The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Happy families head to Malta
The newly green-listed island group has plenty on offer for people of all ages, says Juliet Rix
With its sea shimmering in the Mediterranean light – and this week’s announcement that it will be included on our green list for travel – Malta suddenly swims into focus for British travellers this summer. Tourist attractions, hotels and restaurants are all open as usual and the family-minded Maltese welcome children almost everywhere. With temperatures regularly above 30C, sunshine is pretty much guaranteed – Malta ticks most boxes for a family escape.
HIT THE BEACH
With 11 blue flag beaches, Malta has no shortage of swimming spots – you just need to decide whether you want one with smooth sands to relax on or a rocky shoreline to dive off. Most of the sand is in the north of the main island. Mellieha Bay – also known as Ghadira Bay – is ideal for young children, with yellow sand and spacious shallows. Golden Bay slopes more steeply, but is popular with families and has all the facilities. And if you are seeking a beach break pure and simple, the family-friendly Radisson Golden Sands (telegraph.co.uk/tt-goldensands) hotel sits right on the shore.
TOUR CHILD-SIZED CITIES
Tucked between bastion walls and flanked by harbours, Valletta covers just 0.24 square miles, making it the smallest capital city in the EU. It is child-sized and easy to navigate: City Gate at one end, Fort Saint Elmo at the other, and a grid of part-pedestrianised limestone streets between. Younger kids can have fun cooling off in the fountains that play across the square in front of the Grandmaster’s Palace, while teenagers could be let loose to get a coffee or ice cream at one of Valletta’s many cafés – the iconic Caffe Cordina (caffecordina.com), perhaps, or shabby-chic Gugar Hangout. But do be aware: the legal drinking age in Malta is 17 and checks are minimal.
DIVE INTO THE BLUE
Malta offers some of the best diving in Europe, with superb visibility. There are 60 licensed dive centres, many of which run courses and taster sessions for children as young as eight. You won’t find Nemo, but you might spot seahorses or octopus amid the spectacular underwater landscape, while for more experienced divers there is a wide range of wrecks. Diving is especially easy on Gozo, one of the archipelago’s three inhabited islands, where most dives are direct from the shore. Approved dive centres are listed at visitmalta.com
DISCOVER THE DEEP
If you don’t fancy the real thing or your kids are too young, Malta’s National Aquarium (aquarium.com.mt) offers a trip into the deep without getting wet – and here you can spot Nemo. Discover the marine life of the surrounding Mediterranean in zones covering Malta’s west coast, the Grand Harbour and the islands of Gozo and Comino, as well as a mesmerising shark nursery, and a reconstructed Roman wreck. You can view an anchor found in nearby St Paul’s Bay, believed by some to be from the ship in which St Paul was wrecked in 60AD.
BE KING OF THE CASTLE
“Fortress Malta” is a term dating from the Second World War but Malta’s many fortifications go back a lot further, and recent renovations have returned them to their former magnificence. While parents peruse the fascinating history of the Knights Templar, there is plenty of space for kids to run around and imagine themselves defending Fort St Angelo (Malta’s oldest fort), Fort St Elmo (its second), and the Gozo Citadel.
LEARN ABOUT THE WAR
The national curriculum ensures that almost every British schoolchild studies the Second World War, and in Malta they can enliven that learning in intriguing – and subterranean – ways. Beneath
Valletta is a web of secret tunnels and chambers used by the Allies. Visitors can view bunks, telephones and maps and hear a manual air attack early warning system (lascariswarrooms.com). Across the Grand Harbour at the Malta at War Museum (maltaatwarmuseum. com) you can pass through a tunnel that vibrates as if hit by bombs, before descending into the bedrock to see where local families sheltered.
FEED THE FAMILY
Malta has a lot in common with Italy when it comes to feeding the family. Plenty of pasta (most of it fresh), pizza, and ice cream ensure that even fussy children will not go hungry. IsSuq tal-belt (issuqtalbelt.com), Valletta’s Victorian covered market, converted into a modern food hall, is a gift for families with varying taste. Browse the stalls for anything from burgers to fresh fish, falafel to award-winning Maltese bakes, then sit together at one table.
For pizza with a twist head to Ta’ Nenu (nenuthebaker.com), a historic bakery transformed into a modern pizzeria serving Neopolitan and Maltese pizzas and ftira (flatbread). Mekren’s Bakery in the village of Nadur on Gozo (00 356 2155 2342), offers takeaway ftira straight from the original blackened wood oven – which makes it taste even better.
TAKE A BOAT TRIP
From taking a traditional Grand Harbour water taxi to a trip on a Turkish gulet or a modern motor boat, there is plenty of choice if you fancy some sailing. Private charters or group tours will take you around the main island of Malta, across to Gozo, or for a day trip to the island of Comino’s luminous Blue Lagoon.
One of the best trips for families is Xlendi Cruises’s circumnavigation of Gozo (xlendicruises.com). It’s a scenic beach crawl – or rather, bay crawl – stopping frequently for swimming and snorkelling (equipment provided) away from the landlubbers, before ending up at the Blue Lagoon.
CLIFFS, CAVES AND CART-RUTS
The top of the Dingli Cliffs, the highest point in Malta, provides not only sweeping panoramas but also all sorts of stoney curiosities. Don some sturdy footwear and explore the site informally known as Clapham Junction (yes, really), the largest collection of Malta’s mysterious “cart-ruts” – a prehistoric network of tracks carved into the rock. Let the kids track the tramlines in the rock as they cross, combine, disappear and reappear – and speculate on what ancient vehicle might have formed them.
Passing Punic tombs, you then arrive at the intriguing troglodyte caves. Watch your footing as you descend into these natural caverns, adapted and divided for habitation by multiple families, as late as the 19th century.
JUST CHILL
This family holiday has probably been a long time coming. Perhaps you just want to find some sun and relax. From the all-inclusive db Seabank resort (telegraph.co.uk/tt-dbseabank) next to Mellieha Beach, to the five-star Westin Dragonara (telegraph.co.uk/ tt-westinmalta) in St Julian’s, Malta has a wide range of family-friendly resorts with everything you need to do not very much: sunbeds and umbrellas, swimming pools and spas, food and drink from around the world – and crucially, activities and clubs for kids of all ages (though check details in advance due to Covid variations).