family travel guide
Do you want to ensure that a big city is not necessarily bustling? That 800,000 local people and tens of thousands of tourists don't get in the way of the Mediterranean sun? That ripe orange can be picked off the streets?
Then go on a family holiday in Valencia. Families with children are looking for some quiet after Madrid or Barcelona and some entertainment after the sleepy spas of the Costa Blanca. Finally, there's an extraterrestrial town, a visit to which can lead to improved academic results for schoolchildren. Yes, that's the resort of Valencia — "paradise on earth", as the Moors called it a thousand years ago. Paradise may be imagined in different ways, but tourists agree on one thing: a trip to Valencia is an experience that will last a lifetime.
In this guide, we'll tell you the secrets of a holiday with kids in Valencia: what museums to visit, what to do during the warm and cold seasons, what beaches to visit and what to try of the unique local sweets.
The city of Valencia is a resort in eastern Spain on the Mediterranean coast and is the administrative centre of the province and autonomous community of Valencia. The town is 350 km from Madrid and Barcelona, 140 km from Benidorm, 166 km from Alicante and 216 km from Torrevieja. Settlements of the Greeks, the Carthaginians and the Romans have been on the coast where Valencia is located for ages. The city was named Valentia two thousand years ago, meaning 'strength', 'fortress' and 'good omen'.
Ancient Valencia flourished until the 8th century when it was conquered by the Visigoths, who devastated many Roman towns. For centuries, the city was fought over by Muslims and Christians; it passed from hand to hand until the Kingdom of Valencia finally became part of the Aragonese Crown. Despite the subsequent alterations, Valencia has remained part of Spain and has retained its language.
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A trip to Valencia is good to anticipate. It's good to imagine the sun over Roman Valencia, the orange trees, and the blue sea. See baroque palaces with intricate décor come to life. To dream of landing (how else could you get there?) in the futuristic white-washed buildings of the City of Arts and Sciences. Holidays in Valencia are most often planned for the summer to relax on the beaches and visit the excursions. It's a rare combination — Valencia's beaches really are as good as its museums.
There are just two things to consider:
Siesta does take some getting used to. Many shops and restaurants are closed during this time - try to relax with your child in a cool hotel room so you can go out again in the evening. By the way, it's not only the summer that brings children to Valencia. Any school holidays are fine for a family trip, especially as a beach holiday is usually not the primary purpose of the journey, and the summer heat is not the best weather for excursions.
Valencia for children is all about unusual museums, active entertainment and discoveries. A lively city makes for an energetic and action-packed holiday.
But is it possible to rest in such conditions with an infant? Feedback from travellers unequivocally says you can. There are ramps and places for prams in transport, high chairs for toddlers, and play corners for pre-schoolers in restaurants, parks for walks in the city, playgrounds on the beaches, and endless racks of baby food in the supermarkets. The only thing missing is silence on the beaches. For a secluded holiday by the sea, it's better to stay in one of the smaller resorts on the Costa Blanca.
The tourist season in Valencia is a relative term. There are months when tourists are in high numbers, but there is hardly a week or two when no holidaymakers are in the city. March is considered to be the opening season in Valencia, and this is only because early spring is already warm and green enough to encourage travellers to explore the city and the surrounding natural parks.
Summer or early autumn is usually the beach season for a holiday with children in Valencia.
Just before you get bored of the quietness of the Costa Blanca resorts, the best children's museums and entertainment in the big city are at your disposal. All the season's delights are complemented by colourful fireworks on St. Juan's Day or a flower show, but the other months are also an excellent time to visit the city. There's the wonderful Christmas season, the winter carnival in February and the Fallas de Valencia in March, when giant papier-mâché sculptures are wheeled through the streets.
There is another answer to the question of when to go to Valencia. The bullfighting season opens after the Fallas. Bullfighting lasts until October, with the main events taking place in July.
Spain's three biggest cities — Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia — vie for the right to be considered the sunniest city in the country. However, the sun shines in the Valencian sky at least 300 days a year.
Valencia has a subtropical Mediterranean climate, which means it's warm in winter and hot in summer. Humidity is high, but rainfall is infrequent, falling mainly in spring and autumn.
Summers in Valencia are long. The temperature is already +23oC in May, and the heat can only increase from here. The milder temperatures and lack of heat will help the infant quickly acclimate to the weather — the real heat starts in June, with highs of +28ºC during the day. In July and August, the air heats up to +30-35°C. It's only refreshing in the evening, with nighttime summer temperatures of +20-23°C.
In Valencia, postponing your holiday to the first half of autumn is best to avoid the heat. The heat sinks, but the resort is still warm. Temperatures are around +27-29°C in September and +23-24°C in October. However, the nights are getting pretty cold: even in September, the temperature can drop to +17°C.
September and October have the perfect combination of air and water temperatures. It's no longer hot, and the sea is still very warm. Therefore, the best holiday in Valencia with children is in early autumn.
From the second half of October, Valencia experiences a rainy and cold autumn and winter. Winter temperatures of +10°C are considered low. Daytime January-February temperatures are generally around +15-16°C, and nighttime temperatures are around +8°C. It is not a popular time for holidays with children, although the clear and mostly windless weather is suitable for walks and excursions.
In spring, the air in Valencia isn't just warm — it's filled with orange blossoms. When it's +18-20°C outside, and the city is scented, it's time to hit the botanical gardens or the Biopark. Just bring an umbrella — March doesn't skimp on the rain.
Despite the lack of frost in Valencia, the sea off the resort's coast cools down over the winter. In December and February, the water temperature is only +15-16°C, and with the arrival of spring, the sea is slow to warm up. Temperatures rise to +18°C in May and +21-22°C in June before finally reaching +24°C at the beginning of July.
The best time for a beach holiday in Valencia is from late June to the end of September. Water temperatures do not drop below +24-26°C during this period.
In October, the sea off the coast of Valencia is still quite warm, around +22°C, but the water is gradually beginning to cool down. Already in November, it's cold to swim, with temperatures dropping to +19°C.
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Valencia hotels usually leave food out of the room rate and sometimes only offer breakfast. In the cuisine of Spain, this makes sense: rather than limiting yourself to the average European meal, try the local dishes.
A masterpiece of Valencian cuisine, the paella, a rice dish with meat and seafood cooked in a special pan. The 'fideua' dish is also recommended.
On a hot day, Valencians quench their thirst with Orchata de Chufa. It is made from ground almonds. The city's oldest orchateria, El Siglo, serves a long farton bun to accompany the chilled orchata. The popular cold dessert, llet merengada, is made with milk, sugar, cinnamon and whipped egg whites.
If you visit over Christmas, the children will devour turrons, delicate bars made with egg whites, honey and roasted nuts. Other delicacies in Valencia include the bunyols, served with hot chocolate. However, the cuisine in Valencia has no cereals apart from rice, hardly any soups and minimal dairy products. Even in the supermarkets, you will only sometimes find grains, and dairy products are usually milk and yoghurt.
Valencia's public transport system is simple and very convenient: 5 metro lines, including trams, and 46 bus routes make it possible to get to every tourist attraction or the sea. To plan your way around the city, use the route planner on the website of EMT, the city's bus company. You can also check bus timetables there.
The city is divided into zones, and the ticket's cost depends on the number of zones it covers.
Most attractions are concentrated in Zone A, and travel within this zone costs €1.50. A ticket covering almost the entire city (AB zones) costs €2.10.
A trip to the suburbs (ABC) will cost around €3. You do not need to buy a ticket for children under five; from age 6, you must purchase a full ticket. You can buy tickets for one or all modes of transport, for one trip or several trips. For example, the Bono Travel Card (10 rides on all means of transportation in area A) costs €9, and the T1, T2, and T3 pass (unlimited rides on public transport in area A) costs €4 for one day about €7 for two days and about €10 for three days.
The Valencia Tourist Card (VTC) is a great help for the many tourists who travel a lot. It allows you to travel for free on Valencia's public transport services, including to and from the airport, and to receive discounts in museums, some restaurants and shops.
A VTC with a validity of 24 hours costs €15, 48 hours €20, 72 hours €25. The card can be purchased at the airport or online (in which case it is 10-15% cheaper).
The card for children aged 6 to 12 years costs slightly less than the adult card, but only if purchased online. Taxis are an excellent way to get around Valencia. Taxis cost just over €1 for each kilometre travelled plus €4 for boarding. At night, at weekends and on public holidays, the fares increase. Taxis are waiting for passengers in the car parks, and you can also hail a car by phone.
Where do you begin to explore a city that the Romans gave its name to? It's best to take a sightseeing tour to see how the old buildings fit with the futuristic modern structures. Whether it's the watchtowers of the Cuart or the parrot nests in the potholes in the tower walls, it doesn't matter whether children are more interested.
To see it all at once, ride the historic Valencia Bus Turistic double-decker bus or climb the Migueleta bell tower.
The Old Town ends overnight: instead of past centuries' baroque and art nouveau, you'll see a bizarre complex resembling an intergalactic spaceport. It is the City of Arts and Sciences, a major leisure and educational centre. And the details and details — from paintings in traditional Spanish azulejos to bold graffiti - are good to look at while walking or cycling.
Read more about its museums in the Explore section, but before you set out on your tour, stroll among the ethereal buildings; it makes a powerful impression. There are also frequently free exhibitions outdoors featuring models of dinosaurs, space bodies, and modern sculptures. You'll see two completely different cities if you visit during the day and in the evening.
And a third unexpected juxtaposition is the African savannah in a European city. In Valencia's Biopark, animals are comfortable, and people are entertained. Dangerous animals are separated from visitors by the glass, while safe ones, such as lemurs, roam around the park without any restrictions.
Parents with young children try to spend more time outdoors during the warmer months. Valencia's greenest area is the gardens in the riverbed of the Turia. The river, which used to cause flooding in the city, has been diverted, and the old riverbed has been transformed into a park. It's a great place to take your child for a walk and a family picnic.
Suppose you like to explore, too, head to the Botanical Gardens. There's the Botanical School, which beautifully illustrates the evolution of flora from single-celled algae to complex flowering plants. Children may be interested in the part of the garden where oranges, peaches and almonds grow.
There is an unusual attraction in the part of the park between the Old Town and the City of Arts and Sciences. It looks like a giant playground, but climb above it on the Ferris wheel, and you'll see a human figure lying on the ground. In Gulliver's Park, as it's called, children are happy to be Lilliputians.
Meanwhile, if you are holidaying with a child in Valencia, you can get out into the countryside at Lake Albufera. The water in the "little sea" (as the name translates from Arabic) is fresh, although a thin strip of sand separates it from the sea. Albufera is home to rice, an indispensable ingredient in Valencian cuisine, while the shores of the lake are home to waterfowl.
The higher the temperature, the more you'll want to dive into the cooler water. If relaxing at the beach isn't enough, you can spend time with your kids at one of the water parks near Valencia. The Aquopolis Cullera water fun centre is most suitable for families with pre-school and primary school children as no extreme activities are available. Aquarama, on the other hand, has some steep slides, the perilous Pirate's Cave and the Kraken Pool.
Note that water parks are only open in the summer. Already in the second half of September, they close.
Visiting the nearby resorts increases the number of things to do in Valencia with a child. For example, Benidorm is home to the large amusement park Terra Mítica, the animal park Terra Natura and the marine park Mundomar. Port Aventura is the largest amusement park in Spain, 250 km from Valencia.
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Praise for a beach holiday in Valencia is not usually reserved for the city's beaches but for Costa Blanca. It is lovely, with golden sandy beaches and blue flags for cleanliness and safety. However, the actual beaches in Valencia are lovely too. El Cabanyal Beach (Las Arenas) and La Malvarrosa Beach are the landscaped beaches closest to the centre. To say these beaches are wide is not to say anything.
La Malvarrosa, for example, is 135 metres wide. To the south of the town lies a string of semi-empty but gorgeous beaches. Dunes pile up along the coast, lined with grass and flowers; most beaches are part of nature parks. Although a seaside holiday is not the main purpose of a trip to Valencia, a busy sightseeing programme is friendly to intersperse with a bit of beach lounging.
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Some of Valencia's museums are on everyone's radar — like the Oceanographic Park or the Science Museum in the City of Arts and Sciences. But there's much more to see in the city, and it would be a shame not to visit exciting places for children.
Here's a list of things to see with children in Valencia — choose from a selection of museums that match your child's hobbies.
The list of attractions is quite long. As you can see, a holiday in Valencia with children should take at least a week to see all the highlights.
The number of places to stay in Valencia is overwhelming for tourists with all their needs. There is plenty to choose from, from luxury A's to solid B's to cosy C's, to apartments of varying comfort levels. The hotels are serviced to a high standard regardless of the number of stars.
The best areas in Valencia to live with children are near the old riverbed of the Turia.
Most of Valencia's attractions are concentrated in the Old Town, but there are few grocery shops and many tourists in high season. However, close to the Old Town is the quiet and beautiful neighbourhood of El Pla del Real.
This area also borders the new town or Eixample. El Pla del Remy and Gran Via are the most respectable districts. The Old Town and the City of Arts and Sciences are easily accessible by public transport. If you plan a holiday in Valencia with children alone, these areas offer superb apartments.
The Extramurs district is also suitable for living with a child. The sights of Valencia city centre are within walking distance, while the rest of the site is easily accessible by public transport.
The tranquil green area of Campanar, home to Valencia's Biopark and Cabecera Landscape Park, is not perfect because it has one bus and one metro line. Otherwise, it's good with a wide range of accommodation, plenty of shops, and a children's playground. If you plan to live by the sea, choose a hotel rather than an apartment.
If you travel by car, you can look for accommodation in quiet areas on the city's outskirts and even on the outskirts of Valencia. For example, there are cheap apartments in the town of Paterna near the airport. The seaside cities near Valencia (Puerto de Sagunto, Almarda, El Saler) also offer apartments and modest hotels. To the south of Valencia, several campsites open in the summer.
Is it better to stay in hotels or apartments with children? When it comes to Valencia, there's no simple answer. The hotels in Valencia do not have any child-friendly facilities and are geared mainly towards providing a post-excursion break. Apartments are usually chosen by those who want to cook alone — but it's more common for tourists to eat in restaurants and enjoy Valencian cuisine.
Valencia Airport is located close to the city, in the municipality of Manises. It receives flights from Spain and many European cities. The flight timetable is available on the airport website.
How to get to Valencia from the airport
Another option is to fly to Madrid, Barcelona or Alicante and, from there, take a bus or train to Valencia.
Holidays in the Costa Blanca resorts are easy to get to Valencia by bus. ALSA operates the route to Alicante and Benidorm. The Valencia bus station is next to the Turia Metro station.
This mode of transport is more expensive than the bus, but sometimes very convenient. The AVE fast train takes 1 hour and 38 minutes from Madrid to Valencia (4.5 hours by bus). Trains from Madrid and Barcelona arrive at Joaquin Sorolla station. Nord station is a 10-minute walk away. You can buy tickets on the website of RENFE, the Spanish railway company: https://www.renfe.com
Valencia is a major port of call for cruise ships. There are ferries between Mallorca, Ibiza and Valencia on a cruise liner. From May to October, boats from Italy, France and Portugal arrive in Valencia. For timetables and prices, visit Valencia's official tourist website.
There are several car rental companies at the airport. You can also rent a car before you arrive online.
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