Malta works well with children for practical reasons. Distances are short, the swimming is safe, English is everywhere and healthcare is good. Restaurants welcome children late into the evening rather than tolerating them.
This page is about planning the trip. For what to do once you’re here, see things to do with kids.
The aquarium, Popeye Village and the temples all sell entry ahead of time.
Plan around these four things
The heat decides when to come
July and August afternoons are too hot for small children outdoors. There’s almost no shade to duck into. May, June, September and October are all warm enough to swim and comfortable enough to walk.
If peak summer is your only option, plan indoor or pool time between about eleven and four rather than fighting it. That’s what families here do.
Month by month
You will be swimming off rock
Most swimming in Malta is off flat rock with a ladder. That’s fine for confident swimmers and hard work with a toddler. The sandy bays are real, but they’re concentrated in the north.
If sand matters, base yourself near Mellieħa or Golden Bay. Bring water shoes either way: they make the rocky places usable and the sandy ones more comfortable.
Find a sandy bay
Pushchairs and pavements
Pavements are narrow or missing in a lot of towns. The old centres are built on steps. A sling is often easier than a pushchair. The flat towns are much easier going than the pretty hilly ones.
Staying somewhere flat matters more than staying somewhere central. Buses are mostly low-floor and children travel cheaply or free depending on age.
Where to stay with families
Pharmacies, food and restaurants
Pharmacies are everywhere and well stocked, supermarkets carry the usual formula, nappies and baby food, and restaurants almost always have high chairs.
Nobody minds a child still up at nine in the evening, because Maltese children are. Eating out with young children here is relaxed in a way it isn’t everywhere in Europe.
Eating out here
This is the specific danger. A wind blowing off the land leaves the water near the shore looking calm while carrying anything inflatable steadily out to sea. Most swimming spots here have no lifeguard. If the wind is at your back as you face the water, leave the floats on the beach.
Is a car worth it with children
It is worth it more often than for adults travelling on their own. A car saves the walk at each end in the heat and carries the beach kit. It also puts the northern sandy bays within reach from anywhere on the island. Book child seats when you book the car rather than assuming they’ll be there.
What changes with the season
You get the best walking of the year, and the island is green.
- The countryside is green from February to April and burnt brown by June, so put the walking days early in the trip.
- The sea does not really warm up until May. Treat a beach day as a coast day and you will not be disappointed.
- Holy Week moves every year and changes opening hours across a lot of towns. Check the dates before you fix a day to Valletta.
Everything is open and everything is busy. The heat sets the timetable.
- The midday heat limits you more than the distance does. Start early, stop between one and four, then go out again in the evening.
- The Blue Lagoon needs a slot booked in advance. It is free, but it is not optional.
- Beaches fill from mid-morning, and the northern buses fill with them. A full bus will drive straight past your stop.
The sea is still warm and the crowds have gone. Many people prefer October for that reason.
- The water lags the air by about a month, so swimming is still on the table through October.
- The Valletta harbour ferries switch to their winter timetable on 1 November, and the last crossing comes earlier than people expect.
- Rain returns in November. Keep one flexible day rather than booking every morning.
Swap the beach days for walking days and the itineraries still work.
- The sea is too cold for most people, so every beach day in these routes becomes a coast walk instead.
- Comino boats run to a reduced service or stop altogether, so treat the Blue Lagoon as a summer plan.
- The sites and the museums are almost empty in winter, so this is a good time to walk round them.
Check the travel insurance covers the children by name and read what it says about watersports. Family policies often cover the adults for activities and quietly exclude anybody under a certain age.