This article provides an understanding of how tourists experience
heritage urban spaces by investigating features that influence
tourist experiences most. It is framed within urban design
literature which refers to three elements of urban space namely
physical setting (or form), activity, and meaning. These elements
are used to explore how urban spaces are experienced by
tourists. Its findings are derived from an in-depth qualitative
analysis of interviews with tourists to Valletta, Malta. The
research suggests that the intrinsic qualities of the space are
relevant to the tourist experience but what is even more
relevant are the interactions of the tourist with different
elements within that space, namely interactions with
surroundings, interactions with others, and interactions with
self/meaning. Within this broad conceptual model, the research
identifies important sub-themes. Some of these reinforce the
findings of existing work on tourist experiences, but others are
often under-estimated or neglected.peer-reviewe
