Licensed to Steal: Blood, Booty and Corsairs in Valletta

Embark on an adventure where survival, brutality, and desire collide, revealing the darker side of Valletta. Hear of tales risk takers, misery maximized for gold, love gone terribly wrong, exotic delicacies with a shocking past and much more.

Original Price:

€20.00

Discounted Price:

€15.00

Bookings are closed for this event.

Tour Highlights

Explore Valletta, a UNESCO World Heritage City, tracing the dark footsteps of the legendary Corsairs during the Knight’s period.

Immerse yourself in tales of audacious plunder, brutality, unrestrained desires, and ingenious schemes that shaped Malta’s History

Find out who exactly is involved in this terrible tale, who profits from other’s misery, and how deep the rabbit hole goes. You’ll be surprised, hopefully not too shocked!

Learn about the real truth behind the cause of Malta’s most prominent historical events, still affecting our culture today.

Enjoy stories expertly retold by your guide of battles both at sea and within brothels…Where the hunter suddenly find himself the hunted.

Explore some off beaten streets such as the fabulous East street and the less visited but equally magnificent Lower Barrakka Garden, with its jaw-dropping views of our Grand Harbour , perfect for a photo to make your social media light up with jealous comments!

Location Highlights

Auberge de Castille
De Valette Statue
Auberge D’Italie
Merchant Street
Castellania
Monte di Pieta
Banca Giuratale
Grand Masters Palace (Back View) with some little known gems.
Valletta Food Market
Oratory of the Jesuits
Off Beaten Streets
St. Ursula Church and Monastery
East Street and a surprise along the way
Lower Barrakka Garden with epic views of the Grand Harbour

★★★★★ 5/5

"Saha Chris! What can we say.. The best and most inspiring way to learn about Malta. Chris.. You are the best guide and we have been around a bit (whoring ha!)!. This tour was personal and genuine and really was the most informative way of learning about Maltese history. The main draw is the main man! Chris you made us feel comfortable and we laughed lots and lots and enjoyed you company and that of your friend. If you want to feel welcomed to Valetta and generally to Malta then you can't look further than a true Maltese guy who is proud of the heritage and aware of the present and future of Malta. The history of the Causair is something that is fascinating and little known about. Let Chris tell you a little more about this that you don't know.The tour takes you to the highs and lows of the past centuries, war and migration of the beautiful island. From looting to slave trades to the history of navigation, Chris covers it all. With humour and warmth. Please go on this tour as you won't find anything better! We loved it and when we come back we will have some fun! Can't wait to see you again bro.. Love James and Fiona xx"

Tour Details

Overview

The Secrets of Valletta’s Corsairs Await. Unleash the hidden chapters of Malta’s maritime legacy during the Knights’ period, as you journey back in time through an action-packed adventure of survival, torture, and promiscuity gone wild. Prepare to be enthralled as you delve into the captivating and colorful lives of Valletta’s legendary Corsairs, feared protectors of Malta’s shores.

Our tales may rival Hollywood, but these are real-life adventures that will leave you breathless. From forbidden love affairs to daring escapes and exotic worldwide delicacies with a violent past, our expert guides will bring Malta’s rich history to life in a thrilling and engaging manner.

Who were the Corsairs of Malta? Why were they indispensable to the Knights of St John? Heroes or villains? How you would become a licensed corsair and rise through the ranks? Discover why these legendary figures were hailed as protectors by everyday Maltese people yet despised by the feared Holy Roman Inquisition! Learn why even an angry Pope is forced to get involved.

Embark on a unique maritime cultural voyage as we traverse the historic streets and buildings of Valletta, where each location holds a piece of Malta’s raw and captivating history, echoing with cryptic and politically incorrect sayings and customs from this devious past.

Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the streets that whisper untold tales of valor and an equal amount of immense suffering, as we together unravel the dark secrets of Valletta where you literally “Get Rich or Die Trying!”.

Tour Theme

Daring to Dream – Freedom vs Responsibility – Brotherhood and Loyalty – Risk-Taking and Adventure – Consequences of Greed – Ethics of Piracy – Profit through misery

Location Highlights

Auberge de Castille
De Valette Statue
Auberge D’Italie
Merchant Street
Castellania
Monte di Pieta
Banca Giuratale
Grand Masters Palace (Back View) with some little known gems.
Valletta Food Market
Oratory of the Jesuits
Off Beaten Streets
St. Ursula Church and Monastery
East Street and a surprise along the way
Lower Barrakka Garden with epic views of the Grand Harbour

Have any questions?

Wondering about something? If it's not in sight or a bit fuzzy don't hesitate! Email us at [email protected]

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We’re proud to receive awesome client reviews

You wont find a better guide, to bring the history of Malta to life. His passion, knowledge and delivery really made our tour of Valetta special and memorable. Right from the initial contact, his communication was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed our interactions with him over email and in person. Giacomo also gave us many ideas and suggestions about how to make the most of our week in Malta including places to visit and restaurant recommendations, which we really appreciated. His care and consideration was superb.

The best tour in Valletta!!!! Giacomo is such a wonderful guide! Prepare for a full immersion, as he's taking you on board! We learned so much during this tour, and we now view several buildings of Valletta under a different light! I had no idea of the history of Valletta under the Knights and Corsairs and not only Giacomo made the tour really informative but also memorable and interesting. Jokes were on point and his good mood was contagious. Such a perfect tour! We enjoyed it a lot, so much that now we want to treat ourselves with the tour of Mdina! Thank you Giacomo for your professionalism and the messages before and after the tour, it feels really nice and the experience is full! Till we meet again! Céline

A «dark», historic walk through the beautiful streets of Valletta. Giacomo Muscat guided us vividly through the «dark» streets of Valletta. The theme of our tour was «The Sinful secrets of Valletta – Blood, Booty and Courtesans» and that’s exactly the story Giacomo gave us through his acting and storytelling. We could almost see, smell, feel and hear the knights, corsairs, slaves, pirates, poor, priests, nuns and a few «ordinary» people back in time. Thank you for an amazing night, Giacomo. This is an event not to miss!

Best experience of my 2024. The Valletta Sinful Secrets tour exceeded my expectations , I've travelled and done my share of tours, but this was like my top highlight to day! Our guide (Giacomo) is exceptional from initial communication and meeting him, we knew we were in for a treat, he's warm, friendly and knows his stuff. We also had many a good laughs along the way. What fun it was seeing the capital from his themed perspective. Loved it! Seriously you should charge enough more for the value of this wonderful experience ! Thank you for this treasure of a tour! Best. .Jo Nelson

Mdina walking tour with a difference. We booked the Malta themed tour to Mdina. This promised to be a thrilling and enjoyable tour. Well, it superceded my expectations a 100 times over. The narrator Giacomo Muscat aka Mikele the Corsair, was funny, knowledgeable, full of enthusiasm and involved those present by learning their names and asking them to participate, to contribute their views and opinions about what would next. It was the best 2.5 hours walking tour we've ever attended. The drama, the secret, and the mystery of the tales/historical events unfolded as we strolled the dark and winding streets of Mdina.

This whole experience was fantastic, from the very funny back and forth emails with Giacomo when booking from England before we went (thanks also for the many helpful tips for things to do and see on the Maltese islands, many of which we ended up doing), to the evening itself with the simply brilliant Chris as the Corsair. Extremely educational and delivered with infectious enthusiasm. Puts everything in a much wider context; this isn't the conventional 'pantomime' piracy of eye patches, pieces of eight and parrots, but more about profiteering as a mutually advantageous political discourse to both defend the Grand Harbour and contribute to the coffers of the Knights of St John. As my daughter says below, don't miss it, there's nothing else like it.

Greatly recommend. Very happy that I found them. The best corsair in the Mediterranean. Firstly, I am extremely grateful for the time Giacomo and Chris spent with me on trying to understand our needs and desires, working on setting up a nice tour to fit the budget and everyone's needs as we had 7 year old with us as well. Secondly, consideration and patience, also involving our kid (later we found out that Chris is also a teacher) and fitting into our schedule. Lastly, thank you for your personal untraditional point of view and interpretation, it was really refreshing.

We were on a cruise and stopped in Malta. I arranged a tour with Chris who was exceptional. He customized our tour according to our time and requests. He was friendly and kind and extremely knowledgeable. We enjoyed our time with him and loved the tour of Malta. I would highly recommend him!

I visited Malta with my adult son, who is, usually, not fond of guided tours, so I tried to find something exceptional to get him interested, and - yes! - this corsair tour was absolutely brilliant! We were lucky to have it all for ourselves - as it happen no other guests booked the tour on the same evening. The only disadvantage was the noise - streets of Valletta is overcrowded in the evening, and sometimes our points of interest were surrounded with loud music and noisy people, but in general it was very good anyway. We both highly recommend it!

My husband booked this walking tour as part of our wedding anniversary stop over in Valletta. We have stopped in Valletta a couple of times but we learnt so much about places we have walked past previously, on this 2 hour tour with Chris aka Shandru.
We were the only people doing the tour on this rainy evening but the guide still put lots into the tour. We thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Corsairs in Malta and its not a long walk so is suitable for all ages. Think my grandchildren would love some of the stories and being shown around by a real life Corsair (legal pirate).