Sliema
Malta's densest short-let market, built along a seafront promenade facing Valletta across the harbour.
Bins out from
3pm
Collection starts
7pm
Saturdays
1pm
What it is like.
Sliema is a high-rise coastal town that grew out of a fishing village and never stopped growing. The seafront runs unbroken from Tigne Point round to Balluta Bay, and most of it is walkable.
There is no sand. Swimming is off flat rock shelves and ladders, which locals prefer and some visitors do not expect. The ferry to Valletta crosses in about five minutes and runs far more often than the bus.
It is the most concentrated rental stock on the island, which is why it is also where enforcement attention lands.
Getting around
The Valletta ferry from Sliema Ferries, and buses along the front. A car is a liability here: parking is the town's hardest problem.
Worth going for.
- Tigne Point and the Sliema ferries
- The crossing to Valletta, and the best view back at the fortifications.
- The Sliema front
- A continuous promenade to Balluta Bay, busiest at dusk.
- Independence Garden
- One of the few pieces of open green in the town.
Running a short let in Sliema.
Estimated unlicensed
What gets reported
The sign at the door
Bags out
Sources: Amphora Media on licensing, and The Malta Independent on the 12 May 2026 enforcement package.
Which bag, which day.
The day schedule is national and has not changed since 2 January 2023. Only the collection time varies by locality, and in Sliema it is 7pm.
Monday
Food and garden wasteWhite bag
Tuesday
General rubbishBlack bag
Wednesday
Food and garden wasteWhite bag
Thursday
RecyclingGrey or green bag
Friday
Food and garden wasteWhite bag
GlassReusable container, not a bag
Glass on the first and third Friday of the month only.
Saturday
General rubbishBlack bag
Sunday
No collection
Not the night before
Bags may go out up to 4 hours before collection, so from 3pm in Sliema, and from 9am on Saturdays. Putting them out earlier, including the evening before, is an offence rather than a habit.
Fines of up to €300 have been reported for bags out more than 4 hours early, and up to €150 for the wrong day or the wrong bag. Enforcement is shared between LESA, the police and the local council. The Malta Independent. If your welcome pack says the night before, it is telling guests to do the thing that gets fined, and a waste breach established by another authority can reach your licence.
A missed collection
Eastern Region covers Tas-Sliema, not us. Email [email protected] or call 21374378.
Where this comes from
Published by ERA and WasteServ on wastecollection.mt. Last checked against the source on 3 August 2026. Bags may go out up to 4 hours before collection.
The week on one sheet, for Sliema
A landscape page with the seven days across it and the bag drawn on each, carrying the collection time and how early bags may go out. For the back of a cupboard door.
Bottles and cans carry a deposit.
Drinks containers sold in Malta carry a deposit of 10c, added at the till. It covers single-use cans and bottles holding between 0.1 and 3 litres, in aluminium, steel, glass or PET.
The deposit comes back as a voucher, taken off the bill at a retail shop. A container dropped in the grey or green recycling bag gives it up, and a guest checking out at the end of a stay usually has a fortnight of them in the flat.
BCRS Malta Ltd runs the scheme and puts over 300 return machines in supermarkets, larger beverage retailers and public recycling hubs. It does not publish them as a list, so its own finder is the only current source for which machine is nearest Sliema.
Published by BCRS Malta Ltd on bcrsmalta.mt. Last checked against the source on 8 August 2026. The scheme has run since 14 November 2022.
Getting to the airport.
The X1 to X4 airport buses were withdrawn on 20 April 2025 and replaced by Airport Direct. Listings and guidebooks still send guests to the X2 and the X3, which no longer run.
Airport Direct
- TD3
- St Julian's, Sliema, Gzira and Msida. Runs every 30 minutes, at €3, and free with an Unlimited Travel Card. No booking: pay on board by cash or card.
Routes and fares published by Malta Public Transport, and the ordinary routes that call at the terminal by Malta International Airport. Last checked against both on 8 August 2026. Times are not repeated here because they change with the season, so take them from the journey planner on the day.