# Essential Valencia Travel Guide: What to See & Do

**Best Things to Do in Valencia: History, Culture, and Mediterranean Life**

Valencia is a city of contrasts, where Roman foundations, medieval trading wealth, Mediterranean traditions, and bold modern design come together within easy reach of one another. Spain’s third-largest city combines a relaxed coastal atmosphere with sunny public spaces and a strong local identity shaped by commerce, craftsmanship, food, and festivals.

## Explore Valencia’s Historic Center

Valencia’s historic center reveals the city’s layered past through winding streets, lively plazas, and remarkable landmarks. Key places to visit include:

- **Valencia Cathedral**
- **Miguelete Tower**
- **Serranos Towers**
- **Basilica of Our Lady of the Forsaken**
- **La Lonja de la Seda**
- **Central Market**

A UNESCO-listed Gothic masterpiece, **La Lonja de la Seda** reflects Valencia’s prosperous silk-trading era. Nearby, the **Central Market** brings that history into everyday life with colorful produce, spices, seafood, and local conversation.

The city’s architectural heritage also includes striking examples of Art Nouveau, known locally as Valencian Modernisme. **North Railway Station** and the **Central Market** feature decorative tilework and organic details that give Valencia a distinctive visual identity.

## Walk Through the Turia Gardens

One of the best things to do in Valencia is explore the **Turia Gardens**, a vast green corridor created in a former riverbed. The gardens connect Valencia’s historic center with the futuristic **City of Arts and Sciences**, making them an important link between the city’s past and present.

## Discover the City of Arts and Sciences

The **City of Arts and Sciences** is one of Valencia’s most recognizable contemporary landscapes. Its white curves house a planetarium, science museum, opera house, and aquarium, creating a striking contrast with the medieval architecture of the historic center.

## Experience Valencia’s Food Culture

Food is central to life in Valencia. The city is widely regarded as the birthplace of **paella Valenciana**, traditionally prepared with ingredients such as chicken, rabbit, beans, saffron, and rosemary.

Valencian food culture also extends to tapas, horchata, vermouth, citrus, and wines from the surrounding region. Together, these flavors reflect the city’s Mediterranean traditions and strong connection to its local landscape.

## Plan Your Visit to Valencia

Whether you are looking for things to do in Valencia, interested in architecture, or hoping to enjoy parks and plazas, the city offers a rich introduction to Spain with a character entirely its own. From Gothic landmarks and historic markets to innovative design and distinctive local cuisine, Valencia brings its Roman, medieval, Mediterranean, and modern influences together in one welcoming destination.

## Walk Valencia with Neywo

Neywo turns Valencia into a self-guided audio tour. Stories arrive as you reach the place they belong to, and the route reshapes when you wander off it.

## More in Valencian Community

- [Villajoyosa](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/valencian-community/villajoyosa.md)
- [Xàbia](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/valencian-community/xabia.md)
- [Alicante](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/valencian-community/alicante.md)
- [Benidorm](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/valencian-community/benidorm.md)
- [Calpe](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/valencian-community/calpe.md)
- [Dénia](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/valencian-community/denia.md)
- [Peñíscola](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/valencian-community/peniscola.md)
- [Sagunto](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/valencian-community/sagunto.md)

## Elsewhere in Spain

- [Alcalá de Henares](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/alcala-de-henares.md)
- [Cáceres](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/caceres.md)
- [Cartagena](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/cartagena.md)
- [Logroño](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/logrono.md)
- [Madrid](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/madrid.md)
- [Melilla](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/melilla.md)
- [Mérida](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/merida.md)
- [Pamplona](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/pamplona.md)
- [San Sebastián de Garabandal](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/san-sebastian-de-garabandal.md)
- [Toledo](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/toledo.md)
- [Zaragoza](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/zaragoza.md)
- [Antequera](https://neywo.com/destinations/spain/andalusia/antequera.md) — Andalusia

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