City walk Valencian Community — Valencia, Spain

Valencia: Old Town to the City of Arts and Sciences

An easy day across Valencia — a Gothic cathedral that guards a cup venerated as the Holy Grail, a great medieval city gate, a modernista market and silk exchange, a park in an old riverbed, and Calatrava's white City of Arts and Sciences.

Duration: 1 day
Distance: 6 km
Difficulty: Easy
Best season: March–June and September–November

Valencia rewards a walker who is willing to travel through time in one straight line. The city grew inside a bend of the Turia river, and when a catastrophic flood in 1957 forced the river to be diverted, its old bed was turned into a green corridor that now threads the whole city together. Follow it and you pass from a Gothic cathedral to one of the boldest pieces of modern architecture in Europe without ever leaving parkland for long.

This route links the essentials in the order they make sense on foot: the compact old town first, then the long, easy walk down the former riverbed to the sea end, where the City of Arts and Sciences rises out of shallow blue pools.

Getting there. From Valencia airport, Metro lines 3 and 5 reach the centre in about 25 minutes. From Madrid, the AVE high-speed train arrives at Joaquín Sorolla station in around 1 hour 50 minutes; the cathedral, where the walk begins, is a short bus or taxi ride away.

Permits & tickets. The cathedral and its Holy Chalice chapel share a ticket (about €9 with audioguide); the Miguelete bell tower is a separate small fee. The Serranos towers and the Llotja de la Seda each charge about €2 and are free on Sundays. The Central Market and the Turia Garden are free. The grounds of the City of Arts and Sciences are free to walk; its attractions — the aquarium, science museum and planetarium — are ticketed separately.

Good to know:

The route is long but flat; the second half runs almost entirely through the shaded Turia Garden, so it walks easier than its distance suggests.
Peak summer is hot and humid on the coast; spring and autumn are the kindest seasons, and the Fallas festival in mid-March fills the city — plan around it or for it.
Bikes can be hired along the Turia Garden if you would rather roll the long central stretch than walk it.

Download waypoints (GPX) Points of interest in walking order — not a trail trace.

Day by day

DayDistanceAscentDescentWalking time

Day1 Hardest dayOld town to the sea end of the riverbed

Distance6 kmAscentNot recordedDescentNot recordedWalking timeNot recorded

Day 1

Old town to the sea end of the riverbed

Valencia Cathedral → City of Arts and Sciences 6 km

Navigate this day

A continuous line from the cathedral through the old town, then down the former riverbed to Calatrava’s complex.

Segments

The Cathedral & the Holy Chalice chapel 0.2 km Map

Plaza de la Reina → Valencia Cathedral

City streets and squares

Begin at the cathedral, consecrated after the Christian conquest of 1238 and grown over the centuries into a mix of Gothic, Romanesque and Baroque. Its chapel holds the Santo Cáliz, an ancient agate cup that the Catholic Church has long venerated as the Holy Grail. The octagonal Miguelete bell tower alongside can be climbed for a first look over the old town. Allow about 75 minutes.

About this place

Valencia Cathedral, at greater length the Metropolitan Cathedral–Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia, also known as St Mary's Cathedral, is a Catholic church in Valencia, Spain.
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The Torres de Serranos 0.6 km Map

Valencia Cathedral → Torres de Serranos

City streets

Walk north to the Serranos towers, built at the end of the fourteenth century as one of the twelve gates in the city's Christian wall and among the largest Gothic city gates in Europe. Climb to the top for the view back over the tiled roofs of the old town toward the cathedral. About 45 minutes.
The Central Market 0.7 km Map

Torres de Serranos → Mercado Central

City streets

Cut back through the old town to the Central Market, a vast covered hall of iron, glass and coloured tile opened in 1928 and one of the largest fresh-food markets in Europe. Wander the stalls of Valencian oranges, rice, hams and horchata before moving on. About 40 minutes.

About this place

Mercado Central or Mercat Central is a public market located across from the Llotja de la Seda and the Church of Santos Juanes in central Valencia, Spain. It is one of the main works of the Valencian Art Nouveau.
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The Llotja de la Seda (Silk Exchange) 0.1 km Map

Mercado Central → Llotja de la Seda

City streets

Cross the square to the Silk Exchange, a late Valencian Gothic hall built between the 1480s and the 1540s when Valencia was a Mediterranean trading power. Its Contract Hall, roofed by tall spiralling columns like stone palm trees, earned it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1996. About 40 minutes.
The Turia Garden 3.2 km Map

Llotja de la Seda → Jardín del Turia

Flat park paths

Drop into the old bed of the Turia river, diverted south after the flood of 1957 and reborn as a green corridor running about nine kilometers across the city, crossed by its historic stone bridges overhead. Follow it southeast — the long, shaded, level heart of the walk — toward the sea end. About 75 minutes on foot.
The City of Arts and Sciences 1.2 km Map

Jardín del Turia → Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències

Riverbed park and waterside walkways

End where the riverbed meets Santiago Calatrava's white complex, built from 1998 onward at the seaward end of the old channel. Walk between the eye-shaped Hemisfèric, the ribbed Science Museum, the Oceanogràfic aquarium and the Palau de les Arts opera house, all mirrored in shallow blue pools. A striking place to finish, especially near sunset.

About this place

The City of Arts and Sciences is a cultural and architectural complex in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is the most important modern tourist destination in the city of Valencia and one of the 12 Treasures of Spain.
Read more on Wikipedia