Places to visit in Valencia

On one of the rare rainy days in Valencia, you might want to find an exciting indoor activity to hide from the rain and have a wonderful day with interesting stuff to look at. But even if it is not rainy, you will find indoor and outdoor places to visit in Valencia that are really worth it.

What to visit In Valencia?

The Oceanografic – Meet the creatures of the sea

Imagine 42,000,000 liters of water surrounding you and entering a world populated by sharks, dolphins, sea lions, walruses, beluga wales and penguins. All this is possible at the Oceanografic situated in the City of Arts and Sciences. It is the biggest aquarium in Europe, and its unique outline makes it one of the best places to visit in Valencia, Spain.

Nine underwater towers represent the major ecosystem of our planet, where you will find the different species of each ecosystem. The water that is needed for this great underwater world is pumped from the beach of Malvarossa, surely with the necessary quality requirements carried out beforehand and is converted into water you can find in the Mediterranean, the Arctic, or the Red Sea.

While being at the Oceanografic, you shouldn’t miss a nice meal at the underwater restaurant. Watching the calm scenery of the ocean while tasting a special meal will be an experience you will remember for a long time.

The Bioparc – nature at its best

At the one end of the Parque del Turia, by the park Cabecera, you can find a very innovative zoo, the Bioparc. Different groups of animals live together in spacious enclosures, as they would in the wild nature. The visitor can observe the animals from different angels, walk through the beautiful park and admire the beauty of creatures threatened with extinction. This makes the Bioparc one of the best places to visit in Valencia.

There is also space for learning. Which animals live together in which areas of the world? How can we save species from becoming extinct? Which needs do elephants have? How and when and how much and what do they eat? During your tour of the Bioparc, you will find answers to all those question and can enjoy a brilliant stroll through nature.

The house of Benlluire – a painters’ history

How does the home of a famous painter living in the 19th and 20th century look like? What inspired the highly decorated painter José Benlluire, who was director of the Museu de Belles Arts de València until 1924, and his son Peppino?

If you want to find out, the house of Benlluire is one of those places to visit in Valencia. For only two euros, you can enter the former home of the famous painter, situated near the Serranos Towers. Every room of the museum tells stories of the everyday life of the family, the garden provides the romantic setting you might expect of the surrounding of an artist and the study of the house of Benlluire hold various paintings created by father and son.

So in a nutshell, the house of Benlluier is not only a museum, but a place that tells us about his work, as well as his life.

Modern Art in Valencia

The most important museum of modern and contemporary art in Valencia is the IVAM, L’Institut Valencià d’Art Modern. It hosts two permanent shows, one of the works of the abstract sculptor Julio Gonzáles and the other one of the impressionist painter Ignacio Pinazo, artists who are highly appreciated in the universe of Spanish art.

But also the temporary exhibitions make the IVAM one of the places to visit in Valencia, Spain. If you do not only want to admire art for its beauty, but are interested in its discursiveness as well, you shouldn’t miss the IVAM. The IVAM is not only a place for exhibitions, it holds conferences and different events on art and culture as well, so stay tuned and look at their website for more information.

arts to admire

The Fine Arts Museum of Valencia (San Pio V) is very different to the IVAM. It is one of the Valencia places to visit if you are more interested in the fine arts of the Romanic period until the Renaissance. The Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia has gathered pieces of medieval art from all around the region as well as artworks from prominent Baroque and Renaissance painters like Van Dyck and Goya.

One of the best-known Valencian painters, Joaquin Sorolla, even has his own room, where 42 of his works are displayed. With the help of these pieces, the evolvement of his career gets visible to the visitor.

Ceramics and Rococo beauty

The González Marti National Museum of Ceramics and Sumptuous Arts is the only national museum to be found in Valencia, while the capital Madrid supplies most of them. If you are wondering what to visit in Valencia, the museum is a good place to go, not only for its exhibition, but also for its home, a unique Rococo palace from the 15th century.

While strolling through the museum, you will discover many peculiar rooms with stunning interior. You will find furniture, clothing, paintings and graphical arts. But the core of the museum is the collection of ceramics and decorative art. The exhibition shows prehistoric, Roman, Greek and Arab gems and a selection of traditional ceramics from towns near Valencia, like Manises, Alcora and Paterna.

Science and dinosaurs

In the middle of one of the dreamiest gardens in Valencia, los Jardines de Viveros, you can find the Municipal Museum of Natural Sciences. It is one of the things to visit in Valencia if you are less into art and more into science.

You can learn about the progress that has been made in science from the Renaissance until the middle of the 20th century. Naturally, the museum emphasizes on the contribution of the Valencian scientists. Furthermore, different dinosaur skeletons can be found in the museum, which remind any visitor of a time when humankind was far from existing and huge impressive creatures populated the continents.

Colorful craziness

One of the strange fiestas celebrated in Valencia, is the Las Fallas festival with lots of figurines parading the streets and fireworks and craziness everywhere.

In the end of the festival, the figurines are burnt, but you have the chance to look at one representative of each year in the Las Fallas museum situated near the City of Arts and Sciences.

If you want to learn more about the people living in Valencia, the Las Fallas museum is one of the best places to visit in Valencia. From the figurines and the celebration itself you will get an insight of what the Valencian people are like and how they like to celebrate. You will learn more about the background of the festival and can admire costumes and a model of the mascleta, which are the firecrackers used during the festivities.