Valencia with kids in one day works best if you follow the old river. The Turia riverbed was turned into a 9km park after the river was diverted, and it runs in a green arc from the western edge of the city to the City of Arts and Sciences, so you can walk most of the day on paths with no traffic, stopping at playgrounds as you go. Start in the old town in the morning, drop into the riverbed after lunch and finish by the sea or at the aquarium.
This is the route we would give a friend visiting with children aged roughly 3 to 10. It assumes you arrive on a weekday or a Saturday; on Sundays the market is shut, and there is a swap for that below.
Valencia with kids in one day, starting in the old town
9am, breakfast and the Central Market
The Central Market (Mercado Central) opens at 7:30am, Monday to Saturday, and closes at 3pm. It is shut on Sundays and public holidays. Go early, before the tour groups. There are more than 250 stalls under a modernist iron and glass roof, and children tend to love the fish counters and the mountains of fruit. If nobody has had breakfast, Central Bar inside the market does sandwiches and small plates.
Buy fruit here for later. You will be glad of it in the riverbed.
10am, the cathedral square and a playground
A five-minute walk takes you past La Lonja (the old silk exchange) towards the cathedral and the Plaza de la Virgen, the prettiest square in the old town. With small children, don't plan on queuing for the cathedral's interior; let them run around the square and the fountain instead.
If they need a playground already, the Glorieta gardens, between the old town and the river, have one under big shady trees.
11am, choose your indoor stop
Two small museums work well with children and take about an hour each.
L'Iber, the tin soldier museum, is in the Malferit palace on Calle Caballeros and holds more than 95,000 miniature figures, arranged in battle scenes and historic parades. It suits children who like detail, from about 6 upwards.
The Ratoncito Pérez house, at Calle Borrull 16, is a dramatised visit of about 50 minutes based on the Spanish tooth mouse (the local version of the tooth fairy). It is recommended from age 3 and is a hit with children who are losing teeth. Visits run at set times and are often in Spanish, so book ahead and ask about language.
Lunch, the Spanish way
Spaniards eat lunch between 2pm and 3:30pm, and many restaurants don't open their kitchens much before 1:30pm. With hungry children, eat early at a place with a set lunch menu (menú del día), which most bars in the centre offer on weekdays. Valencia is the home of paella, but proper paella is made to order and takes time; many locals eat it at lunchtime and never at dinner. If your children won't wait 30 minutes, order something quick and save paella for another day.
Afternoon in the Turia gardens
2:30pm, into the riverbed
From the old town, take any of the stone staircases down from the bridges into the Turia gardens (Jardí del Túria). Down here it is flat, mostly shaded and full of runners, cyclists and families. Pushchairs are no problem on the main paths. If your children are old enough, hiring bikes is the easiest way to cover the distance; there are rental shops near several bridges.
Walk east, towards the sea. Along the way you pass sports pitches, fountains and the Palau de la Música.
3:30pm, Gulliver Park
Gulliver Park (Parque Gulliver), between the Ángel Custodio and Reino bridges, is a giant figure of Gulliver lying on his back, around 70 metres long, and the children are the Lilliputians climbing all over him. His hair, arms and coat turn into slides, ramps and ropes. It is free all year. Opening hours change with the season: from November to February it opens 10am to 5:30pm, in March and October 10am to 7pm, and in summer it closes in the middle of the day, so check before you go. Allow at least an hour. Older children could stay all afternoon.
5pm, the City of Arts and Sciences
A short walk further east, the white buildings designed by Santiago Calatrava rise out of the riverbed. You can walk around the outside for free, and the shallow pools are great for spotting fish. For a paid visit, you have two main options:
- The Oceanogràfic, the largest aquarium in Europe, with about 500 marine species. It is a half-day visit on its own, so if you want to do it properly, swap it for the morning in the old town.
- The Science Museum (Museu de les Ciències), with hands-on exhibits that work well from about 5 or 6.
If the children are tired, skip both and just let them run around the pools. It costs nothing.
Evening by the sea
From the City of Arts and Sciences the beach is a few kilometres away. Take a taxi or a bus to Las Arenas, Cabanyal or Malvarrosa beach and finish the day on the promenade (Paseo Marítimo). Even outside summer, families come out in the evening to walk, cycle and eat. Dinner in Spain starts late, around 9pm, but beach restaurants are used to families eating earlier.
If you are there on a Sunday
With the market closed, start the day at the opposite end of the riverbed instead. Cabecera Park (Parque de Cabecera), on the western edge of the city on Avenida Pío Baroja, is a 17-hectare park with a lake where you can hire duck-shaped pedal boats, and it is free to enter. Right next to it is Bioparc, a zoo designed around African habitats, where you can easily spend three hours. Then walk east down the riverbed to Gulliver in the afternoon, as above.
Other easy stops nearby
If you have a second day, or the weather turns, these are all worth knowing:
- Parque Central, next to the Estació del Nord, opened in 2019, with a climbing wall and long slides.
- The Royal Gardens (Jardines del Real, often called Viveros), with playgrounds and a small circuit where children can practise riding and driving.
- The Fallas Museum (Museu Faller), which keeps the giant figures saved from the March bonfires.
- L'Albufera natural park, south of the city, for a boat trip on the lagoon at sunset.
Getting around with children
The centre is compact and the Turia gardens connect most of what you will want to see. City buses (EMT) are cheap and take pushchairs, and from the airport the metro runs straight into the centre. Many small shops in the old town close for a few hours in the afternoon, from about 2pm to 5pm, but the parks and the riverbed stay open, which is one more reason to plan the afternoon outside. And if anything goes wrong with the plan, you can always drop down into the Turia and let the children run.
Whenever you visit Valencia, one of the nicest surprises is how many local families are out in the parks in the evening. If you would like your children to play with some of them, Woltica helps travelling families meet local families and arrange to meet in a park or square, never at home. You can find out more on Woltica before your trip.