Most film sets are torn down the week the cameras stop rolling. The crooked wooden town that Robert Altman built for Popeye in 1979 was never taken apart, and more than four decades later it still clings to the rocks of Anchor Bay, a short drive from Mellieħa. Come for the film history, stay for the view across the water, and know before you go what the ticket buys you in each season.
The film behind the village
Popeye was a live action musical directed by Robert Altman, with a screenplay by Jules Feiffer based on E. C. Segar's comic strip sailor. Robert Evans produced it, and it was a joint venture between Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions. Robin Williams played Popeye opposite Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl, with Paul L. Smith as Bluto and Ray Walston as Poopdeck Pappy.
Shooting began in Malta on 23 January 1980 and wrapped on 19 June, roughly three weeks behind schedule because the winter weather kept getting in the way. The film premiered in Los Angeles on 6 December 1980. On a budget of around $20 million it took about $60 million worldwide, but the town it left behind has arguably had the longer career.
How Sweethaven was built, and why it stayed
In the film the village is Sweethaven, a ramshackle harbour town of leaning timber houses. Construction started in June 1979 and a crew of 165 spent months on it, with the set taking seven months in total to finish. The numbers are the fun part: 19 wooden buildings, hundreds of logs and several thousand planks shipped in from the Netherlands, roof shingles from Canada, eight tons of nails and around 7,600 litres of paint. To stop winter storms wrecking everything, the production also built a breakwater across the mouth of Anchor Bay, somewhere between 60 and 75 metres long.
The set was built bigger than the script needed, and the production added its own recording studio, editing rooms and living quarters on site. Once filming ended, rather than being dismantled, it was turned into an open air museum and family attraction. That is what you visit today, and it is why the houses still look as if they might slide into the sea at any moment.
What is there today
The heart of a visit is simply wandering the original film set, poking into the little houses and looking down on the bay. Around it the village runs a full programme aimed squarely at families. According to the official site, at the time of writing that includes:
- Live animation shows and character meet and greets
- A short cinema documentary about the making of the film
- Popeye's Comic Museum and small museums around the set
- Silversmith demonstrations
- A nine hole mini golf course and traditional wooden games in the upper complex
- A "Take 2" filming experience with the animation crew
- In summer, boat rides, an inflatable water obstacle course, a floating sun deck, splash pools and a small lido with sunbeds
The set is mostly outdoors with steep ramps and plenty of steps. The village says wheelchair users and visitors with limited mobility can be driven down to the set to avoid the steepest ramp. Small dogs up to 10 kg are allowed on a lead, and drones are banned.
Tickets and opening hours
Prices and hours change by season. These are the official figures at the time of writing, so check before you go on popeyemalta.com, where you can also book online and skip the ticket queue.
- Low season (6 November 2026 to 30 April 2027): open daily from 9:30am to 5pm. Adults and teens €15, children aged 3 to 12 and pensioners €12.50 until 3 January 2027, then €16 and €13 from 4 January.
- Mid season (May, and October to early November): open daily from 9:30am to 5:30pm. Adults and teens €18, children and pensioners €14.
- High season (1 June to 30 September): open daily from 9:30am to 6pm. Adults and teens €25, children and pensioners €16.
In low season the attraction areas close ten minutes before closing time, and visitors aged 16 and under must be with an adult aged 18 or over. The summer price is higher because it includes the water activities and lido.
Getting there by bus and car
Popeye Village sits on Anchor Bay, about 3 km from the centre of Mellieħa in the northwest of Malta. By public transport, the route you want is bus 101, which runs between Mġarr and the Ċirkewwa ferry terminal and lists Popeye Village as one of its key stops. Note that some early morning and late evening journeys skip the Popeye Village stop, so check the timetable on publictransport.com.mt.
If you are coming from elsewhere on the island, the simplest plan is to get to Mellieħa first and change. Several routes serve the town, including the 41 from Pietà via Mosta and St Paul's Bay, the 222 from Sliema Ferries, the 221 from Buġibba and the limited stop X300 from Valletta. The village's own advice is to pick up the 101 at the stop in front of Mellieħa's primary school or at Belleview.
By car, head out of Mellieħa on the road towards Ċirkewwa and follow the signs for Anchor Bay. There is a large unpaved car park just outside the village. In August it can be full by mid morning, so arrive early on a summer weekend.
The free viewpoint across the bay
The postcard shot of Popeye Village, with the coloured houses stacked against the cliff and the water below, is taken from the other side of Anchor Bay. A road climbs the cliffside above the bay, and from there the whole village is laid out in front of you at no cost. Stay on the marked paths and keep well back from the edges, which are not fenced. Late afternoon gives the warmest light, and it is a good place to watch the sun go down. If you only want the photograph, fifteen minutes here may be all you need.
Best time to visit, and Halloween
Summer is the full experience, with the water activities and lido running and the longest opening hours, but it is also the busiest and the most expensive. May, October and early November bring lower prices and gentler heat. From November to April the water attractions are packed away and a visit becomes more of a stroll around a piece of film history, which suits adults travelling without children perfectly well. This stretch of coast catches the wind, so bring a layer outside the summer months.
Around Halloween the village dresses up as Popeye's Haunted Village. The 2025 edition ran from 31 October to 5 November during normal daytime hours, with puppet and animation shows, a parade, trick or treating and face painting, and children were encouraged to come in costume. Check the listing for this year's dates and programme.
Visiting Popeye Village
Allow 45 minutes to an hour for the set itself if you are visiting without children, and four or five hours if you plan to make a beach day of it in summer. Book online, bring sun protection and comfortable shoes for the ramps, and save the viewpoint for the end of the day. If Popeye has given you a taste for Malta on screen, our map of films shot in Malta by locality covers everything from Gladiator to Napoleon, and our guide to Game of Thrones locations in Malta takes you to the walls of the original King's Landing in Mdina.
