City comparison
Valletta & Sliema vs Limassol: which is better to live in?
Quick verdict
Valletta & Sliema is the cheaper of the two — our estimate for a single person is about €150 a month less than Limassol, mostly because of rent. Limassol has the milder winter (about 18°C vs 16°C average highs in Dec–Feb). They’re in different countries, so visa routes, taxes and healthcare differ too — see below.
Choose Valletta & Sliema for
- English-friendliness
- Walkability
- Culture
- Lower living costs
Choose Limassol for
- Mountains nearby
- Nature & green space
- Beach life
- Family life
Valletta & Sliema vs Limassol at a glance
| Valletta & Sliema | Limassol | |
|---|---|---|
| Country | Malta | Cyprus |
| Single budget / month | €2,300 | €2,450 |
| Couple budget / month | €3,400 | €3,600 |
| 1-bed rent, center | €1,250 | €1,350 |
| Winter highs (Dec–Feb) | 16°C / 61°F | 18°C / 65°F |
| Summer highs (Jun–Aug) | 31°C / 87°F | 33°C / 91°F |
| Sunshine (hours/yr) | 3,054 | 3,415 |
| City size | Mid-size city | Mid-size city |
| Coastal | Yes | Yes |
| Direct flights to the US | Yes | No |
| Affordability | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Sunny, warm climate | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| English-friendliness | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Safety | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Walkability | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Public transport | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Nature & green space | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Beach life | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Mountains nearby | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Culture | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Nightlife | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Family life | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Remote-work scene | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Expat community | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Flights home | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Calm, slower pace | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
Cost of living: Valletta & Sliema or Limassol?
By our estimates, a comfortable mid-range life costs about €2,300 a month for one person in Valletta & Sliema and €2,450 in Limassol, rent included. For a couple it’s €3,400 vs €3,600, and for a family of four €4,900 vs €4,800.
Rent drives most of the gap: a one-bedroom in the center runs about €1,250 in Valletta & Sliema against €1,350 in Limassol, while a monthly transit pass costs — vs €40. Want to plug in your own lifestyle? Use the cost of living calculator.
Climate and weather
Winters average highs of about 16°C (61°F) in Valletta & Sliema and 18°C (65°F) in Limassol. In summer it’s roughly 31°C vs 33°C. Valletta & Sliema gets about 3,054 hours of sunshine a year and Limassol about 3,415.
3,054 hours of sunshine a year · 581 mm of rain a year · Source: Luqa Airport (near Valletta) 1991-2020 normals via Meteo Climate/MaltaWeather, as shown on Wikipedia's Valletta page.
Monthly temperatures in °C and °F
| Month | Avg high | Avg low |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 16°C / 60°F | 10°C / 50°F |
| Feb | 16°C / 60°F | 10°C / 49°F |
| Mar | 17°C / 63°F | 11°C / 52°F |
| Apr | 20°C / 68°F | 13°C / 55°F |
| May | 24°C / 76°F | 16°C / 60°F |
| Jun | 29°C / 84°F | 20°C / 67°F |
| Jul | 32°C / 89°F | 22°C / 72°F |
| Aug | 32°C / 90°F | 23°C / 73°F |
| Sep | 29°C / 83°F | 21°C / 70°F |
| Oct | 25°C / 77°F | 18°C / 65°F |
| Nov | 21°C / 69°F | 15°C / 59°F |
| Dec | 17°C / 63°F | 12°C / 53°F |
3,415 hours of sunshine a year · 408 mm of rain a year · Source: Cyprus Meteorological Service, Limassol 1991-2020 normals, as shown on Wikipedia's Limassol page.
Monthly temperatures in °C and °F
| Month | Avg high | Avg low |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 18°C / 64°F | 11°C / 52°F |
| Feb | 18°C / 65°F | 11°C / 52°F |
| Mar | 20°C / 69°F | 12°C / 54°F |
| Apr | 23°C / 74°F | 14°C / 58°F |
| May | 27°C / 81°F | 17°C / 63°F |
| Jun | 31°C / 88°F | 21°C / 71°F |
| Jul | 34°C / 92°F | 24°C / 76°F |
| Aug | 34°C / 93°F | 25°C / 76°F |
| Sep | 31°C / 89°F | 22°C / 72°F |
| Oct | 28°C / 83°F | 19°C / 67°F |
| Nov | 24°C / 74°F | 16°C / 60°F |
| Dec | 19°C / 67°F | 12°C / 54°F |
Daily life
Valletta & Sliema is a mid-size city on the coast; Limassol is a mid-size city on the coast. Valletta and Sliema give you a fully English-speaking Mediterranean life on a tiny island: sunny, safe-feeling, social and well connected to the UK. You pay for it with high rents, crowds and traffic. We estimate about €2,300 a month for a single person and €3,400 for a couple. Limassol is Cyprus's international hub: sunny, English-friendly, full of finance, shipping and tech jobs, and priced accordingly. It is the most expensive city in this batch for a single person at about €2,450 a month in our estimate, but also the best set up for a nomad permit or an investor residence.
Living in Valletta & Sliema: the upsides and downsides
- English is an official language, so offices, landlords and clinics work in English
- The sunniest winters in this batch outside Cyprus, with about 3,050 sunshine hours a year
- Compact: ferries and buses reach most places from Sliema or Valletta
- Downside: Rents are among the highest in our batch: about €1,250 for a central one-bed
- Downside: Traffic and building sites; buses are crowded and slow
Living in Limassol: the upsides and downsides
- Highest sunshine in the batch at about 3,415 hours a year, with beach weather stretching into autumn
- Strong business, shipping and tech community, which helps nomads and entrepreneurs
- English works in most offices, clinics and shops
- Downside: The most expensive city here for rent and daily costs
- Downside: Car dependence beyond the seafront; buses are infrequent
Visas and residency
Valletta & Sliema is in Malta and Limassol is in Cyprus. The main routes for each:
- Malta Nomad Residence Permit — Digital nomad visa, open, €3,500/mo income
- Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP) — Golden visa, open, €99,000 investment
- Cyprus Digital Nomad Visa — Digital nomad visa, open, €3,500/mo income
- Cyprus Permanent Residence by Investment — Golden visa, open, €4,167/mo income
Read the full guides: living in Valletta & Sliema and living in Limassol.
Related comparisons
Costs are our estimates for a comfortable mid-range lifestyle; scores are editorial, relative to the 40 cities we cover. Methodology.