About me

My name is Svetlana Vella Agafonycheva. My surname reflects my cross-cultural background — Russian and Maltese.

I came to Malta in the late 1990s to study English. That’s where I met my future husband — and the rest is history... I decided to stay.

I’ve been living in Malta for over 20 years. During this time, I wrote the guidebook «Russian Valletta,» contributed to the magazines «My Malta» and «The Maltese Messenger,» and launched the website «On Foot in Malta.» Alongside this, I worked in the fields of culture, tourism, and finance.

I graduated from the Institute of Tourism Studies Malta. I hold a tour guiding diploma and a licensed guide certificate for Malta and Gozo, license number 996.

Since childhood, I’ve loved reading, writing, and walking — especially in nature or through historic city centers. These passions — reading, storytelling, and walking — naturally evolved into my career as a tour guide.

When designing routes, I’m constantly in search of new ideas and concepts that reveal Malta from unexpected perspectives — sometimes even for myself. I enjoy digging into details, quoting poets and writers, finding cultural parallels, decoding symbols, and sharing historical anecdotes, among other things.

I invite you to join me on a journey to discover Malta — a «familiar stranger.» I specialize in walking and cross-cultural tours.