Valencia, Spain – Inspired Urban Planning

Valencia, located on the East coast of Spain, is the third largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona. A city that was born on the margins of the River Turia and along the Mediterranean sea. It was devastated by floods in 1957 when the Turia River burst its banks, an event that sparked the start of Valencia’s transformation.

Following the floods the local government wasted no time in making plans to divert the Turia River which used to run right through the city. The river was divided in two at the western city limits. During floods, most of the water is diverted southwards along a new course that skirts the city and flows down to the Mediterranean.  A plan that has been successful in avoiding recurrent flooding in this area.

The now dry river bed has been turned into a central green-space for the city, a cultural attraction known as the garden of the Turia or in Spanish, “Jardín del Turia”.

The original plan was for a massive highway to replace the dry river bed, but the people of Valencia had other ideas and demanded that instead of a highway a park should be built to connect the city with the beach. They got what they wished for and a 9 km park was constructed proving that urban planning when done well can hugely enrich the lives of its citizens.

Altogether, we spent three nights in Valencia, at a very convenient motorhome Aire just 15 minutes by bus from the heart of the action. With two full days to explore we shared our time between modern and old Valencia.

Day one – Exploring Modern Valencia

I would recommend at least one full day to explore this area to do it justice, the architecture is simply stunning. The whole complex can be visited in one day, or over two to three days to see it in a more leisurely fashion. If you only have one day here, you might want to choose just one attraction to visit in detail, like we did when choosing to see the Aquarium. Or you can use combined tickets and see more than one attraction. Visit the official website for more information on combined tickets, prices etc.

City of Arts and Sciences – Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias

Situated at the end of the former riverbed of the Turia, the striking futuristic buildings are a main attraction for any visit to this City.

The Hemispheric ( L’Hemisfèric)- Was the first building to be completed in 1998. The design by the talented Santiago Calatrava resembles an eyelid. Inside there is an IMAX cinema, a planetarium, and laserium.

There are various different films that can be seen here projected on the whole half of the sphere(ceiling) in 3D. You get a headset and a choice of language. There are different movies to choose from. We did not visit the Hemispheric, so can’t personally recommend it, but visit the website for more info.

The Hemispheric shaped like an eyelid in the foreground

The Science Museum ( El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe ) – was inaugurated in 2000, also designed by Santiago Calatrava, it is an interactive museum of science (plan at least 3 hours to visit it), another amazing building design resembling the skeleton of a whale, see below photo showing it on the right, from street level.

The Science Museum shaped like the skeleton of a whale

The Science Museum behind the Hemispheric, resembling the skeleton of a whale. The Umbracle on the right.

The Umbracle ( L’Umbracle ) – an open structure enveloping a landscaped walk with plant species indigenous to Valencia and sculptures by contemporary artists. We walked through it later in the afternoon and loved it. See picture below:

The Umbracle

The Aquarium (Oceanografic) – inaugurated in 2003, it is the largest open-air oceanographic park in Europe. Designed by the architect Félix Candela,  in the shape of a water lily. Since we felt we had to choose just one of the attractions in this area to explore it in more detail, we decided to visit the Aquarium. Brian is a keen fisherman and just loves watching fish, whether in their natural environment or in the huge tanks of the aquarium. He spotted many of the kinds of fish he has fished for in the past and was completely captivated… I though I was never going to get him out of there!

There is lots to see there, so we spent about 4 hours looking at all the different aquatic environments such as the Mediterranean, Wetlands, Temperate, Tropical Seas, the Antarctic, the Arctic etc. It is huge and has some very large fish such as Sharks and Rays. They also keep mammals such as Beluga Whales and Dolphins, which both Brian and I found very sad.  It looks like they are well treated, but such intelligent creatures are better off swimming free in our oceans rather than confined to a giant swimming pool prison. As a saving grace there are attempts at doing research with a purpose of improving scientific knowledge about oceans and the life that lives in them. There were also many groups of young students accompanied by their teachers learning about the underwater world and all it’s magical creatures.

Brian looking mesmerized at one of the large fish tunnels inside The Aquarium

The Opera House and Performing Arts Centre ( El Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofia), see below is another very unique looking building. It was inaugurated in 2005, it is dedicated to music and performing arts. The building has a metallic feather outer roof that rests on two supports. One of the supports allows for part of the building to overhang. Two laminated steel shells cover the building weighing over 3,000 tons. There are Opera House tours for visiting the building or you might want to check out the program of shows. Have a look at the official website for more information.

El Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofia

“The Agora”(L’Àgora )  is a very versatile space designed to hold a variety of events such as concerts, performances, exhibitions, conventions etc. See picture below:

L’Àgora

The “Jardin del Turia”

After exploring the Aquarium we were craving a coffee and some fresh air, so we walked through the “Jardín del Turia”, enjoying the variety of welcoming spaces. We grabbed a coffee at one of the small cafes inside the park. The park has been beautifully done with different zones encompassing rows of orange trees, water features and fountains.

The park is lined with fragrant orange trees…just don’t be tempted to eat the oranges, they are unbelievably sour…we know to our peril, it wasn’t pretty.

A Bridge of Flowers over a dry river bed

Children’s play areas, cycling lanes, bridges that have been transformed into colourful flower gardens. As we strolled down this fantastic green space that sits below street level in the heart of the city we kept thinking…a river used to flow right through here. What an incredible and visionary transformation.

We got a bus ride back to our campsite later in the afternoon, too tired to stay in town for the evening, but happy that we had a great day.

Day 2 – Historic Valencia

Our second day was not as intense as day one, but just as enjoyable. Valencia has one of the largest historic centres in Europe, a rich heritage and a plethora of masterpieces from civilizations long gone such as Romans, Visigoths and Muslims.

We found the historic town centre to be very walkable and so we wandered its old cobbled streets gazing at many beautiful churches, Gothic buildings, interesting architecture etc.

Taking our time we lingered for a while, drooling our way through the Central Market, Europe’s largest Art Nouveau indoor market with its many stalls full of top-quality local produce. The building dates back to 1914, and is decorated with the colourful tiles that are very traditional in Spain. We sampled and bought some local produce, stopping also for a coffee and cakes at the popular Central Bar by Ricardo Camarena.

Central Market

After refuelling at the Central Market we wandered over to Valencia’s Cathedral. Feeling energetic I climbed the 207 steps to the Cathedral’s bell tower, also known as Torre Del Micalet,  from the top I got some great views over the city. Whilst Brian wisely (lazily!) stayed downstairs sunning himself and relaxing in the gardens at the front of the Cathedral.

View of Valencia from the Cathedral Tower, Brian is enjoying the sunshine down in the gardens.

Inside, the Cathedral has a beautiful interior, but the most visited here is the Chapel of the Holy Grail and Museum, where there is exhibited the “The Chalice” claimed to be the Holy Grail itself. I did not visit this area of the Cathedral.

Climbing towers is hungry business so we started searching for a restaurant to eat lunch. Brian and I wanted to taste an authentic Valencian paella. Our web search revealed a restaurant called  ” Canela” overlooking Torres de Quart, that had very good reviews. Long time readers of this blog will know that “Canela” is the name of my home town in Brazil, so it had to be a sign!

Torres de Quart

We arrived at Canela Restaurant located at the small Plaza to find that there were no tables available, since we had not made any reservations. The friendly  manager than pointed us towards the “Canela Taberna Selecta” just few meters down the road, with charming outside seating area overlooking the beautiful Torres de Quart.

Since the Taberna was not open until 2pm, we had time to explore the Las Torres de Quart, just in front of it. Forming part of the Medieval city wall that used to encircle the old city, it played an important role in the history of Valencia. The towers were built between 1441 and 1460, they were the main entry point into Valencia from the Kingdom of Castile. On it’s external walls it is possible to see the marks of ammunition used against the city during the various sieges.

View from Torres De Quart

Climbing down from the towers we sat down to eat at ” Canela Taberna Selecta” outdoor tables bathed in warm sunshine.  It was a perfect location and the delicious paella was devoured with much gusto. We noticed that all the hot food was coming from the Canela Restaurant a few doors up the road.

Traditional Valencian Paella

After lunch, already almost 4 pm,  we wandered around the neighbourhood enjoying some lovely street art and slowly made our way back through the Turia Gardens for one final look at Modern Valencia, before catching the bus back to our campsite.

Street art

There was lots more to do and see in Valencia, but we decided to move on. It is a city that we will certainly visit again in the future.

Tips for visiting Valencia

If you are visiting Valencia by motorhome we do recommend the camping Coll Vert, Playa de Pinedo ( GPS N39.3961 W0.33256 ), the people are super friendly there, and it’s very convenient with a short bus ride into Valencia city centre. We stayed 3 nights at a cost of 42 Euros. facilities are great with a small shop and fresh bread sold there every morning.

If visiting on a road trip you could consider staying in one of their little chalets, they looked nice. There are of course many other options of accommodation for all different budgets in the city centre.

We would recommend at least two full days in Valencia, more if possible to really appreciate this wonderful city.