Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
L'Eixample & Southern Valencia
This aesthetically stunning complex occupies a massive 350,000-sq-metre swath of the old Turia riverbed. It’s occupied by a series of spectacular…
Must-see attractions in Valencia
Valencia
Valencia’s cathedral was built over a mosque after the 1238 reconquest. Its low, wide, brick-vaulted triple nave is mostly Gothic, with neoclassical side…
Valencia
Recently reopened to the public after a magnificent restoration, this single-naved church down a passageway is a striking sight. Over the original Gothic…
Valencia
This seminary was founded in the late 16th century by San Juan de Ribera, a towering Counter-Reformation figure who wielded enormous spiritual and…
Valencia
This splendid building, a Unesco World Heritage Site, was originally Valencia’s silk and commodity exchange, built in the late 15th century when the city…
Western Valencia
This zoo devoted solely to African animals has an educational and conservationist remit and an unusual approach. Though, as always, the confinement of…
Valencia
Bright and spacious, this gallery ranks among Spain’s best. Highlights include a collection of magnificent late-medieval altarpieces, and works by several…
Valencia
Valencia’s vast Modernista covered market, constructed in 1928, is a swirl of smells, movement and colour. Spectacular seafood counters display…
Valencia
Stretching the length of Río Turia’s former course, this 9km-long lung of green is a fabulous mix of playing fields, cycling, jogging and walking paths,…
Barrio del Carmen
Spain's most magnificent city gate is quite a sight from the new town. You can clamber to the top of the 15th-century structure, which faces towards…
Valencia
Inside a striking palace, this ceramics museum celebrates an important local industry. Downstairs (which also features a decadent hand-painted 1753…
Museo de las Ciencias Príncipe Felipe
L'Eixample & Southern Valencia
This interactive science museum, stretching like a giant whale skeleton within the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, has plenty of touchy-feely things…
Institut Valencià d’Art Modern
Barrio del Carmen
This impressive gallery hosts excellent temporary exhibitions and owns a small but impressive collection of 20th-century Spanish art. The most reliably…
L'Eixample & Southern Valencia
Spain's most famous aquarium is the southernmost building of the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. It's an impressive display, divided into a series of…
Valencia
This conversion of a handsome art deco factory that once made hydraulic pumps has created an intriguing space for modern art. There's a particularly good…
Valencia
These under-the-radar ornamental gardens designed in the mid-19th century are a peaceful spot to escape the city. Marble statues, sculpted hedges and a…
Valencia's Beaches
The northern stretch of Valencia's main beach has a quieter, more local scene, but still gets busy in summer. It's backed by lovely traditional houses…
Barrio del Carmen
Once the main exit to Barcelona and the north, the imposing 14th-century Torres de Serranos overlooks the former bed of the Río Turia. Together with the…
Palacio del Marqués de Dos Aguas
Valencia
Quite a sight from outside, this immoderate palace has a pair of wonderfully extravagant rococo caryatids curling around the main entrance. The exterior…
L'Eixample & Southern Valencia
Brooding over the riverbed like a giant beetle, its shell shimmering with translucent mosaic tiles, this ultramodern arts complex, grafted onto the Ciudad…
Barrio del Carmen
In the grounds of a former convent, this cultural space hosts everything from music and movies to yoga and debates. In the large garden, food is served…
Valencia
In a city full of impressive bridges, Puente de las Flores is one of Valenicia's most spectacular – and undoubtedly its sweetest smelling. Designed by…
Valencia
Beneath the square just east of Valencia’s cathedral, the archaeological remains of the kernel of Roman, Visigoth and Islamic Valencia shimmer through a…
Valencia
Valencia’s handsome neoclassical town hall dominates the square that takes its name. Within is the Museo Histórico Municipal, a repository of items…
L'Eixample & Southern Valencia
This roughly 170-year-old bullring is an iconic site next to Estación del Norte. Similar in style to Rome’s Colosseum, the 10,500-capacity bullring has…
Valencia
Turn left as you enter the main portal of the cathedral for the climb up to El Miguelete, the emblematic octagonal tower. It's apparently 51m high,…
L'Eixample & Southern Valencia
This magnificent building, now colonised by cafes and boutique food outlets, was formerly a market, built in 1916 to serve the rising bourgeoisie of the…
Valencia
Trains first chugged into this richly adorned Modernista terminal in 1917. Its main foyer is decorated with ceramic mosaics and murals – and mosaic ‘bon…
Valencia's Beaches
This restored rice mill gives good background on the importance to the city of the grain, grown in the nearby Albufera, with a video (English subtitles)…
Valencia's Beaches
Stretching north from the marina, this is the beginning of Valencia's beach, the closest to the centre and the focal point of seaside life. Backed by…
Valencia
This visually elegant modern museum makes the most of its lovely location in the 15th-century (with baroque additions) palace that was the seat of the…
Barrio del Carmen
With more than 95,000 pieces on display and over a million in total, L’Iber, set in a historic palace, claims to be the world’s largest collection of toy…
Western Valencia
This museum is very well presented and plots more than 2000 years of Valencia’s history. Each period is illustrated with a display case that makes the…
Valencia
Newly reopened, this cathedral museum is a good-looking blend of the modern and venerable. There are some excellent religious paintings here; it's…
L'Eixample & Southern Valencia
At each Fallas festival, just one of the thousands of ninots, the figurines that pose at the base of each falla (huge statues of papier mâché and…
Barrio del Carmen
This ethnographic display is very sleek and modern, a welcome relief after the overly didactic archaeological museum that shares the halls in the…
Valencia
The 15th-century Almudín originally served as the city’s granary, storing wheat brought in from the surrounding countryside. Writing high up on the…
Valencia's Beaches
Sturdy old ladies brought up in the tough streets of the fishing barrio of Cabanyal jostle each other and suspiciously prod the vegetables in this vibrant…
Valencia's Beaches
Originally constructed in the 14th century in Gothic style, these five parallel warehouses have been much altered over the years, but are still an…
Barrio del Carmen
Behind the church on the landmark Plaza del Carmen, this centre occupies the handsome Gothic cloister and rooms of the monastery that once backed it. It's…
