Malta National Aquarium

Although not a heritage site the Malta National Aquarium can be visited for Free on your Heritage Malta multi site pass. The Malta National Aquarium was fabulous fun with lots of great exhibits. We all loved the interactive fish and marine life identification screens. There is a square outside which has a fantastic marine themed playground.  The aquarium is on a bus route and the square has a licensed cafe and public toilet facilities. There is also a restaurant and gift shop in the aquarium building which you don’t have to pay to enter. We enjoyed the gluten free pizza and salads. I wrote a post about our experiences surviving Malta gluten free.

Photo below is our four children enjoying the large and well lit tank near the restaurant. Our youngest often prefers not to pose for photos, this time he’s enjoying the view of the fish tank.

Valetta Sites

National Museum of Archaeology

In order to see the ‘Sleeping Lady’ recovered from the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum you have to visit the Malta National Museum of Archaeology. Many of the carved limestone blocks have been moved to this museum from their temple sites for preservation and security. There are many artefacts from the Neolithic and Bronze Age eras too.

Sleeping Lady from Malta’s Hypogeum

Malta National Museum of Fine Arts

I have to say we did not enjoy all of the exhibits at this art museum. There was some unusual abstract art and good maritime paintings mixed in with the numerous violent religious deaths . Not suitable artwork for the children so we did not linger!

Malta Museum of Fine Arts

Malta Palace Armoury

I took the eldest two boys to the Palace Armoury and the State Rooms, combining our visit with an archery lesson in Valetta. You can get a combo pass for these two sites or visit on the Malta Heritage Multi site pass. Lots and lots of armour, cannons, weapons and guns!

Malta Palace Armoury

Malta Palace State Rooms

The Palace State Rooms are well worth a visit for the grandeur and scale. Can only imagine how many hours went into the mosaic floors and painted ceilings!

Malta Palace State Rooms

The National War Museum at Fort St Elmo

To access the National War Museum you have to enter via Fort St Elmo. Stunning views across the harbour from the fortified walls. If you’re lucky you’ll time your visit with one of the large ferries or luxury motor yachts out on the water. Images below are through window bars along the fort walls and of the projected war videos on to the floors.

Harbour Area Sites

Inquisitor’s Palace

Confession time! We didn’t make it it to this one site. Although, we planned to visit on the same day we visited the Malta Maritime Museum. We had got the bus from St Paul’s Bay to Valetta and on to Vittoriosa, standing most of the way with no air conditioning! Our 2 year old had a monster ‘I’m overtired’ meltdown in the museum so we went for a walk down by the marina. We happened upon the ferry back to Valetta, so jumped on that instead of walking back up the hill to the palace.

Malta Maritime Museum

Great educational and informative exhibits at the Malta Maritime Museum. I like naval history, my Dad was in the British Navy for over 20 years and visited Malta on more than one occasion. The museum had exhibits from various periods of maritime history, including some large replicas of wooden sailing ships.

Replica Wooden Sailing Ship

Tarxien Temples

The Tarxien Temples are the most complex and intricately decorated of the prehistoric sites on Malta. Four megalithic structures are protected from the elements by an enormous shade sail/roof structure. They were built between 3600 and 2500BC and were used by Bronze Age inhabitants as a cremation cemetery.

Our 4 children at the Tarxien Temples, Malta

Hal Saflieni Hypogeum

I was lucky enough to secure a ticket to visit this amazing subterranean temple complex before it closed for restoration work. My visit is worthy of its own post!

UPDATE:

The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is due to re-open on Monday 15th May 2017 after a year closed for preservation works!

Entrance is an extra fee as not included on the Heritage Malta multi site pass. It is well worth the fee and I expect visitor numbers will still be strictly controlled when the heritage site re-opens due to space constraints. The acoustics are astounding and have to be heard – a must see destination when you visit Malta! You can purchase tickets online for the Hypogeum.

No images of my own as photography is not permitted. I did purchase 3 postcards and a stunning silver spiral necklace inspired by the wall and ceiling paintings. Of course I showed my Heritage Malta multi site pass to get my 10% discount!. You can view more images on the official Hypogeum website which has a fabulous panoramic video.

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Southern Malta Heritage Sites

Ghar Dalam

Ghar Dalam is an extensive cave which contains 500,000 year old deposits rich in fossil bones of dwarf elephants, hippoptami and other exotic fauna from the Ice Age. The walk down to the cave from the museum exhibits of bones consisted of lots of steps. A great work out for the legs and to tire out the children!

Fun exploring in the Ghar Dalam cave in Malta – we didn’t find any more bones in the 500,000 year old deposits!

Hagar Qim Temples and Mnajdra Temples

The Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples are basically on the same site. There is a steep but paved causeway or path down to the lower site closer to the ocean. Both are well worth a visit. We arrived early on the bus and had to wait for them to open. Bonus was we were first visitors and had the whole place to ourselves for almost an hour before a school group turned up. The group didn’t visit Mnajdra so we had that site to ourselves to explore. Here’s a couple images from our visit, it was a beautiful day with stunning visibility across the sea to the island of Filfla.

Remember, if you don’t want to buy a full Heritage Malta multi-site pass you can visit these two temple sites with a combo ticket and still save. There is a great visitor centre with cinema and interactive exhibits. We had lots of fun and had lunch at the neighbouring restaurant as we had to wait an hour for the next bus after just missing one. Sometimes the Tallinja app on my phone wasn’t all that accurate!

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Heritage Sites in Rabat, Malta

National Museum of Natural History

One building packed full of Maltese Geology and Paleontology. The children loved the skeletons, the marine fauna, the enormous shells and the extensive bird collection. Shame the Maltese don’t have a better reputation for protecting endangered bird species.

Kids loved skeletons, Natural History Museum, Malta

Domvs Romana

The remnants of this sophisticated Roman residence are well worth a short visit. I can only imagine how long it must have taken to create the amazing mosaic floor from such tiny tiles! There are huge statues and pots as well as an area outside to view.

Mosaic floor, Domvs Romana, Malta

St Paul’s Catacombs

St Paul’s Catacombs are not the only catacombs open to visitors in Malta. However, they are the only ones you can visit with the Heritage Malta multi site pass. Ancient underground burial chambers carved out of the rock and linked with a network of interconnecting passages. Our youngest child is a runner and we did fear that we might lose him in the tunnels if he strayed from the metal suspended walkways! Much of the complex has not been explored and extends for many kilometres under the town of Rabat. Not for those visitors who suffer from claustrophobia, can’t climb stairways or duck easily to avoid bumping their head!

Lost in St Paul’s Catacombs, Malta!

Skorba and Ta’ Hagrat Temples

The Skorba and Ta’ Hagrat Temples were the first we visited and very impressive. However, once you see the megalithic temples of Tarxien, Hagar Qim. Mnajdra or  Ggantija you realise how small they are in comparison. Still worthy of a visit if you have time but do not need to be top of your must visit list. Three photos below, one with the children to show you the scale of the stones used!

Heritage Malta Sites on Gozo, Malta

There is a separate pass you can get for the Heritage Malta Gozo sites. If you are only visiting Gozo then that pass will be better value than the full Heritage Malta multi site pass!

Gozo Museum of Archaeology

A collection of artefacts housed in glass cabinets in an early sixteenth century residence. Well laid out with lots to interest visitors. By now I think our children were a little over seeing the similar pots and artefacts as we had seen in Malta. However, the baby stone coffins did generate some conversations. I chose to show you an image I took of the pots not the coffins!

Pots & Figures Gozo Museum of Archaeology

Folklore Museum Gozo

The Folklore Museum is actually all housed in a Period House almost hidden in the narrow streets of the Citadel in Gozo. Access is not suitable for those with limited mobility. Slippery stone steps worn smooth by the thousands of visitors and before them the residents of the home can be tricky to negotiate. The exhibits are displayed throughout the home. I found the intricacy of the weaving and the fishing baskets to be of particular interest. The kitchen area was basic and fascinating to see.

Folklore Museum Period House

Gozo Nature Museum

A significant collection of geology, habitats and ecosystems in Gozo and from around the world. The highlight is a magnified speck of stone from the moon which was donated by US President Nixon. Have a photo somewhere – just need to find it!

Gozo Nature Museum

The Old Prison, Gozo

As tempting as it was to leave the children locked up here we decided the living conditions were a little bleak. A wooden slat bed for sleeping on and a stone toilet/long drop in the corner! The prisoner graffiti is impressive, especially the galleon carvings in the stone walls. Some of the Knights of St John found themselves locked up in the Old Prison. The prison was in use from the mid-sixteenth century until the beginning of the twentieth century. Can you imagine how many people were imprisoned here over that time period? If only the walls could reveal more of their secrets!

Happy kids in the Old Prison, Gozo

Ggantija Temples

The Ggantija temples actually comprise two temple areas surrounded by a boundary wall. This site is home to some of the most impressive megaliths used in Maltese prehistoric temples. Much of the walls are being supported by extensive scaffolding to prevent their collapse. Our first time encountering large numbers of tourists in large coach groups made it difficult to enjoy this temple site. The narrow walkways were basically blocked by the large groups. My advice would be to visit early and avoid the many coach tours, unless you’re on one I suppose!

Ggantija Temples, Gozo

Ta’ Kola Windmill

The windmill is within close walking distance of the Ggantija temples so we visited on the same day. The sails had been removed for restoration work but have since been replaced. I’m sure they are quite impressive. We climbed up inside the windmill via the narrow and winding staircase. It’s a tight squeeze and you need to be sure of foot. The view from the top out of the tiny windows is interesting and the mechanism is fascinating and impressive to view.

Ta’Kola Windmill – sails off for repair!

Thank you for reading all the way to the end!

I do hope you have enjoyed this brief summary of our visits to the Heritage Malta sites that you can visit with a Heritage Malta multi site pass. We had 30 days to use our Family Heritage Malta multi site pass and easily managed to visit all 23 heritage sites and the Malta National Aquarium. I visited the Hypogeum alone and it was awesome!

We used the Malta public bus system with our passes to get around the two islands. We didn’t take all of the children to all of the sites as some times the long bus journeys were hard on them. Some of the routes are very popular and we had to stand for the entire 60 minute plus ride from Mellieha to Valetta. Then you get another bus to the sites after stopping for water, lunch and a toilet break at the Valetta bus station stalls.

I have plans to write more posts to share some additional images and information about the sites we visited. Please sign up to our newsletter or follow us on Facebook to receive notifications of new posts.