Malta Activities

Malta is a suitable holiday destination for children of all ages, with the coastline as well as several exciting manmade attractions on offer for entertainment. Theme parks are popular here, with Mediterraneo Marine Park, Splash & Fun Park and Playmobil Funpark ranking among the most popular, while should you get caught in a rainstorm, head for the Toy Museum, which is sure to delight little ones.

Birkirkara Railway Station and Exhibition
This intriguing attraction commemorates the Malta steam railway that was imported from the Isle of Wight in the late 19^th century. The railway line ran for 11kms and operated delightful steam engines. Today, children can play on the preserved trains and in the large children’s playground, while older visitors can peruse the interesting displays in the museum.

Mediterraneo Marine Park
An enthralling marine park, full of great performances, the Mediterraneo is a wonderful way to introduce children to the fantastic underwater world of the Mediterranean. There are spectacular shows such as the Black Sea Dolphins and Sea Lions as well as expansive aquariums, rides and restaurants. The ‘Swimming with the Dolphins’ and ‘Interactive Programme’ theme tours, also offer great entertainment opportunities.

Mellieha Bay (Ghadira)
The beach at Mellieha Bay is Malta’s largest sandy beach and is one of the safest for children. This beach is extremely popular with families, as there is a full range of water sports and other activities on offer to cater to the desires of children of all ages as well as teenagers and adults. Not surprisingly, Mellieha Bay is packed between June and September as well as at the weekends.

Playmobil Funpark
Playmobil is a well-known manufacturer of toys, and at their factory at Hal Far, they have created a fun park for children. While the purpose is to promote their toys, the fun park is a great day out, where children can observe the toy manufacturing process and then have fun in the extensive playground. Of course, kids who are into Playmobil’s characters can pick up some items to complete their collection, as the full range of products is available.

Splash & Fun Park
Probably the best of Malta’s theme parks, particularly for young children, is the Splash & Fun Park at Bahar ic-CaGhaq. There are several water slides of differing sizes, a whirlpool, swimming and wading pools, and bumper boats. There are also land-based activities such as a miniature motorcycle track with scaled down scooters that kids can race around on. Safety equipment is provided.

Sweethaven/Popeye Village
This is the actual set that was used for filming the movie, Popeye, which starred Robin Williams. Children can roam around and visit the actual wooden buildings featured in the film such as the School House and the Cobbler Shop, which have been preserved. The village is located in Mellieha, and there are a variety of shows, rides and other attractions on hand.

Toy Museum
Located in the capital, Valletta, the fantastic Toy Museum has three floors of various toys that date from the 1950s. There are several classical collections from the major toymakers of the past several decades, such as die cast cars by Matchbox, Corgy and Dinki; a great day out for kids.

The beautiful Maltese coastline provides endless possibilities for water sports and recreation on the beach. With excellent snorkelling and diving sites available as well as some quality dive schools, Malta is the perfect place to try your hand at exploring the marine life. Those who don’t want to get wet can stay dry on a glass-bottomed boat trip.

Diving and Snorkelling
The waters off the islands of Malta are rich and diverse in all kinds of marine life, not to mention amazing underwater archaeological sites. This makes Malta one of the most popular spots in the Mediterranean to pursue scuba diving and snorkelling. There are many professional and reliable dive stores that can provide instruction, equipment sales and rental, and there are guided tours to suit all levels of ability.

Water Sports
As Malta enjoys idyllic weather conditions year-round, the islands are a haven for water sports enthusiasts. Prevailing winds make activities such as windsurfing, parasailing and kite-boarding very popular, while boating, sea kayaking and sailing are possible on most days. Off the beach, the warm waters make swimming very enjoyable, while those after more action can participate in waterskiing and surf-skiing.

Bird-watching
With its central Mediterranean location, Malta is an important rest stop for migrating flocks of birds, and one of the best places in the region for viewing rare and endangered species. Many species spend the winter here. The pick of the bird-watching locations is the small Ghadira Nature Reserve, which covers just six hectares, but provides an important habitat in which over 200 species have been recorded.

Maltese cuisine is very heavily influenced by Italian cooking, a legacy of the lengthy Roman occupation of the islands and the proximity of Sicily and mainland Italy. Seafood, meat and vegetable flavoured pastas, soups and stews are all common.

Signature dishes include fenek (a rabbit dish), bragjoli (olives stuffed with beef), lampuki (pie), aljotta (seafood soup), minestra (minestrone soup) and a wide variety of pasta dishes that are topped with an array of sauces. Capers are liberally used for seasoning, as are olives. Maltese bread is very delicious and accompanies most meals. Courses are typically washed down with locally-produced wines or locally brewed ales, which are very tasty.

Traditional Maltese restaurants are by far the most numerous on the islands; however, many dining establishments in popular destinations cater to the tastes of tourists and offer many mainstream international cuisines such as Italian, French, German, Indian, Japanese and Thai.

While take-away food outlets are rare, Western snack food and light meals are popular, such as the English staple, fish and chips. Otherwise, take-out meals typically consist of local cuisine and pizzas.

Malta is very much a shopper’s paradise, with countless markets, quaint old shops and specialist stores catering to all tastes. Much of the fun and excitement comes from exploring the ancient streets and lanes, never knowing what kind of shop may be around the next corner. Markets vary from those designed to cater to tourists and those where the local Maltese buy their daily goods. Both are great places to hunt for unique handicrafts, foodstuffs and other items unique to the country.

The pick of the markets are Valletta’s Marsaxlokk Sunday Market and Vittoriosa’s Tuesday Market, while Valletta’s back streets are the place to discover unusual items. Ta’Qali Craft Village is a great place to see the entire range of Maltese handicrafts, while Gozo’s Fontana Cottage offers locally-produced lace, knitwear and rugs.

Popular buys include food such as olives and dried tomatoes, red and white wines, filigree silverware, pottery, ceramics, paintings and other artworks. Fashion items are good buys as well, with the main streets of Valletta having plenty of quality boutiques.