Valencia 3-Day Itinerary: Old Town UNESCO Silk Exchange, Turia Gardens, Calatrava's Arts Complex & Albufera

Three full days in Valencia let you experience every historical layer of the city at an unhurried Mediterranean pace. Grouping sights by zone avoids crossing back and forth on transit. Dedicate Day 1 entirely on foot to the Roman, Islamic, Gothic, and Art Nouveau monuments inside the walled oval of Ciutat Vella. Spend Day 2 cycling or walking down the 9-kilometre sunken Jardín del Turia to Santiago Calatrava's futuristic City of Arts and Sciences and the Oceanogràfic. Save Day 3 for the ceramic-tiled fishing streets of El Cabanyal and Malvarrosa Beach. Finish with a midday wood-fired paella and sunset boat ride on Albufera Lagoon.

Day 1: Ciutat Vella: Mercado Central, UNESCO Silk Exchange, Cathedral, Miguelete & El Carmen

• Morning at Mercado Central & UNESCO La Lonja de la Seda. Begin at 09:00 beneath the 30-metre stained-glass dome of the 1928 Mercado Central. Morning produce, saffron, and seafood stalls are in full swing at that hour. Step across Plaza del Mercado into the 1482 to 1548 La Lonja de la Seda (Silk Exchange). Walk among its 17.4-metre helical palm columns, the Orange Tree Courtyard, and the golden coffered ceiling of the Consolat del Mar. Before leaving the square, view the restored 1702 Antonio Palomino vault frescoes inside the Church of Santos Juanes. Look up at its Baroque clock tower to spot the wrought-iron parrot weathervane.
• Midday at Valencia Cathedral, the Holy Chalice, El Miguelete & Almoina. Walk five minutes east through pedestrianised Plaza de la Reina into Valencia Cathedral (La Seu). Visit the 1356 Gothic chapter house preserving the first-century agate Holy Chalice (Santo Cáliz) and the 1472 Renaissance musical angels above the high altar. Next, climb the 207 spiral stone steps of the 51-metre octagonal Miguelete (El Micalet) bell tower. Pause afterwards for an ice-cold glass of tiger-nut horchata de chufa and glazed fartons at historic 1892 Horchatería Santa Catalina. Step onto Plaza de la Virgen beside the 1976 Turia Fountain and the 1652 to 1667 Basilica of the Virgin of the Forsaken. If your Day 1 falls on a Thursday, stand outside the Apostles' Portal at 12:00 noon sharp to witness the UNESCO-listed Tribunal de las Aguas. Just behind the apse, walk across the glass bridge inside the underground Almoina Archaeological Centre. Below you lie the 138 BCE Roman crossroads and a seventh-century Visigothic baptistery.
• Afternoon & Evening in El Carmen. After lunch, visit the 1690 Baroque vault frescoes inside the Church of San Nicolás, known as the Sistine Chapel of Valencia. Walk ten minutes southeast to photograph the 1740s Rococo alabaster portal of the Palacio del Marqués de Dos Aguas. Spend late afternoon following our El Carmen walking route through the 1400 Portal de la Valldigna and the free cloisters of the CCCC. Continue past the miniature 2003 Casa de los Gatos and the cannonball-scarred 1441 Torres de Quart. Finish with a sunset climb atop the 1392 Torres de Serranos before tapas and a pitcher of Agua de Valencia on Plaza del Negrito.

Day 2: Cycling the 9 km Jardín del Turia, City of Arts and Sciences & Oceanogràfic

• Morning Ride through the Sunken Turia Gardens. Rent a bicycle near the Torres de Serranos or Ruzafa and drop down into the car-free Jardín del Turia. Travellers with children can start at the western head of the riverbed in the 10-hectare immersion habitats of Bioparc Valencia. Art lovers can detour across the 1401 Pont de la Trinitat into the free Museum of Fine Arts to see Sorolla and Goya rooms. Glide beneath the 2002 floral boxes of the Puente de las Flores and Calatrava's 1995 white single-pylon Puente de la Exposición (La Peineta). Ride on past the 1598 stone arches of the Puente del Mar and the 1987 glass-domed Palau de la Música. Pause to see the 70-metre sculptural slides of Gulliver Park before reaching the eastern riverbed.
• Midday & Afternoon at the City of Arts and Sciences & Oceanogràfic. Arrive at the City of Arts and Sciences to walk the palm-shaded arches of the Umbracle. Photograph the 75-metre plume of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía and the eye-shaped Hemisfèric. Tour the interactive halls of the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum, then pass the 125-metre cable-stayed Assut de l'Or bridge and CaixaForum València inside the Ágora. Dedicate three hours in the afternoon to the Oceanogràfic. Walk through its 70-metre underwater shark tunnel, the Arctic beluga whale dome, and the Mediterranean wetlands.
• Evening in Ruzafa & Mercado de Colón. Ride Metro Line 10 back to Russafa for an early evening stroll through the 1916 Modernista Mercado de Colón. Afterwards, choose a bistro for dinner along Calle Literato Azorín or Calle Sueca.

Day 3: El Cabanyal Tile Houses, Malvarrosa Beach, El Palmar Paella & Albufera Sunset

• Morning in El Cabanyal & Malvarrosa Beach. Take Tram 4 or 6 east to the maritime quarter of El Cabanyal and Malvarrosa. Walk Calle de la Reina and Calle San Pedro to admire early-1900s fisherman houses clad in polychrome ceramic tiles. Next, stroll the Paseo Marítimo along Las Arenas and Malvarrosa beaches and visit David Chipperfield's cantilevered 2006 Veles e Vents building at Marina de Valencia.
• Midday Paella in El Palmar & Sunset Boat on Albufera Lagoon. Return to Porta de la Mar and board EMT Bus 25 for the 35-minute coastal ride south through the pine dunes of Devesa del Saler. Disembark in the island village of El Palmar inside the 21,120-hectare Albufera Natural Park. Sit down at 14:00 for a traditional wood-fired Paella Valenciana or garlicky eel all i pebre. An hour before sunset, board a flat-bottomed wooden albuferenc boat at the jetty. Glide across the mirror-calm freshwater lagoon as the sky turns gold, then ride Bus 25 back to the city.