Popeye Village

In EC Segar's Thimble Theatre comic strip, Popeye the Sailor gained notoriety for his beefy-arms and spinach-eating ways almost a century ago. The one-eyed mariner has since made his way across television cartoons, arcade games, advertising campaigns, and candy cigarette boxes with a cheery march. However, he had to wait 50 years before Hollywood decided to cast him. In the 1980s hit musical, Robin Williams played the pipe-smoking sailor in the title role. It was filmed in Popeye Village, a theme park, near Malta's picturesque Anchor Bay.

This isolated area on the island, located two miles northwest of the tranquil village of Mellieħa, was chosen for its incredibly picturesque surroundings. It was the perfect place to build Sweethaven Village, where Popeye lands on his journey to find his father and instead encounters the charming Olive Oyl and her  fiancé Captain Bluto. Sweethaven Village was carved into a cliff face overlooking the dazzling Mediterranean. It took seven months to build the 20 bright wooden structures in 1979, and thirty years later they have successfully evolved into one of Malta's top family-friendly attractions.

Explore Popeye's Cabin, which includes the sailor's original "hammock bed," and the Nautical School, where the Popeye The Sailor Man theme song is played pretty much nonstop, by going inside. You'll run into  Popeye and Olive along the road, who bring a surprisingly sophisticated degree of character-driven, tongue-in-cheek humor with them. Every visitor participates in the upbeat interactive choreographies of Popeye's catchy I Yam What I Yam, which are projected onto a large screen by a busy team of camera technicians and animators working very hard to reproduce the Hollywood experience. In keeping with Popeye Village's strong no-digital rule, there is also nautical-themed mini golf, face painting, and a delightful museum of antique Popeye paraphernalia.

Cool up with a swim at the beach after your journey. A barrier was created across the bay while the set was being built to shield it from the high seas while filming. As a result, Popeye Village Fun Park's shoreline are the calmest on the entire island. Water trampolines and 20-minute boat trips across the bay are available for the daring and active, while sunbathers can lounge on the deck or cool down in the Splash Pool.