts as a designer shopping district. Service runs at appointment pace. The room takes a couple or a few browsers, and a large party will not work in it (€€€€).
Tables on the piazza and in the tower
Peperino (Upper Piazza) puts rattan chairs and white linen out onto the curving pale stone, with the twisted tower directly overhead. The cooking is Italian at mid-range prices, lunch and dinner daily, and walk-ins are fine (€€). There is no lift ride, the terrace is level with the square, and the piazza passes in front of you while you eat.
Luciano by Gino D'Acampo (level 5, inside ME Malta) opens onto a terrace above the piazza from a room with a marble-topped bar, deep green banquettes and brass detailing. The opening days are restricted: closed Mondays, with Sunday lunch service only, so check the day before you plan a long lunch (€€€). It is a recognisable name for international visitors, and the kitchen is better than the celebrity branding suggests.
Toro Toro Malta (level 11) is Richard Sandoval's pan-Latin steakhouse, dark timber and warm bronze, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the Paceville rooftops. Plates come off the open grill on cast iron and are meant to be shared. Service runs to 01:00, and the weekend brunch is the cheaper way in (€€€).
Rooftops from sunset to 02:00
Anima Rooftop Malta (level 33) is the highest dining room in Malta, glazed and 100m up. Views run the full 360 degrees over Portomaso marina and open sea. The kitchen cooks Italian and Sicilian with a raw bar, and it is MICHELIN-recommended. One floor above, an open rooftop terrace holds a pool and the sunset cocktail bar. Book ahead, and book early for a sunset table. Smart dress is expected, and a reservation can spread across both floors (€€€€).
Radio Rooftop Malta (level 20, ME Malta) is open to the air, with low-slung seating and a DJ booth. The panorama turns the full circle over the St Julian's skyline and sea, and the terrace is lit amber after dark. It keeps dinner service hours, so arrive from 18:00. Asian sharing plates come alongside the cocktails, DJs play through the evening, and Saturday runs an izakaya brunch. Reserve ahead for the terrace (€€€).
Kuch Kuch (inside the old Mercury House) stays open until 02:00 behind hot-pink walls hung with eclectic Bollywood artwork, with marble tabletops, tropical-print chairs and custom drink vessels built for theatre. The cocktails take Indian pop culture as their subject, with fusion small plates alongside. It covers the late hours with no club queue and no dance floor. The room is table-only and fully served. Book it, and ask about the private-event offer for a party (€€€).
Staying inside the district
ME Malta by Meliá takes the lower 20 floors of the twisting tower, a five-star hotel of 175 rooms with pool decks on the upper terraces and a cave pool cut into limestone below ground. It is the only hotel inside the district, and it is the base for Radio Rooftop, Cabana Club and Luciano. Rates run €130 to €330 a night depending on season. Spinola Bay and St George's Bay are five minutes' walk away, and Paceville's nightlife starts immediately outside the door, which cuts both ways for noise. A kids' club, three restaurants and connecting rooms cover families.
Opening days and booking
Luciano is the closure to plan around, closed Mondays with Sunday lunch service only, and Odyssey Malta is the one attraction that shuts before the evening. Book Odyssey, a weekend session at Planet Play, the Anima and Radio terraces, a Kuch Kuch table and any Dee Spas treatment before you travel. See the St Julian's guide and the St Julian's hotel search.
Antes de ir
Can you go up Mercury Tower for the view?
There is no public observation deck. Height comes through the restaurants and the hotel, so getting up means a table at Anima Rooftop Malta on level 33 or at Radio Rooftop Malta on level 20. From the piazza at its foot you can look at the exterior and photograph it for free.
How much does the Museum of Illusions Malta cost?
Adult entry is €16, students and seniors €14, children €12. The museum is inside Mercury House and opens daily into the evening. You can buy tickets at the door unless it is full, so book online if you want a guaranteed place.
Is the Mercury piazza free to visit?
Yes. The Piazza at Mercury is a pedestrianised public square of more than 4,000 sqm on three stepped levels, with open-air terrace seating and nobody on the door. Installations and buskers appear there, and it is busiest on summer evenings and weekends.
Are there age or height rules at the attractions?
Riders at Odyssey Malta must be at least 100cm tall. Expect 20 to 30 minutes on your feet and some stairs, though you can ask for a chair or the lift. Planet Play on Level B1 has the Playtopia kids' playground as well as karting, the ropes course and VR.
Where can you stay in the Mercury district itself?
ME Malta by Meliá is the only hotel in the district, with 175 rooms on the lower 20 floors of the tower and rates of €130 to €330 a night depending on season. Spinola Bay and St George's Bay are both a five minute walk, and Paceville's nightlife starts outside the door.
