Valencia

Valencia is an unusual city. Walking through the City of Arts and Sciences we met tourists which told us that they were not impressed by Valencia, until they came to this place.

This is not surprising, as they began their walk from the old city. And the old city of Valencia is a bit confusing and not as comfortable as in Seville or Salamanca. Be sure to take a good map with you.

In the old town, someone painted cats on the walls, find them :)




The main attraction of Valencia is the Cathedral, which holds the Holy Grail, recognized by the Pope.




You can climb the bell tower (no lift).








But, in general, the old town did not leave any strong impressions and we went on the metro to see the beach. Take the line 5 to the stop Marítim - Serrería, there switch to tram 5 or 6 with the same ticket. If 6 then go to the stop Grau - Canyamelar, and if 5 then to Marina.

The beach also can be reached on rented bike. Valencia has well developed bike rental and bike paths.


Beach in Valencia is just huge, its width is 250 meters.






After the beach and the old town, we went to see the most interesting part of Valencia. The history of this place started in 1957, when the flood of the river Turia destroyed big part of the city. Goverment solved the problem radically and in the 16 years the river bed was moved to another location. In the city left drained riverbed. On it's site was created a huge park, consisting of many parts. Here you can see the plan for the park with a description.

The park is huge and is ideal for biking.








The park has a very unusual place - a Gulliver playground. We flew over it a little.


But the main object in the park, in the Valencia, and perhaps in the all Spain - is the City of Arts and Sciences.

In 1989, the president of Valencia Juan Lerma accepted the idea, which was proposed by Jose Maria Lopez Pinero - Professor of History of Science of the University of Valencia, to build a science museum in the park of the old bed of the River Turia. Were invited the world's leading designers with experience in construction in similar areas and they have been given the task to create unique design.

Construction began in 1994. The first building of L'Hemisfèric (cinema IMAX, planetarium) was opened in 1998, but construction continued until 2005. Besides museum (El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe) were built an indoor garden (L'Umbracle), oceanography park (L'Oceanogràfic) and opera house (El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía). Each building looks like in a science fiction film about the future.

We flew over the complex in the afternoon.




But, basically, were walking and taking pictures in the evening. So, watch and buy tickets to Valencia :)










We spent the night at the Eurostars Rey Don Jaime (booking.com). High building with a swimming pool on the roof, parking and location right next to the City of Arts and Sciences.

Useful links about Valencia:
Maps of Valencia, the old city, metro and bus lines in PDF can be downloaded here.
http://www.cac.es/ - city of Arts and Sciences
http://www.emtvalencia.es/ciudadano/index.php?lang=en - public transport
http://www.metrovalencia.es/page.php?idioma=_en - metro

Getting to Valencia

Valencia Airport is located 9 kilometers from the city center. At the exit of the terminal stand Metrobus buses, which run to the Plaza de Espana every 25 minutes. The central railway station Estación del Norte, which is located in the city center, can be reached by metro (station Xàtiva). When buying tickets, keep in mind that the airport is in zone D, and you go into the zone A. Travel time on the train from Madrid is 1 hour 30 minutes, from Barcelona 3 hours 30 minutes. Although at the time of your visit, Valencia and Barcelona may be already connected by speed train.