Valencia City of Arts and Sciences Tourist Guide Valencia

VALENCIA grew alongside the river Turia for many years until the devastating flood of 1957.
It was then decided that living alongside the river imposed a huge risk and the river was diverted. Today, the Turia’s old riverbed is the largest urban garden in Spain.
The old riverbed is now a verdant sunken park that allows cyclists and pedestrians to traverse much of the city without the use of roads. The park, called the ‘Garden of the Turia’ (Jardí del Túria/Jardín del Turia) boasts numerous ponds, paths, fountains, flowers, football pitches, cafés, artworks, climbing walls, an athletics track, a zen garden and more. The [...]

The Museo de Ciencias Naturales of Valencia is a hidden jewel in another corner of Turia city, the Royal Gardens, better known as Viveros.
It’s not a very well known museum and therefore rarely crowded. So much so it doesn’t even have its own website!
It is a home to an enormous collection of ancient fossils and large dinosaur skeletons so the Museum of Natural Sciences appeals to all ages. With large and spacious exhibition halls, other museum attractions include informative displays about evolution, together with prehistoric information about the Valencia area.
Museum of Natural Science
Hours: Tuesday to [...]

The main attraction in the Turia riverbed is Parque Gulliver.
This is an amazing play area based around the figure of the mythical Gulliver, tied to the ground by the inhabitants of Lilliput. The slides provide hours of fun for children and adults and its completely free.

Prince Felipe Museum of Science is part of Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències.
The building was designed by Santiago Calatrava and was built in a joint venture of Fomento de Construcciones and Contratas and Necso. It was opened on 13th November 2000.
The building was designed in 1991 and construction began in 1996. It is over 41,000 square meters in area and resembles the prehistoric-skeleton of a whale. The building is three stories high and is surrounded by clear blue swimming pools. The side of the swimming pool provides a long slow walk. Each one of the three floors provides an area of [...]

The Oceanografico is a marine structure located in the eastern part of Valencia.
Spread over an area of 100,000 m2, it is home to hundreds of marine water and fresh water aquatic species.
The whole area is amazingly constructed under water. This underwater aquarium holds 45,000 aquatic creatures of 500 species. These include invertebrates, reptiles, birds and fish. Visitors can see the deadly sharks swimming inches away from the protective glass panels. Penguins, sea lions, dolphins, beluga whales, walruses and many more aquatic species move freely in this gigantic aquarium. No aquarium would be complete without a dolphin show and Oceanografico has one of the [...]

The Bioparc is a huge expanse covering over 25 acres, home to many of species of animals.
It is a zoo, but with a twist – a safari-like experience for the visitor, as the animals are in enclosures rather than cages, many without glass or fencing keeping them at bay.
For example, one of the zones you’ll encounter is the Madagascar Zone – home to monkeys and playful lemurs to welcome you as you enter the zone. The animals walk freely across your path and sit on the grassy slopes close to you. Of course you cannot feed or touch the animals, but this [...]

The Hemisfèric is part of Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències.
The Hemisfèric was the first building in the City of Arts and Sciences to open its doors to the public in 1998.
This spectacular construction was designed by the Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava, with an ovoid roof spanning over 100 metres that contains the large sphere that constitutes the projection room of the IMAX cinema.

L’Hemisféric
CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR ENTRANCE TICKETS AND JUMP THE QUEUES!
Combined tickets for other venues in the complex can also be purchased.

The Umbracle at the City of Arts and Sciences is a spectacular gardened esplanade with incredible views to the whole complex.
The Umbracle is a vantage point of over 17,500 square metres from which all the buildings, lakes, walkways, and landscaped areas of the City of Arts and Sciences can be viewed.
Its vegetation is characteristic of the Region of Valencia and changes according to the season of the year. It also contains an exhibition of contemporary sculptures by internationally acknowledged artists.
Beneath L’Umbracle is the car park for the City of Arts and Sciences which has room for 690 light vehicles and 20 coaches [...]

The Botanical Garden of the University of Valencia was founded in 1567.
Throughout 200 years it was an orchard of medicinal plants for Medicinal studies. Until the 19th century it occupied diverse locations in the city of Valencia. It was in 1802 when it definitively located it to the University in the Orchard of Tramoyeres, outside the walls of the city, in the environs of the convent of San Sebastián, near the Towers of Quart.
Throughout the 19th century botany classes were held and the acclimatization of plants of agricultural interest was studied. During the 20th century, the Botanists underwent a long period of [...]