Mid-range · 6-hour walk · Valencia
The Turia gardens and the City of Arts in six hours
Down the old riverbed through the park to Calatrava's white city and the aquarium, then a bus to the beach.
After a flood in 1957 drowned the city, Valencia moved its river south and turned the old bed into a park that curves for nine kilometres around the centre. This route follows it downstream, past the giant Gulliver children climb on, to the City of Arts and Sciences at the far end, and finishes at the beach for paella where Valencians eat it.
The route, stop by stop
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Jardín del Turia
The old riverbed, sunk below street level with the old bridges still crossing it. Joggers, cyclists, orange trees and football pitches, all the way to the sea.
20 min here Walk here → -
Palau de la Música
The city's concert hall, a long glass vault from 1987 set in the riverbed behind a pool.
10 min here Walk here → -
Parque Gulliver
A seventy-metre Gulliver lying pinned to the ground, with slides and ropes for the Lilliputians to climb. Free.
15 min here Walk here → -
Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
Santiago Calatrava's white complex in the riverbed, begun with the eye-shaped Hemisfèric in 1998. The outside is free and the best part.
40 min here Walk here → -
Oceanogràfic
The largest aquarium in Europe, laid out as pavilions by Félix Candela, whose restaurant roof is shaped like a water lily. Book a time slot.
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Playa de la Malvarrosa
Arrive by bus from the previous stop
The city beach. The restaurants along the front cook paella the original Valencian way, with rabbit and chicken, and only at lunchtime.
45 min here Walk here →
More walks in Valencia
More in Valencia
Every walking route in Valencia, the full Valencia guide for where to stay and what a day costs, or walks in other cities.