Valencia – The Best Sights

The best sights, this title is of course chosen programmatically. Valencia has thousands of great Buildings, facilities, and neighborhoods to discover. We were out and about again and have summarized a few highlights that we particularly liked.

Oceanogràfic Valencia – The largest aquarium in the world

In the south of Valencia is the „City of Arts and Sciences,“ or „Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias“ as it is called in the original. In addition to interactive museums and a cinema with a 900-meter screen, you'll find the Oceanografic here. The largest aquarium in Europe houses a total of 45,000 marine animals. You can find not only dolphins, penguins, and countless fish species, but also sharks and whales.

We can't stop marveling. One aquarium is more beautiful than the next. Some of the aquariums are connected by a tunnel, so you can escape the summer heat of Valencia for a few hours while surrounded by sharks. Of course, we didn't have to do that, since it's currently April. It's nicely summery warm, but at 25 degrees Celsius, it's still within a comfortable range.

We are eating a large seafood platter at one of the seven restaurants. Yes, it's local fish, no, not from the aquarium 🙂

Afterwards, we'll conclude the aquarium visit with an impressive dolphin show. Six dolphins will showcase their skills and give their all to ensure visitors have a fun time. Since the facility is huge, guests won't feel guilty. The dolphins seem to be doing exceptionally well there. Overall, the facility makes a very good impression. The entrance fee is a bit off-putting. Almost 30 EUR per adult, but for that, you can spend at least half a day there. If you want a stress-free experience, it's better to walk around for a whole day. The entrance fee is definitely worth it. The kids, in particular, were totally thrilled.

Malvarrosa Beach

This is surely the most famous sandy beach in Valencia. It is located in the north of the city and can be reached by bus from the city center. We went there from the Oceanogràfic by bus 99. There are a few nice beach cafés that invite you to linger. And so we lingered there for some time, letting our souls dangle after the exciting visit to the aquarium. The kids could play a little in the sand, and we took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked back to Las Arenas along the beach. There is a metro station there, from where we could go directly home.

The beach itself is clean and, above all, wonderfully wide and spacious. There aren't too many tourists in town at the moment, so you have room to breathe. But I can imagine that even in high season, you wouldn't be stepping on each other's toes here. What's also great here is that the water is relatively shallow. You can walk a few hundred meters into the sea and still stand. Since the water is still quite fresh this time of year, I only know that from observation 😉

Central Market

The market hall in Valencia is also one of the largest in Europe. In fact, I haven't been to a bigger one yet. So, we headed there right away on Saturday. The selection ranges from ham and meat to the freshest fruits and vegetables. Of course, there is also a huge seafood section, as befits a city by the sea. Nothing is left to be desired here. Half of Valencia shops here. Restaurants can buy pretty much their entire menu here. In fact, we find foods here that we have exactly like that on our paella for lunch 🙂 Coincidence?

There's also a lot for our kids to discover here. Both are totally enthusiastic about the fresh smoothies and juices. At only 1.50 EUR, they are also really affordable and provide a healthy boost in between.

Equally worth seeing as the market itself is the building. Built in the Art Nouveau style with its 30-meter-high glass dome in the center, the hall is an attraction in itself.

The Silk Exchange

Admittedly, we've walked past the impressive building many times before. But on the Sunday after Easter, we finally made it to the Silk Exchange.

The Silk Exchange building was built in 1482, or rather, construction began then. It took a total of 50 years for the exchange to be fully built. Until the 16th century, it was the main trading center of the Mediterranean region. Since 1996, the Silk Exchange has been a UNESCO World Heritage site.

That's enough culture... let's go to the park.

Royal Gardens Park

A beautiful green park in the middle of the city. The park offers many shady spots, making it an ideal retreat, especially in the summer. There are many fountains, an avenue of palm trees, and a great playground. But there's plenty for children to do here anyway, as there are large green areas and enough to discover all around.

We were lucky enough to land right in the middle of a book fair. With over 100 stands, you could probably browse the entire spectrum of Spanish literature. However, Spanish books aren't really our thing, so we head to the Natural History Museum, which is located in the middle of the gardens. Here you can find many interesting exhibits. Unfortunately, the information is only available in Spanish, so we can only guess at the details they want to convey. We still had fun and felt enlightened 🙂 Afterwards, we went to a playground in the park, and then we started our journey home.

It was an exciting weekend with many sights. We had a lot of fun, and I can highly recommend the points mentioned above if you're ever in Valencia.

Here's another small picture gallery.