In 1957 the Turia river flooded Valencia, killed dozens of people and destroyed much of the city. The response was one of the most consequential planning decisions in modern Spain: divert the river entirely around the south of the city, then refuse to build a motorway in the empty bed and turn it into a park instead.
The result is a nine-kilometre curve of green running through the middle of Valencia, containing football pitches, orange groves, running tracks, a Gulliver-shaped playground and, at its eastern end, the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. It wraps around the old town like a moat that has been planted.
Why the seam between the two is the address
Valencia's two attractions sit at opposite ends of that curve. The Ciutat Vella, the old town, is a dense medieval quarter with the cathedral, the silk exchange, the central market and the eating. The Ciudad de las Artes, Calatrava's white complex of museum, opera house and aquarium, is three kilometres southeast along the riverbed.
The park connects them, flat, traffic-free and pleasant to walk or cycle. Stay on the seam where the old town meets the riverbed, and you can walk into the medieval streets in one direction and along the park to the modern complex in the other, without a car or a metro at any point.
Valencia is also small. This is a city of 800,000 people where the walk from one end of the historic centre to the other takes twenty minutes.
The eight below are grouped by which side of the seam they sit on.
Inside the Ciutat Vella
The old town, narrow streets and squares, with the market and the cathedral.
Caro Hotel occupies a building with a section of Roman wall and an Arab gate inside it, exposed and lit behind glass in the lobby, which makes it the most historically remarkable hotel in Spain outside Granada. The rooms are contemporary and calm, and the restaurant is a serious one.
Caro Hotel
Ciutat Vella · 5★ · $$$
Roman wall and Arab gate exposed inside the lobby
Check availabilityPalacio Vallier by MYR Hotels is a restored nineteenth-century palace near the Plaza de la Virgen with the original staircase, a small pool and the most beautiful public rooms in the city.
Palacio Vallier by MYR Hotels
Plaza de la Virgen · 5★ · $$$
Restored palace with the city's best public rooms
Check availabilityMYR Marqués House Hotel sits on Calle Marques de Dos Aguas in a townhouse with a rooftop terrace over the old town roofs and a personal, small-scale operation.
One Shot Reina Victoria occupies a restored palace near the market with a rooftop terrace and a smaller room count. It is the closest of the group to the Mercado Central, which is the best building in Valencia.
One Shot Reina Victoria
Near the Mercado Central · 4★ · $$
Closest of the group to the great market building
Check availabilityOn the riverbed edge
Facing the Turia park, between the old town and the modern complex, with the walk in both directions.
Only YOU Hotel Valencia sits at the edge of the old town facing the park with a rooftop pool and terrace, and it is the best position in Valencia for using the riverbed as your route.
Only YOU Hotel Valencia
Old town, riverbed edge · 4★ · $$
Rooftop pool facing the Turia park
Check availabilityHospes Palau de La Mar, Valencia, a Member of Design Hotels occupies a restored palace near the Turia with a garden, a spa and the most comfortable rooms in the city. It is quiet and close to the Colon shopping streets.
Hospes Palau de La Mar, Valencia, a Member of Design Hotels
Near the Turia · 5★ · $$$
Palace with a garden and the most comfortable rooms
Check availabilityThe Westin Valencia is the reliable international-standard option beside the park, with a large pool, a garden courtyard and an art nouveau building. It is the family choice.
The Westin Valencia
Riverbed edge · 5★ · $$$
Art nouveau building with a garden courtyard and pool
Check availabilityToward the Ciudad de las Artes
SH Valencia Palace sits at the southeastern end near the Calatrava complex, a large hotel with a good pool and the shortest walk to the science museum and the opera house. It is twenty-five minutes on foot along the park to the old town.
SH Valencia Palace
Toward the Ciudad de las Artes · 4★ · $$
Shortest walk to the Calatrava complex
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The Malvarrosa beach hotels are excluded, including the grand one at the end of the promenade. They give you the sand and put you twenty-five minutes by tram from the old town and the market.
What to do
Eat paella at lunch, never at dinner, and eat it in the Albufera at El Palmar if you can get there, which is where the rice comes from. In the city, avoid anything with a photograph of paella outside.
The Mercado Central is one of the great European market buildings and the Lonja de la Seda, the silk exchange opposite, is a UNESCO site with the most beautiful gothic hall in Spain. Both take an hour together.
Cycle the riverbed. Bikes are cheap and everywhere, the park is flat and continuous, and the ride from the old town to the Ciudad de las Artes takes fifteen minutes.
Go to the beach. Malvarrosa is a tram ride and has a long stretch of sand with the traditional beachfront restaurants at the northern end.
Drink horchata with fartons, which is the local afternoon habit and better than it sounds.
Practical notes
Valencia airport is 20 minutes from the centre by metro or taxi. The fast train from Madrid takes an hour and forty minutes and is the better route.
March to June and September to November are ideal. July and August are hot. Las Fallas in March fills the city and closes streets with enormous sculptures and fireworks; it is spectacular and it is not a quiet city break.
The old town is walkable and the metro is straightforward. Lunch is at two and dinner is at nine.
Explore 4 & 5 Star Valencia Hotels
Questions people actually ask
Is Valencia worth it over Barcelona or Madrid?
For a shorter, calmer, cheaper trip with better beaches and the same quality of food, yes. It is the third city and the most liveable of the three.
Old town or near the arts complex?
Old town for atmosphere and eating. The riverbed edge is the best compromise and puts both within a walk.
How many nights?
Three. Two for the city, and a third for the Albufera or the beach.
When is Las Fallas?
Mid-March, peaking on the nineteenth. Book far ahead or avoid the dates deliberately.