Valencia, Spain: Travel Tips

It's a completely new complex of absolutely visually stunning buildings that has been created over the last decade. It's clear when you see them that the architects were told to be bold and brave with their designs, and that's exactly what they did. We were fortunate to fly over on our way into the airport and it's from the air that you can really see the full splendor of them.

One of them, L'Hemisferic, is designed to look like a blinking eye, with an auditorium containing an IMAX cinema and planetarium contained in the "eyeball." Elsewhere is a science museum, which is very much aimed at school children. Their motto is "it's forbidden not to touch," which gives you an idea of what to expect there. Then there's the Palau de les Arts or Palace of the Arts, containing four performance spaces, including an open air theater.

But perhaps the real highlight of the whole complex is the other major building, the Oceanografic, the city's aquarium. We've visited many aquariums during our travels and usually we've felt that they don't live up to our expectations, but this place was very different. It's probably just as well, as it wasn't cheap to get into, but once we were inside, we could see why it was so pricey. This wasn't your ordinary aquarium, where you see fish swimming around in a tank.

There are different parts of the park, as really this is more like a theme park than an aquarium, showcasing the marine life from different parts of the world, including the Americas, Antarctica and Arctic. As well as the tropical fish you'd expect to see, we were also treated to sharks, jellyfish, sea horses and sea dragons. But better was to come.

Perhaps the best part of the aquarium can be found in the Arctic pavilion, where we were able to watch the playful antics of the two beluga whales, the only ones in Europe. We could have sat there all afternoon watching them, but we still had more to see.

We were disappointed to see that we'd missed the shows at the Dolphinarium, but it wasn't a problem, as we were treated to a show by the dolphins in there. They were jumping out of the water and circling around happily, but we got even more activity when the trainers came out to see them. The relationship they obviously had with their animals was excellent to see.

In truth, there was much more to see and do in Valencia than we could achieve in a day. It was a pleasant surprise to discover how much there was waiting for visitors there and, although it may not feature very highly in the guidebooks, it's got a lot to offer. That's why we'll be heading back again in the future, as we've definitely got unfinished business there, with much more to discover there.

Orlando International Airport - signs
The way back for those with car rentals is clearly signposted. - photo by chezp