Valencia (Spain)
Travel Guide > Europe > Spain > Valencia
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Introduction
Valencia is a popular sea-side city on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. While the beach is an obvious drawcard for the city, Valencia's charm is its emblematic combination of the old and new: Traditional Baroque, Gothic and Neo-Classical architecture is contrasted with the ultra-modern City of Arts and Sciences, a massive educational complex designed to symbolise the Space Age.
Neighbourhoods
Sights and Activities
Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències
The Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències was designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava and is a series of five buildings in a contemporary style in the dried river bed of the now diverted River Turia. This place is worth walking around by day or night because of its stunning design. There are many buildings dedicated the arts located in the complex including:
- El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía (Queen Sofia Palace of the Arts) - Is an amazing an amazing opera house and cultural centre in the city. There are several different stages that can fit between 400 and 1700 people.
- L'Hemisfèric - Contains and IMAX theatre, Planetarium and Laserium.
- L'Umbracle - Is a nice walkway and garden area.
- El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe (the Museum of Sciences) - Is a museum dedicated to the sciences. There are exhibits ranging from spy science all the way to biometrics.
- L'Oceanogràfic - Is one of the largest aquariums in Europe with more then 45,000 animals, which include sharks, penguins, dolphins, sea lions, beluga whales and walruses. The park is divided into ten areas that reflect different kinds of habitats.
Beaches
- Port Beach
- Malvarossa Beach
Other Sights and Activities
- Basílica De La Virgen De Los Desamparados - Is a nice gothic style church.
- The Cathedral of Valencia - Is a stunning cathedral with a great dome and a long history.
- Lonja de la Seda (Silk Exchange) - Is a stunning late gothic style civil structure built from 1482 to 1548. The designer Guillem Sagrera made the building at the height of the cities economic power in the 15th century.
- Plaça de l'Ajuntament - Is the largest square in the city and contains the town hall, a classical cinema and many restaurants and bars.
Events and Festivals
- Falles - Is a city tradition that celebrates Saint Joseph's Day on the 19th of March. Each year every neighbourhood in the city has a group of people that create a falla, which is then burnt. The entire city comes out for the festival in their Felles dress and it can get very crazy.
- La Tomatina - This festival starts the week before the last Wednesday of August in the town of Bunol which is 38 km outside of Valencia. For the week before people party and there is a famous cooking contest the night before the fight. On the last Wednesday of August the massive tomato fight begins with 20,000 to 40,000 tourist coming to participate in this epic battle in a town of only 9,000 people.
Weather
Getting There
By Plane
Valencia Airport (VLC) is the 8th busiest airport in Spain. The airport has flights to about 15 European countries with about 6 million passengers a year. The airport is connected to the city by a regular bus, which takes 45 minutes, a shuttle service, which takes 20 minutes, and the metro, which takes 15 minutes.
By Train
Estación Del Norte is the main train station in town and is designed in an art deco style.
By Car
By Bus
By Boat
Getting Around
By Car
By Public Transport
Valencia Metro has six lines that make it very easy to get around the city, even to the airport.
By Foot
By Bike
Eat
Drink
Valencia has a great nightlife. The alternative/bohemian bars and nightclubs are mainly located in the Carmen area, while the student nightlife is concentrated around Blasco Ibanez. The more mainstream weekend nightlife is around the Canovas and Juan Llorens areas. During the summer it is possible to party on the beach at Port and Malvarossa Beach.
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This is version 3. Last edited at 19:21 on Jul 6, 08 by Lavafalls (+4337). 2 articles link to this page.
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