TRIP DOSSIER. Active Gozo MALTA & GOZO

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1 TRIP DOSSIER MALTA & GOZO Explore this coastal paths on bike Go climbing and abseiling on the rocky island of Gozo Discover caves and bays by kayak Swim and snorkel in the warm Mediterranean waters Trip Code: FMAG For dates and prices visit Valid from March 2016

2 2 Introduction Gozo, the smaller sister island of Malta, is a well kept Mediterranean secret. Our family holiday helps you explore the best it has to offer by mixing water and land based activities, active sports, lazy days and eco experiences. Experience Gozo by horse and carriage, explore rural and coastal paths by bike, explore caves and bays by kayak, and meet locals at work and play to get an insight into life beyond the tourist trail. Detailed Itinerary Day 1 Join the tour in Malta, and transfer to Gozo Arrival at Malta s Luqa Airport, where you will be met by our driver and taken to the ferry terminal for your 25 minute crossing to the island of Gozo. (See How to join and depart this trip section later in the trip dossier) On arrival at Mgarr harbour, Gozo, another driver will take you to your bed and breakfast accommodation at the group hotel in the picturesque fishing village of Xlendi. Spend time relaxing in your en-suite hotel room or perhaps explore the local harbour and beach before meeting with your tour representative in the evening. Hotel, Xlendi Day 2 Half Day Bike Tour Explore the varied scenery of Gozo by mountain bike (bike helmets are provided). Starting from Ghab, the tour avoids Gozo s many hills, and takes you on a route through rural fields with their rubble walls and wild flowers and herbs, along stunning coastal paths, through the eerie landscape of the Roman salt pans. After a delightful bike ride, you ll return by minibus to your hotel in Xlendi. The afternoon is yours to rest, swim or explore. Day 3 Discover Gozo After a few days in Gozo, you ll soon fit into the chilled way of life. Traditional values remain strong in Gozo, and with such great scenery, food, celebrations and games, you ll soon see why! This popular family day takes you well off the tourist trail to meet locals working in agriculture, food production and traditional crafts and all happy to answer your questions about life in Gozo. Interactions with local Gozitans helps visitors understand more about Gozo; about the importance of tradition and family. Over the years many traditional skills have been lost, with so many advances in technology and children moving away from the family business an interest and admiration from visitors helps foster a sense of pride amongst Gozitan people which we hope to keep these skills alive. Food is a big part of Maltese life and culture. We hope you enjoy sampling the local delicacies and afterwards we head off to try the local game of bocci and receive some coaching from the local experts. Hotel, Xlendi (breakfast and platter lunch) Day 4 Free Day For a small island you ll find there is plenty to keep you busy on your free day. A hop-on hop-off bus runs around the island making it easy to get around the major sites. For culture buffs we recommend exploring the Citadella in Victoria or the world s oldest free standing building Gigantia in the village of Xaghra. For an active day, you ll find Gozo has many world class scuba diving sites and dive schools catering for new and advanced divers. For pampering we can recommend great restaurants, wine tours and spas. And of course there are plenty of beaches and swimming areas to try! Alternatively, you might choose to do an optional cruise around Comino. You ll take a short minibus journey to the harbour where you ll board the charter boat. Following a safety briefing the boat departs on a cruise around the island s clear waters, stopping at the best places to swim and to snorkel. Visit the Blue Lagoon and sail around the passing rocky bays and inlets.

3 3 Relax on the boat, and enjoy the scenery, or hit the water to enjoy spotting marine life amongst the rocks and sunken wrecks as the boat cruises around the island of Comino. Enjoy a picnic lunch on board the boat and return to the hotel late in the afternoon and the rest of the day is free. Remember your swimwear, sunscreen, a hat and towel. Day 5 Sea Kayaking Experience the tranquility of Gozo s coastline with a day kayaking. Our guide will take you through the basics before you head out onto the clear waters to practice your skills and to explore the many caves and bays. Stops are made for swimming and for a picnic lunch and points of interest are explained along the way. Hotel, Xlendi (breakfast and picnic lunch) Day 6 Free Day A free day to relax on the beach or explore more of Gozo. Please refer to the optional activities these can be booked in advance with our local team. Day 7 Half day climbing & abseiling Gozo is a very rocky place, so where better to learn to climb or abseil? Our guide will take you from the hotel to the best sites on the island to learn the basics of rope craft and how to safely navigate a rock face. Admire the view and pat yourself on the back as you slowly progress to more difficult routes. The afternoon is yours to relax or continue your exploration of the island. Day 8 Departure Day Transfer from your hotel to the ferry, and then back to the airport. Your tour leader will confirm the departure time from the hotel the day before. See How to join and depart this trip section. Each itinerary is planned many months in advance and although it is our intention to operate the itinerary as printed in the brochure and detailed here, it may be necessary to make some changes as a result of alterations to flight schedules, climatic conditions, limitations of infrastructure or other operational factors which are beyond our control. Included meals are indicated in the daily itinerary. Please note all activities / locations subject to last minute change. Where an activity has to be cancelled for safety reasons, we will always do our best to offer an alternative activity. Practical Information How to join and depart your trip Rendezvous at Malta Luqa Airport, you will be met by our local representative and taken to the Cirkewwa ferry terminal. You then board the ferry as foot passengers. On arrival at Mgarr ferry terminal on Gozo, you will be met by our local representative and taken to the group hotel in Xlendi. Airport and ferry transfers are included in the price of this tour. If you are travelling Land Only please ensure you advise us your flight times, so we may coordinate your transfers. The final departure point for this trip is Malta Luqa Airport. Again we will coordinate the group transfers from our group hotel in Xlendi, ferry across to Malta and a booked taxi transfer to the airport in time for your international flight. The ferry and taxi transfers are include in the tour cost. Flight Inclusive We recommend that you book this trip as a 'Flight Inclusive' package. Booking your international flights through Families Worldwide guarantees you peace of mind and provides 100% financial protection under our CAA ATOL licence. What's more, if you book your flights with us as well as your ground arrangements, we will manage these flight arrangements both before and during your trip. As an ATOL Licence holder, we are able to secure and arrange competitively-priced airfares with most major airlines from the UK, as well as the option of regional departures too.

4 4 Land only If you would prefer to arrange your own international travel you can book this trip as a 'Land Only' package, where the price does not include international flights. Please note that if you are booking your own flights there are certain risks you should be aware of. Many airline tickets purchased directly are non-refundable and often do not provide you with any financial protection (unlike booking your flights with ourselves where you would be 100% protected under our CAA ATOL licence). For this reason we strongly advise that you check the rules of any flight booking you make, and check the limitations under any insurance policy you may have in relation to cancellation or date changes. We cannot be held liable for any losses incurred or consequences of any flight bookings or related travel arrangements you have made yourself, such as if your international flights were delayed or cancelled and you could not join or depart your holiday on time. If you do decide to book Land Only, we strongly advise that you do not book international flights or make other travel arrangements (especially if there are financial penalties for cancellation or change) until your chosen holiday is guaranteed to run. Please also ensure when making your own international travel arrangements that they enable you to join and depart this trip in accordance with the criteria specified in the How to join and depart this trip section of this Trip Dossier. Accommodation Your accommodation is in a comfortable three star hotel, overlooking Xlendi Bay on the western shore of island of Gozo. The en-suite rooms are air-conditioned and overlook the hotel atrium. Valley and sea view rooms are available for a supplement. The hotel has a small splash pool on the roof sun terrace, and is only 3 metres from the clear blue sea. The hotel facilities also include a restaurant and bar stretching out onto the terrace and offering spectacular views of the sea. Only 3 km from the capital Victoria making this an easy destination to visit in your free time. Climate Situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Malta and Gozo s weather and climate are strongly influenced by the sea and have a very characteristic Mediterranean flavour, similar to that found in southern Italy or southern Greece. The winters are mild, with only rare occurrences of cold weather brought by north and northeast winds from central Europe. Summers are warm, dry, and very sunny. Daytime temperatures in summer are usually mitigated by cooling sea breezes, but in spring and autumn a very hot wind from Africa occasionally brings unpleasantly high temperatures. This is the sirocco, which also affects Italy and Greece; in Malta the air is usually rather drier because of the short sea track from the African coast. Annual rainfall in Malta and Gozo is rather low and the length of the dry season in summer is longer than in southern Italy. Malta and Gozo has a very sunny climate with an average of five to six hours of sunshine a day in midwinter and over twelve hours a day in summer. It is of course impossible to predict the precise weather conditions you will encounter during the course of your holiday. However, we do schedule our holidays to coincide with what should be the most suitable weather periods. Seasonal variations and localised weather conditions, as well as unseasonal weather means you should always be prepared for inclement weather including rain and storms. As a general rule daytime temperatures will be higher than night time and increases/decreases in altitude during the course of a trip usually means temperature variations. As a general rule temperatures decrease by 1ºC for every 200 metre increase in altitude. You may be able to find climate statistics for this country at Is this right for your family? Based in the beautiful island of Gozo this is a quiet and peaceful island but full of adventure and activities galore. Nowhere is far on the island of Gozo and you can get to most places within a 30 minute drive. On your free afternoons why not go snorkelling, or perhaps venture on an underwater safari tour, go climbing or even take a jeep safari. Enjoy exploring the citadel of Victoria; with its beautiful churches and buildings to wander around, there are plenty of cafes to stop for a coffee with a Maltese pastry and ice cream! Single Parents Single parents or other adults travelling alone with children should be aware that some countries, including the UK, require documentation confirming that the individual has authority to travel with the minor. It is crucial that you contact the relevant country embassy for further information on exactly what may be required. These details can be found on the Foreign & Commonwealth Website under the appropriate country Vaccinations & health We always recommend visiting your doctor and dentist for a check-up before travelling. Your doctor will also have access to the most up to date information on vaccinations and medical precautions for the country you are about to visit. In general we recommend however, that you be protected against TB, Typhoid, Polio, Tetanus and Hepatitis B. A useful travel health online resource is fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk First Aid You should always carry your own small, personal first aid kit. This should consist of the following: A general anti-biotic, throat lozenges, painkillers, plasters (bandaids), blister treatment, insect repellent, rehydration salts, antiseptic cream, anti-histamine cream (for insect bites), diarrhoea treatment (e.g. Imodium or similar).

5 5 Local Costs Tea or coffee 1.50 A small bottle of mineral water (500ml) 0.50 A large bottle of mineral water (1 litre) 0.70 A can of coke (soft drinks) 1.00 A carton or bottle of fruit juice 0.70 A bottle of local beer 1.50 A two course meal excluding drinks A three course meal excluding drinks *Based on a mid-range tourist restaurant. Security Whilst the vast majority of travellers never experience anything untoward it is worth taking precautions, particularly in urban areas. You should take sensible precautions in crowded areas such as street markets and airports, where pick-pocketing is common, and keep clear of any street disturbances. Don t wear expensive jewellery or leave your bags unattended. Keep large amounts of money, camera and mobile phones out of sight when walking in town centres, and avoid walking in city centres after dark. Keep copies of important documents, including passports, in a separate place to the documents themselves, together with details of credit cards. Leave copies at home with a friend too. Safeguard valuables, important documents and cash and deposit them in hotel safes, where practicable. Currency The unit of currency in Malta is the Euro. ATM machines are widely available in Victoria, the capital of Gozo. Please refer to for up to date rate of exchange. We recommend that you change money before you travel or at the airport. Language The official language is Maltese however English is spoken in the country s resorts, hotels and restaurants. Time Malta is Central European Time (CET) standard GMT +1 (summer time GMT+2hrs) Tipping Tipping is a recognised part of life and, although at your discretion, you will be expected to reward service. Please remember that all tips should be a way for individuals to thank staff for good service. You may wish to tip your Tour Leader in recognition of their contribution towards your overall enjoyment of the holiday. As a guideline each person should allow 2 to 3 per day to cover tips for local staff, including your tour leader. Local restaurants expect 10% of the bill. Maps We recommend Stanfords at Long Acre, London WC2E 9LP (Tel: ) Travel Insurance Comprehensive travel insurance is compulsory when joining a trip with Families Worldwide. To arrange cover for single or multi-trip, please contact one of our family travel consultants. Passports & Visas British passport holders do not require a visa for a visit to Malta, but please ensure your passport has at least 6 months validity. You will need to apply and purchase your own Visa. Please note that visa/entry requirements and prices change regularly. You can obtain the latest visa information, as well as book your visa either by contacting your reservation consultant, or by following the link below to our designated visa service: Please allow plenty of time for your visa application to be processed. We also recommend you visit the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website for up to date information on the country/countries you are visiting, embassy contact details and other useful advice. Clothing & Equipment Please check our website for the most up to date information regarding packing for your trip. The information we provide is our suggested guide to help you with your packing based upon our many years of travelling. Using your own judgment for packing is of course important, especially with regard to casual clothing etc but please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about packing for your trip.