The City of Arts and Sciences is one of the most visited places in Valencia. Santiago Calatrava's complex looks like fossilised sea creatures one moment and the far future the next. Here is what sits behind those facades, how long each part takes and what to pick when time is short.
The City of Arts and Sciences is one of the most visited places in Valencia. From one angle the complex looks like a pod of ancient creatures fossilised on the ocean floor; from another, like a city from the far future. There is a reason science-fiction films and futuristic commercials are shot here.
Behind those facades sit a science museum, an aquarium, a cinema, an opera house and an exhibition centre. You can simply walk between them: no ticket is needed to enjoy the architecture. Going inside, though, takes time and choice. I have been to all of them, and I suggest deciding in advance what interests you most.
How a whole city appeared here
The story begins with the river Turia. After the catastrophic flood of 1957 the river was diverted into a new bed south of Valencia, and a long park gradually filled the old one, curving around the historic centre. The City of Arts and Sciences was built at its eastern end in the 1990s.
It was conceived as a major science and culture hub that would transform a neglected stretch of former farmland. Most of the buildings were designed by the celebrated architect Santiago Calatrava. Only the aquarium — known here as the Oceanogràfic — is the work of Félix Candela.
Príncipe Felipe Science Museum
If you are travelling with school-age children, this is an excellent idea. It is a hands-on museum where everything can be touched and pulled, and that tends to win everyone over. The chicks leave a particular impression: just before the entrance stands a sealed incubator where you can watch them hatch.
With younger children the museum still works — there is a separate section that explains scientific phenomena through fairy tales.
There is a snack bar and a canteen inside. Allow at least two hours, not counting the break.
The aquarium, or Oceanogràfic
The largest aquarium in Europe occupies its own extensive grounds with pavilions and open spaces. Different marine ecosystems are presented separately, so a visit is really several very different impressions in a row. There is even a giant aviary shaped like a translucent sphere that you can walk into.
My favourite spot is the underwater tunnel, with sharks and rays gliding overhead. The most photogenic corner is in a darkened hall, where luminous jellyfish drift inside a column-shaped tank.
The ticket includes the dolphin show. To enjoy the Oceanogràfic properly you need about four hours. There are six places to eat inside: a pizzeria, a burger bar, an ice-cream café, a canteen and two restaurants. One deserves a special mention — an "underwater" fine-dining restaurant where you eat surrounded by sea creatures. Booking is essential.
L'Hemisfèric
A planetarium that is used mostly as a science cinema. The image of an eye is built into the design: the inner hemisphere of the auditorium suggests the pupil, the outer shell the eyelid, and the reflection in the pool completes the shape. The building even has a movable metal "eyelid".
Inside is a dome-screen hall showing films about nature, space and other scientific subjects. The image fills most of your field of vision, so the experience differs from an ordinary cinema. Pick the session carefully: subject, language and age guidance all matter. Allow about an hour.
L'Umbracle
A panoramic promenade gallery with a garden. By day it is a pleasure to walk among the plants under the tall white arches and look down on the complex. I like that the garden lets you slow down between museums. Half an hour is enough.
L'Umbracle also has a night life: part of the space works as an open-air club terrace, with its own entrance and a programme that changes with the season.
Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía
A vast music venue with several halls. The best classical concerts, opera and ballet happen here.
Locals nicknamed the huge white building "the helmet". It may well be the most beautiful and unusual structure of the complex. Look at it from the Assut de l'Or bridge, also by Calatrava. The interior is worth seeing too: guided and self-guided tour tickets are sold on the venue's own site. Allow about an hour.
L'Àgora
The blue Àgora building houses the CaixaForum cultural centre and its changing exhibitions. Interactive science projects are frequent — "Music and Mathematics", for instance, showed how sound, rhythm and mathematical patterns are connected.
Large historical and art projects come here as well. "Mummies of Egypt" brought objects from the British Museum, with a demonstration workshop on mummification alongside it. From 2 October 2026 to 7 February 2027 the Àgora hosts "Rembrandt. The World in Prints", again with the British Museum.
Choose by the current CaixaForum programme. I would allow an hour and a half for one exhibition; family activities take longer.
What to choose
With a full day, head for the aquarium in the morning and spend the afternoon walking the main part of the complex, taking in Calatrava's architecture.
With half a day, see the City of Arts and Sciences from the outside and pick one place to go in: the science museum if you have children, or the Palau de les Arts if your company is adult.
Getting there and when to come
From the historic centre it is a pleasant walk through the Turia park towards the complex. How long depends on where you start; from the centre allow about an hour. You can also cycle through the park.
To save your energy for the museums, take an EMT bus — lines 35 and 95 among others — or tram line 10 to the Ciutat Arts i Ciències — Justícia stop. Check the route from your own address before setting out.
The best photographs come from the Assut de l'Or bridge and from the Umbracle gallery.
Buy aquarium tickets and specific sessions in advance. Current prices and timetables are on the complex's own site — I deliberately avoid quoting figures, as they change every season.
Is it worth including in your trip
I would see it at least from the outside: this architecture gives you a completely different idea of Valencia than a walk through the old town. But if you only have one day and history, old quarters and street life are what you came for, do not give that day to a museum complex — spend it on the historic centre and the UNESCO heritage instead.
With two days or more, do come here — I show how to fit it into a two- or three-day trip in my Valencia itinerary.
I do not run tours of the City of Arts and Sciences. But on a walk through the historic centre we can work out how to fit a visit into your plans — around your time, the age of your children and what you actually enjoy.
