Europe's hottest city with gorgeous 21C heat in November - just 3 hours from UK

This tiny fortress city, which has featured in the likes of Game of Thrones and Gladiator, is the perfect place to catch a not-so-wintery break. Just three hours from the UK, the golden-walled capital city of Valletta in Malta is quite literally the hottest city to visit in Europe.

BBC Weather predicts a high of 23 degrees Celsius on the first Saturday of November alone.

It's the island's proximity to Africa that causes Malta to have unusually hot weather. Hot and dry winds blowing in from the Sahara Desert, known as the Sirocco, bring in high temperatures and humidity.

Malta itself experiences heatwave highs of 40 degrees Celsius during the summer, but even in November, even on the lowest end, temperatures tend to exceed 21 degrees Celsius in its capital city of Valletta.

But exceedingly hot weather is not the only reason to visit - this tiny and often overlooked medieval Mediterranean treasure was voted the best city to visit in this year's Condé Nast Traveller's Readers' Choice Awards.

Despite the city only being 1km long and 600m wide, the UNESCO Heritage Site is overflowing with churches, museums, cobbled streets, and, of course, plenty of baroque architecture.

After all, the city is a piece of living history. Built by the Order of the Knights of St.John, it has not only served as an opulent fortress of defence but also a cultural masterpiece. Visitors to the pocket-sized city are even welcomed with a grand fountain featuring three half-human bronze statues.

Valletta's walkable streets are lined with ancient architecture, terraced restaurants, and cafes, while the Upper Barrakka Gardens offer a tranquil spot to relax and outstanding views over the Grand Harbor.

And when it comes to impressive landmarks, the spectacular Co-Cathedral of St. John can appear deceptively plain from the outside, only to conceal an ornate interior with richly decorated walls gilded in 24-carat gold leaf.

One Tripadvisor user was thoroughly impressed by their trip to Valletta, sharing on Tripadvisor," Wow! Valletta is truly a stunning city. The Christmas markets were still on and looked great, however we wanted to we wanted to spend our day exploring everything the city had to offer."

"You can spend hours ambling around the beautiful little streets, in awe of the amazing buildings."

Another writes,

"Visiting it is even more beautiful than it appears from photos, videos and reviews. An incredible concentration of historical, artistic and cultural sites and riches make it resemble a small Italy. Beautiful and very much alive Valletta! Definitely worth a visit!"

And a third simply reports, "Valletta is small and ideal for wandering."