Valencia is one big paella pan. Dig in at any edge.
A bike ride down a river that became a park, a flat-boat across the lagoon where the rice grows, a class that ends with your own paella on the table. Reviews of every tour you can book in Valencia, priced.
A ride down the Turia, lunch in a medieval hall, the aquarium, a tablao.
The four bookings most first visits to Valencia are built around, and what each one costs.
01The first morningCity Highlights Guided Bike TourThree hours along the old riverbed, from the Serranos towers to the white curves of the science city. The city is flat, so nobody gets left behind.
02The long lunchValencia Old Town Tour with Wine & Tapas in 11th Century Historic MonumentAn old-town walk that finishes at a table inside an eleventh-century building, with Valencian wine and tapas served while the guide talks.
03The family dayOceanogràfic Entry TicketThe big aquarium in the City of Arts and Sciences, split into buildings by ocean, with the shark tunnel the queues form for.
04The night outPalosanto Flamenco Show TicketA small tablao with a guitarist, a singer and a dancer close enough that you hear every heel strike. The cheapest good night in town.
Valencia is flat, sunny and split by a nine-kilometre park. Choose your wheels.
After the 1957 flood the river was rerouted south, and its old bed became a garden with a cycle path down the middle, from Bioparc to the City of Arts and Sciences. Three ways to ride it, and what each costs.
Paella cooked over orange wood, tapas in Ruzafa, a glass from Utiel-Requena.
Real paella valenciana is chicken, rabbit and flat green beans, not a scoop of mixed seafood, and the best classes start at the Central Market buying them. Then the tapas bars, then the wine.
From the cathedral square to the rice fields: six corners of Valencia.
The medieval centre and its silk exchange, the café streets of Ruzafa, the science city in the old riverbed, then out to the lagoon, the warm springs and a castle on the sea.
Valencia faces the sea, and the catamarans leave from the old America’s Cup marina.
Sunset sails off the Malvarrosa beaches, swim stops in open water, a paella lunch on deck. Most leave a short tram ride from the old town.
The tours Valencia books most.
All the Valencia reviews in one list →The days out more visitors choose than any other, and what earns each one its place.
1
Oceanogràfic Entry Ticket
Spend a day at Valencia’s Oceanogràfic, Europe’s largest sea life center, inside the City of Arts and Sciences. Your ticket covers all exhibits, including marine habitats, the underwater tunnel, sharks, belugas, penguins and outdoor bird areas. Expect a large, walkable attraction with indoor and outdoor spaces. No guide is specified.
From · $44
Read our review →
2
Palosanto Flamenco Show Ticket
from $25
3
Catamaran Cruise with Sunset Option
from $17
4
Valencia Old Town Tour with Wine & Tapas in 11th Century Historic Monument
from $96
5
Oceanogràfic, Hemisfèric & Science Museum Combo
from $54
6
City Highlights Guided Bike Tour
from $26
7
Sunset or Daytime Catamaran Cruise with Drink
from $18
8
Montanejos Guided Hike with Natural Pools
from $51
Valencia has dinner at ten, and the flamenco starts after.
The tablaos fill from nine, the sunset boats come back to the marina as the bars wake up, and Ruzafa does not get going until close to midnight.
- 1Palosanto Flamenco Show Ticketfrom $25
- 2Authentic Flamenco Show Entry Ticketfrom $23
- 3Flamenco at Toro y La Luna with optional Dinnerfrom $23
A rice lagoon, an underground river and a spring that runs warm in January.
Valencia has a beach and a cathedral like every Spanish coast city. These three it keeps to itself.
The Albufera
Ten kilometres south of the city, a freshwater lagoon ringed by paddy fields grows the rice that made paella possible. The fishermen of El Palmar still work it in flat-bottomed boats, and the sunset across the water is why most people book the late departure.
- 1Albufera Day Trip with Boat Tour and Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 556 reviews
- 2The Original Albufera Tour: Barraca, Boat Ride & Local Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 281 reviews
- 3Albufera Jeep and Boat Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 253 reviews
The Caves of San José
In La Vall d’Uixó, under an hour north, a river runs through limestone galleries and visitors cross it by boat, the guide steering through chambers lit just enough to see the roof. It is billed as the longest navigable underground river in Europe, and the water stays cold whatever the month.
- 1Caves of San José Guided Excursion and Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 1,717 reviews
- 2San Jose Caves Guided Tour from Valencia★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 732 reviews
- 3Caves of San José Guided Tour & Boat Ride★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 179 reviews
Montanejos
Up the Mijares valley, the Fuente de los Baños keeps its pools at around 25 degrees all year, turquoise against red rock. Day trips pair it with the Salto de la Novia waterfall near Navajas and a swim, which is why summer weekends fill first.
- 1Waterfalls and Thermal Springs Tour with Swimming★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 643 reviews
- 2Adventures day: Thermal Springs and Waterfalls★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 521 reviews
- 3Montanejos Thermal Springs and Waterfall, food included★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 316 reviews
What Valencia costs, one day out at a time.
Three price brackets, and what each one buys you. Plenty of the best Valencian days cost less than dinner.
Old-town walks, bike tours, flamenco tickets, the short Albufera boat and museum entry.
- 1Oceanogràfic Entry Ticketfrom $44
- 2Palosanto Flamenco Show Ticketfrom $25
- 3Catamaran Cruise with Sunset Optionfrom $17
Paella classes, the cave river, Montanejos and its springs, catamaran lunches.
Private guides, winery days with lunch and boats hired for the whole group.
Four Valencian bookings that will not wait.
Most of this city can be arranged the night before over a horchata. These four run on timed boats, small kitchens and evening seats that go first.
- 01Caves of San José Guided Excursion and TicketBoats enter the river in timed groups. In summer and over Spanish holidays the slots go days ahead.
- 02Albufera Natural Park with Sunset Boat TourThere is one sunset a day and only so many flat-boats on the lagoon to watch it from.
- 03Paella Cooking Class, Wine Tasting & Central Market in ValenciaClasses cook at one long table with a small group. Weekend sessions fill first.
- 04Palosanto Flamenco Show TicketThe tablaos are small rooms. Friday and Saturday shows sell out, the dinner seats before the rest.
When the poniente blows and the beach is too hot by noon.
A few days each summer the hot westerly, the poniente, pushes Valencia past thirty-five degrees. Do the bike ride at eight, then go under a roof: the silk exchange, the aquarium tunnels, a cooking class, a tablao after dark.
- 1Oceanogràfic Entry Ticketfrom $44
- 2Palosanto Flamenco Show Ticketfrom $25
- 3Oceanogràfic, Hemisfèric & Science Museum Combofrom $54
By place: the old city, the riverbed and the day-trip belt
By kind of day: wheels, water, kitchen or tablao
Four days in Valencia, from the cathedral to the warm springs.
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