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Valencia

Valencia, Spain: Paella, Futuristic Architecture, and the Old City

The Valencia marina and skyline seen from the harbour on a clear blue day.

Photo: Mukeber · BY-4.0

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The City of Arts and Sciences (Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències), designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, is the defining image of modern Valencia. The complex sits at the end of the old Turia river bed — the river was diverted south after the catastrophic flood of 1957 and the original course is now a nine-kilometer park — and includes the Hemisfèric (IMAX cinema), the Museu de les Ciències Príncep Felip (science museum), and the Oceanogràfic (Europe's largest oceanarium). The Oceanogràfic alone takes three hours; the science museum is better for families with children; the complex is visually extraordinary at dusk when the white concrete and blue glass pools reflect the sky.

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The old city around the Mercado Central and the Cathedral is the historical center. The Mercado Central, a 1928 modernist covered market, is one of the largest in Europe — 8,000 square meters of fresh produce stalls under a stained-glass dome. Arrive before 2 p.m. when it closes; the produce sellers have the market; the tourists have one half and the locals the other. The Cathedral next door contains what Valencia claims is the Holy Grail (a first-century agate cup that several medieval popes recognized as the one used at the Last Supper — the Vatican has not officially weighed in). The climb to the Miguelete bell tower takes about ten minutes and gives a rooftop view over the orange trees of the old city.

Paella should be eaten in Valencia and not in a tourist restaurant on the harbor. Authentic Valencian paella is made with chicken and rabbit (not seafood), uses sofregit (a tomato-based sofrito), and is cooked outdoors over a wood fire in a wide flat pan until a caramelized crust (the socarrat) forms on the bottom. Restaurants in the Albufera natural park, twenty minutes south of the city, specialize in this; Las Arenas beach, five kilometers from the city, has a well-regarded concentration of paella houses. Lunch is the meal for paella; the ovens are not typically running at dinner.

The Turia Gardens, the nine-kilometer linear park in the former river bed, is the city's open air living room — playgrounds, sports courts, rose gardens, the Palau de la Música concert hall, and the City of Arts and Sciences all threaded along a single car-free corridor.

Good to know

Overview

Cruise ships dock at the passenger terminal at the entrance to the Port of Valencia, about 6 kilometers from the city center, so plan on a bus, a shuttle or a taxi rather than a walk. City bus stops are a few minutes' walk from the terminal.

  • The terminal has boarding bridges straight onto the ships, a Valencia Tourist Office desk, souvenir and duty-free shops, a restaurant and café, and a taxi service.
  • Shuttles run inside the port area and to the city center. Ask your ship which one serves your berth.
  • City bus lines 4, 30 and 95 serve the port.
  • From the terminal, the City of Arts and Sciences is about 3 kilometers away and Malvarrosa beach about 3.5 kilometers.

Valencia on Your Own

Valencia's old town is too far to walk to from the ship, so the day starts with a bus, a shuttle or a taxi, but once you arrive the center is flat and the main sights are close together. A simple plan is the Central Market and the old town in the morning, a paella lunch, and a stroll in the Turia Garden before heading back.

  • Into town: A single ride on a city bus cost €2.00 in 2026. Line 95 passes many of the main sights. Check before you go.
  • The Central Market: It opens Monday to Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is closed on Sundays, so go in the morning.
  • The old town: The Silk Exchange, the cathedral and the Serranos Towers are among the old town's landmarks, and many of its streets are closed to traffic.
  • The Turia Garden: The old riverbed is now a park of more than 8 kilometers that crosses the city and ends at the City of Arts and Sciences, and it can be walked or cycled from end to end.
  • Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own, and the port is a ride from the center, so allow for traffic.

Getting Around

In the center the main sights are a short walk apart, and buses, the metro and trams cover the longer trips. Valencia has 60 bus lines, 6 metro lines and 4 tram lines, and it is flat, which makes it an easy city to cycle.

  • A single bus ticket cost €2.00 in 2026. Metro fares ran from €1.50 for one zone to €4.80 for the airport, plus €1.10 for a reusable card. Check before you go.
  • The Valencia Tourist Card gives unlimited travel on the metro, buses, trams and local trains for 24, 48 or 72 hours.
  • The city has more than 200 kilometers of bike lanes, and the Turia Garden makes a car-free route across town.

What to Eat

Paella valenciana, made with chicken, rabbit and two local kinds of bean, is the city's dish, and in Valencia it is eaten at lunch rather than dinner. Most restaurants cook it to order for at least two people, so reserve a table in advance and name the dish when you do.

  • The crisp layer of rice on the bottom of the pan is the socarrat, the part Valencians prize most.
  • Fideuà is cooked like paella but with noodles instead of rice, usually with seafood, and arròs negre is rice with squid in its own ink.
  • Horchata is a cold, sweet drink made from tiger nuts.
  • The esmorzaret is the local mid-morning meal, a sandwich with small plates and a drink, eaten between 9 a.m. and noon.
  • The Central Market's stalls include butchers, poultry sellers and even snail sellers; snails go into some local rice dishes, such as rice with rabbit and snails.

Tipping Guide

Tipping in Spain is optional. It is common when the service has been good, especially in hotels and restaurants. Spain uses the euro.

  • Cash, cards and contactless phone payments are all widely accepted.
  • You can change money in the city center and at the airport.

Culture & Local Life

Valencian and Spanish are both official languages, and the city's best-known buildings range from the Gothic Silk Exchange to the modern City of Arts and Sciences. Every March, the Fallas festival fills the streets with giant satirical figures that are burned on the last night.

  • La Lonja de la Seda, the silk exchange built between 1482 and 1533, is a World Heritage Site, and its trading hall is held up by twisted stone columns.
  • The cathedral stands on the site of a mosque and keeps a chalice that many believe to be the Holy Grail.
  • The Serranos Towers, built between 1392 and 1398, were the main gate in the city wall.
  • The City of Arts and Sciences, designed by Santiago Calatrava, stretches for almost 2 kilometers along the old riverbed.
  • The Fallas run from March 15 to 19, and UNESCO added them to its intangible cultural heritage list in 2016.

A Brief History

Valencia has been Roman, Muslim and a major city of the Crown of Aragon, and in the 20th century it was briefly Spain's seat of government. The flood of 1957 changed its shape, turning the river into the park that now runs through the middle of the city.

  • 138 BC: The consul Decimus Junius Brutus founded Valentia as a settlement for his veteran legionaries. It was destroyed in the Sertorian Wars in 75 BC and rebuilt.
  • 714: Muslim rule began and the city was renamed Balansiya. Under Muslim rule the irrigation system that created the farmland around the city was built.
  • 1094: Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid, made himself lord of the city.
  • 1238: James I of Aragon entered Valencia on 9 October, and gave it its own laws, the Furs. The first stone of the cathedral was laid in 1262, on the site of the former mosque.
  • The 15th century: The silk trade drove the city's economy, and the Silk Exchange was built between 1482 and 1533.
  • 1707: After the Battle of Almansa, Philip V abolished the Furs, and Valencia lost its self-government.
  • 1936 to 1937: During the Civil War, Valencia was the seat of the Republican government.
  • 1957: A flood of the Turia in October killed 81 people. The river was diverted south of the city, and its old bed became a park.
  • To learn more ashore: L'Almoina, the city's archaeological museum on Plaza de la Almoina in the historic center, sits at the spot the city counts as its kilometer zero.

Traveling with Family

Valencia is a good city for children because it is flat, and the Turia Garden links most of the family sights. Choose by age: the playground and the Science Museum's play area for younger children, the zoo and the aquarium for school age, and a bike ride for teenagers.

  • Younger children: Gulliver Park, in the Turia Garden, is a playground built as a giant figure of Gulliver, with ramps and slides. The Science Museum at the City of Arts and Sciences has a play area for ages 3 to 8.
  • School age: Bioparc is a zoo of African animals, among them giraffes, rhinos and lemurs.
  • All ages: The Oceanogràfic is a large aquarium with beluga whales and a walk-through shark tunnel. Allow at least three hours.
  • Teenagers: Rent a bike and ride the length of the Turia Garden to the City of Arts and Sciences.
  • On the beach: Keep small children within arm's reach in the sea.

Accessibility

Valencia is flat, and many streets in the historic center are closed to traffic. The cruise terminal has boarding bridges straight onto the ships and help for passengers with reduced mobility.

  • The terminal is about 6 kilometers from the center, so ask your ship before you sail whether its shuttle can take a wheelchair.
  • An accessibility guide to adapted hotels and restaurants is available online.
  • The Turia Garden gives a long route across the city away from traffic.

Shopping in Valencia

Shops in Valencia generally open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Saturday, and in the main tourist areas many also open on Sundays with shorter hours; check before you go. Calle de la Paz has the upmarket boutiques, and the Carmen and Ruzafa neighborhoods have the independent shops.

  • Plaza Redonda and the Mercado de Colón are two places in the center worth browsing.
  • Look for local designers and craft workshops as well as the familiar chains.
  • Visitors who live outside the EU can claim a VAT refund in shops that offer the Tax Free service.

Beaches

Cabanyal, Malvarrosa and Patacona beaches form more than 3 kilometers of sand near the port. Malvarrosa is about 3.5 kilometers from the cruise terminal.

  • The Marina de Valencia lies between the port and Cabanyal beach.
  • Restaurants on the promenade behind the beaches serve paella and other rice dishes.
  • City buses, the metro and bike lanes all reach the beaches from the center.
  • The Albufera, a freshwater lagoon about 12 kilometers south of the city, is where the region's rice is grown.
  • Many beaches use warning flags, and a red flag means you must not enter the water.
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