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FrançaisValencia rewards a slow visit: a Gothic cathedral you can climb, a covered market that still feeds the neighbourhood, a dry riverbed turned into a 9 km (5.6 mi) park, and the dish that made the city famous. I spent more than a month based in Valencia and worked my way through its old town, its beaches and its modern museum complex, and the highlights below are the ones I kept coming back to or recommending to other travellers.
Top tip: if you plan on sightseeing hard for a day or more, the Valencia Tourist Card bundles free public transport with entry to municipal museums and discounts elsewhere. It comes in 24-, 48- and 72-hour versions; the official price starts at around €15-17 ($17-20, £13-15) for the shortest option and rises for longer durations, and there are bundle versions that add entry to the Oceanogràfic or the City of Arts and Sciences. Check the current price before you buy, since it is revised often. Get it here.
Things to do in Valencia
Climb the bell tower of Valencia Cathedral
Climbing the Miguelete, the cathedral’s bell tower, gets you roughly 200 spiral steps up to a terrace with a wide rooftop view over Valencia’s old town, and it is worth the legwork even if you are not usually keen on heights. The climb is booked and paid separately from the cathedral itself: €3 ($3, £3) general admission and €2 ($2, £2) reduced, payable at the tower entrance.
Valencia Cathedral itself is one of the city’s most recognisable buildings, built between the 13th and 15th centuries in a mix of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles. The cathedral’s own ticket office prices the cultural visit, which includes the museum and an audio guide in ten languages, at €12 ($14, £10) for adults and €6 ($7, £5) for reduced-rate visitors such as pensioners, students and children aged 8 to 17; a family pack for two adults and up to three children costs €22 ($26, £19). Inside, look for one of Goya’s paintings in the museum and the chalice the cathedral says was used at the Last Supper, then look up at the ceiling artwork in the chapel. Both the paid cultural visit and the tower run shorter hours on Sundays than during the week, while the cathedral stays open for worship throughout.
Grab a bite at the Mercado Central
Grabbing a bite at the Mercado Central means choosing between fresh market produce and ready-to-eat stalls, all under one covered roof near the old town. Stalls sell fresh fruit, vegetables, cured meats and seafood, worth seeking out if your accommodation has a kitchen and you want to cook something with Valencian ingredients. Several other stands sell paella, tortilla, salads and pastries ready to go if you would rather eat on the spot.
Prices at the Mercado Central run higher than at an average Valencian supermarket, but the trade-off is fresher produce, a better sense of how locals shop, and direct support for small vendors.
Visit the Silk Exchange
La Lonja de la Seda, the Silk Exchange, is one of Valencia’s most striking Gothic buildings and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Silk arrived here along trade routes from Asia and, by the 1400s, had made Valencia one of Europe’s main markets for it; the trade grew so prosperous that a dedicated new exchange building was needed, completed in 1492. No silk is traded there today, but the building’s soaring twisted columns and vaulted hall still draw visitors from across the world.
If you want the history behind the building, the nearby Silk Museum covers Valencia’s silk trade in detail. You can buy a combined ticket for the Silk Museum and San Nicolás Church in advance to skip the ticket line.
Climb the old city gates: Torres de Serranos and Torres de Quart
Two medieval gate towers still stand where Valencia’s old walls once ran, and both let you climb to the top. Torres de Serranos, built in the 1390s and standing almost 33 m (108 ft) tall, is the older and larger of the two and doubled as a prison for noblemen after its defensive days. Torres de Quart, near the Mercado Central and the Silk Exchange, is smaller but its terrace gives a good view over both of those buildings.
The city’s own cultural office prices entry to each tower at €2 ($2, £2), reduced to €1 ($1, £1), with free admission on Sundays and public holidays. Torres de Serranos is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm and Sundays and holidays from 10am to 2pm; Torres de Quart follows a similar pattern. Either climb is worth it for the view alone, for roughly the price of a coffee.
Explore the street art in El Carmen
El Carmen, Valencia’s old town neighbourhood, was once run-down and cheap to live in, which is exactly what drew artists there and turned its walls into an open-air gallery. Murals here range from tiny hand-sized pieces to entire building facades, some political, some purely decorative, painted by local names such as Escif and Julieta alongside visiting international artists.
Graffiti is not officially sanctioned in El Carmen, so the authorities generally leave existing murals alone but do not guarantee they will stay; pieces get painted over or replaced without much notice. That turnover means the neighbourhood looks different every time you visit, so give yourself at least a couple of hours to wander without a fixed route.
Top tip: This guided street art tour walks you through El Carmen’s murals with a local guide who explains the artists’ techniques and the messages behind specific pieces.
See the bullring and bullfighting museum (optional)
I am against bullfighting and have never attended one, but the bullring and its museum are still part of Valencia’s cultural history, so I have included them for readers who want to learn about the tradition without watching it live. The Museo Taurino explains the history and evolution of bullfighting in Spain, and you can visit it without going anywhere near a live event.
The bullring itself, built between the 1850s and 1860s, is worth a look for the architecture alone, whether or not you have any interest in what happens inside it. You only need a ticket if you plan to attend an actual bullfight on a scheduled date; otherwise the building can be viewed from outside or as part of a general visit.
Spend a day at Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
The Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, or City of Arts and Sciences, is Valencia’s single biggest attraction and, if you only have one day in the city, this is where to spend it. It ranks alongside the Sagrada Família in Barcelona and the Guggenheim in Bilbao as one of Spain’s most photographed modern buildings, and the futuristic architecture alone, designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, is worth the visit before you set foot inside any of the exhibits.
The complex has several separate buildings. L’Hemisfèric, shaped like a giant eye, houses an IMAX cinema, planetarium and laser shows. The Museu de les Ciències, built to resemble a whale skeleton, covers human biology, space and physics with hands-on exhibits. The Umbracle is a landscaped walkway under stone arches, planted with species native to Valencia, dotted with sculptures by well-known artists. L’Oceanogràfic, the complex’s aquarium, is the largest in Europe and holds species including beluga whales, dolphins, sharks and turtles. The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía rounds out the complex with a regular programme of opera, theatre and other performing arts, worth checking if a show lines up with your visit.
The complex prices tickets in three tiers: a single-building ticket from about €8.90 ($10, £8), a combined two-venue ticket from about €41.30 ($48, £36), and the full three-venue pass covering the Hemisfèric, the Science Museum and the Oceanogràfic from about €47.75 ($55, £41), all for adults, with a reduced rate roughly 20% lower across the board. Rates shift by season, so check cac.es for the exact price on your travel dates. Top tip: if you want the Hemisfèric, the Science Museum and the Oceanogràfic in one visit, this skip-the-line pass covers all three and is valid for three days, so you can spread the visit out. If the aquarium is your priority, book Oceanogràfic tickets here.
Walk or cycle through Turia Garden
Turia Garden, the Jardín del Turia, runs through Valencia along the bed of a river that was diverted after a serious flood in the mid-20th century, and it is now the largest urban park in Spain, stretching about 9 km (5.6 mi) end to end. One tip of the park sits next to the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, so it makes a natural place to unwind after a few hours of museums. Along the way you will pass gardens, running and cycling paths, and sports facilities including a skate park and an athletics track.
If you are travelling with kids, the Gulliver Park section is free to enter and built around a giant reclining sculpture of Gulliver from Gulliver’s Travels, with slides and ramps built into his limbs and clothing. It is worth a stop even if the adults in your group just want to watch.
Relax on Valencia’s beaches
Relaxing on Valencia’s beaches starts with La Malvarrosa, the city’s most popular beach, lined with restaurants and cafes and backed by soft, golden sand. It connects directly to Las Arenas Beach, which is a little busier but still has a walkable promenade with places to eat and drink, and is reachable on foot or by public transport from downtown.
El Saler, Patacona and La Devesa sit further from the centre and give you more space and quieter sand if you are willing to travel a bit longer to get there.
Eat an authentic Valencian paella
Paella originated in Valencia, not Madrid, so eating one here is eating the dish in its birthplace. The base is rice cooked with saffron, tomato, onion, pepper and garlic; the traditional Valencian version adds chicken, rabbit and snails, while seafood and chorizo versions are common variations you will find on menus across the city. Order it at a sit-down restaurant rather than a fast-food counter, since a proper paella takes time to cook and is often made to order for at least two people.
Have coffee in hipster Ruzafa
Ruzafa has gone from a neighbourhood tourists avoided to one locals recommend, and it is where to go if you want a break from the old town’s tourist crowds. Alongside fresh produce markets and casual bars, the neighbourhood has dozens of independent coffee shops with books and board games on hand, aimed at a young, mixed local and expat crowd. It is an easy place to sit for an hour with good coffee and watch the neighbourhood go by.
Unwind in the Jardines del Real and Jardines de Monforte
The Jardines del Real, also called the Viveros, is a large botanical garden that branches off the main Turia Garden and is worth a stop when you need a shaded break from walking. Valencia’s Museum of Natural Sciences sits inside the park if you want an indoor detour.
Nearby, the smaller Jardines de Monforte is a formal, romantic garden dotted with marble statues, popular for wedding photography, and quieter than most green spaces this close to the centre.
Try horchata and fartons
Horchata is a cold, milky drink made from tiger nuts, sweetened and often served with a dash of cinnamon; it tastes considerably better than the ingredient list suggests. You will find it sold across the city in dedicated horchata shops called horchaterías. The classic way to drink it is alongside a farton, a long, soft pastry dusted with sugar that is meant for dunking.
Top tip: to go deeper into Valencia’s food scene, this tapas tour moves between several places to eat over the course of an evening, this paella cooking class teaches you to make the dish yourself, and this three-hour food tour covers the old town’s food shops with a local guide.
How many days do you need in Valencia?
Three to four days covers Valencia’s main sights at an easy pace, with a day left over for the beach or a day trip. Day one works well for the old town: the cathedral, the Silk Exchange, the Mercado Central and the city gates all sit within walking distance of each other. Day two suits the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, since the complex alone can fill most of a day if you go into the Oceanogràfic and the Science Museum. A third day can split between Turia Garden, El Carmen’s street art and Ruzafa’s coffee shops, and a fourth gives room for the beach or a slower pace if you are travelling with kids.
Valencia is warm for most of the year, and spring (April to June) and autumn (September and October) avoid both the summer crowds and the coldest, wettest weeks of winter. Book cathedral, tower and Ciudad de las Artes tickets a day or two ahead in peak season, since queues at the ticket office build up by mid-morning.
Getting to Valencia and where to stay
Valencia has its own airport with connections across Europe; comparing flight options on Trip.com before booking usually turns up the cheapest route in. From Madrid or Barcelona, the high-speed AVE train is the fastest overland option and can be checked and booked through Spain’s rail search. For accommodation, the old town and Ruzafa are the two most walkable bases; browsing Valencia hotels on Booking.com is a straightforward way to compare both areas against your budget.
Private customised tour of Valencia
If you want to see only what interests you and still get the context behind it, this private tailored tour lets you set the language, start time and meeting point yourself.
Other tours of Valencia
GetYourGuide also lists walking, cycling and Segway tours of Valencia; you can browse the full list here.
Moving to Valencia? Check if you need a permit
As an EU citizen, spending a month in Valencia or even relocating there involves very little paperwork. If you are coming from outside the EU, you will need a residency permit. This guide to getting a residence permit in Spain walks through the process in more detail.
About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the first-hand notes in this post come from her month based in Valencia. The team covers Spain for independent travellers, including the tours, neighbourhoods and practical logistics worth knowing before a city break, and updates this page when prices and opening hours change.
