Three days for the city where paella comes from: a medieval core, a futuristic complex in a drained riverbed, and a beach at the end of a tram line.
Valencia · 3 days Spain
Best time: March to June and September to October.
The old townDay 1
⛪9:30 AM
Valencia Cathedral
Romanesque, Gothic and baroque in one building, holding a chalice claimed as the Holy Grail, with the Miguelete bell tower to climb.
🚶 ~6 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.2 mi
🍽️12:00 PM
Central Market
A 1928 modernista iron-and-glass hall, still the working food market rather than a food court.
🚶 ~2 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 347 ft
📍2:00 PM
La Lonja de la Seda
The fifteenth-century silk exchange opposite the market, with a hall of spiralling stone columns.
The City of Arts and SciencesDay 2
📍10:00 AM
City of Arts and Sciences
Calatrava’s white complex in the old riverbed: opera house, planetarium, science museum and aquarium.
🚶 ~4 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.2 mi
📍2:00 PM
Oceanografic
Europe’s largest aquarium, laid out as a series of marine environments under separate domes.
🚶 ~40 min · 🚗 ~5 min · 1.5 mi
🌳6:00 PM
Turia Gardens
Walk the park back toward the centre under the old bridges that now cross a garden instead of a river.
Beach and the lagoonDay 3
🌳10:00 AM
Malvarrosa Beach
A wide city beach with a long promenade, reached by tram in about twenty minutes.
🚶 ~9 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.3 mi
📍1:30 PM
El Cabanyal
The old fishermen’s quarter behind the beach, tiled house fronts in a grid of low streets.
🚗 ~32 min · 9.1 mi
🌳5:00 PM
Albufera Natural Park
The freshwater lagoon and rice paddies south of the city where paella originated, best at sunset from a flat-bottomed boat.
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Every stop below, numbered in the order you would do them.
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Best time to goMarch to June and September to October. March brings Las Fallas, when the city fills with enormous sculptures that are burned on the final night.
Getting aroundMetro and trams cover the city; the centre is flat and easy to cycle, with the old riverbed acting as a nine-kilometre park running through it.
Local tip: The Turia riverbed is the spine of the city. The river was diverted after the 1957 flood and the bed became a park; use it to move between the old town and the science complex.
The same day-by-day plan as text. Times are starting points, not homework.
Day 1: The old town
9:30 AM
Valencia Cathedral
Romanesque, Gothic and baroque in one building, holding a chalice claimed as the Holy Grail, with the Miguelete bell tower to climb.
12:00 PM
Central Market
A 1928 modernista iron-and-glass hall, still the working food market rather than a food court.
2:00 PM
La Lonja de la Seda
The fifteenth-century silk exchange opposite the market, with a hall of spiralling stone columns.
Day 2: The City of Arts and Sciences
10:00 AM
City of Arts and Sciences
Calatrava’s white complex in the old riverbed: opera house, planetarium, science museum and aquarium.
2:00 PM
Oceanografic
Europe’s largest aquarium, laid out as a series of marine environments under separate domes.
6:00 PM
Turia Gardens
Walk the park back toward the centre under the old bridges that now cross a garden instead of a river.
Day 3: Beach and the lagoon
10:00 AM
Malvarrosa Beach
A wide city beach with a long promenade, reached by tram in about twenty minutes.
1:30 PM
El Cabanyal
The old fishermen’s quarter behind the beach, tiled house fronts in a grid of low streets.
5:00 PM
Albufera Natural Park
The freshwater lagoon and rice paddies south of the city where paella originated, best at sunset from a flat-bottomed boat.
Make this Valencia plan yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.
