Valencia With a Toddler
It's no secret that, little by little, Spain has become my favorite place to travel and spend my time off with my family. The weather, the scenery, the itineraries, the people, and the food—all of it feels perfect in Spain. The vibe feels different when I'm in Spain; I suddenly get in touch with my Spanish while speaking with the locals, ten words in Spanish and four in English 😃
After three visits to Barcelona and one to Tenerife in the past few years, we took some days off at the end of April this year and spent almost a week in Valencia. We relaxed, enjoyed the sunshine, explored various sights, and savored the best sangria I've had in years. Additionally, I learned how to ride an electric scooter!
We chose Valencia because, although it is a big city that welcomes many tourists, I read online that many people also say it is very welcoming to families with kids. And it did not disappoint me!
Accommodation 🏨
For our accommodation, we chose a hotel this time that included breakfast. Since we were traveling with another family, we thought it would be easier to stay at a hotel, as it would allow us to have at least one meal prepared and focus on making plans for outings. We chose the NH Valencia Center, which offered decent amenities and was conveniently located within walking distance of the city center. The highlight for the kids was definitely the rooftop pool. At the end of our vacation, we joked, asking the girls what they enjoyed most about Valencia, and of course, their answer was "the pool." The hotel also has a rooftop terrace where wine and reading pair perfectly (wink wink).
Day 1
The first place on our list to visit was the Bioparc. We purchased our tickets for Bioparc online on the same day, just a few hours before our visit. I was truly amazed by how this vast park serves as a home for so many wild animals, recreating their natural habitats right in the heart of a big city. The biodiversity at Bioparc is impressive, showcasing environments like the African savanna, the island of Madagascar, and the Equatorial jungle. If you’re visiting with kids, this place should definitely be on your list! The only animal that really captivated my daughter was the lemur. She was thrilled because it resembled King Julien, the fictional character from the Madagascar movies.
Additionally, you don’t need to worry about lunch while at Bioparc. There is a restaurant inside the park that offers a variety of tasty meals at affordable prices.
A fun fact about our visit to the Bioparc is that when we left the park, we noticed the traffic lights were no longer working, which seemed strange at first. While we were inside the park, walking around and enjoying the many positive distractions, we had no idea that we were experiencing one of the most unique days in Iberian history. On Monday, 28 April 2025, a significant power blackout occurred across the Iberian Peninsula, affecting Portugal and Spain, where electric power was interrupted for about ten hours in most of the Peninsula and longer in some areas.
During the blackout hours, we did our best to stay calm, as we had intermittent access to the Internet to stay updated on the situation. We also tried to conserve our cell phone batteries to make them last as long as possible. Our primary concern was that all the restaurants and shops were closed, and we wondered what we would eat for dinner, other than some pretzels.
But hey, there’s nothing that a few jumps into the pool can’t fix, right?
Day 2 🍃
On this day, we walked in the Turia Gardens, one of the largest urban parks in Spain. The vast gardens are built on the former riverbed of the Turia, whose course was altered to prevent constant flooding in the city, and it runs through the city along nine kilometres of green space. Walking through Turia Gardens is a very relaxing experience, especially with kids. The scenery is absolutely amazing, offering a unique itinerary of palm trees, orange trees, fountains, pine trees, and aromatic plants.
One of the most important stops along the way for kids is the Gulliver Park, where children can climb onto the fingers, hair, and legs of a giant, 70m recumbent figure and slide down. You can easily spend a few hours there; the kids are just mesmerized by this experience.
My daughter keeps asking me every few weeks when we will go back to Gulliver's Park 😄
Day 3 🔬
Walking through the Turia Gardens, we arrived at the Science Museum, which offers visitors an educational, interactive, and enjoyable experience that explores the evolution of life, science, and technology. The museum is child-friendly, offering a wide range of interactive and enjoyable activities, and it also features a playground that was a favorite for our daughters. Our daughters discovered a great spot at the Science Museum where they spent over an hour playing in a playground. What they enjoyed the most was a large construction area where several kids could collaborate on building projects.
Day 4 🌊
We visited the Oceanogràfic and spent several hours there, surrounded by a variety of fascinating creatures. Inside the Oceanogràfic in Valencia, you have the opportunity to walk through the longest underwater tunnel in Europe. I struggle to find the words to truly describe the beauty of the tunnel, although it was a bit crowded for my taste. The variety of animals is diverse, including crocodiles, tortoises, fish of various sizes and species, jellyfish, and several types of birds.
The Oceanografic in Valencia also features a dolphinarium, considered the largest in Europe.
Day 5 🏖️
This day was dedicated entirely to the beach. During our stay in Valencia, we primarily explored several destinations on foot that were not always close to each other. Fortunately, the girls were in a good mood, happily walking and chasing each other, which made our outings enjoyable. When we grew tired of walking, we often took the bus back to our hotel.
We rented bicycles for our trip from the hotel to the beach. My husband chose a bike with a child seat attached since our daughter is a good cyclist, but the distance was a bit too long for her. Since I had never ridden a bike before, I decided to rent an electric scooter, which was also a new experience for me. It was quite an adventure as we traveled through the Turia Gardens on our bicycles and my electric scooter on May 1st, a holiday in Spain, when everyone seemed to be enjoying the park. I found it a bit stressful to make sure I didn’t run into anyone with the scooter :D
The day we chose to go to the beach was one of the windiest days we had had in years. The wind made the air feel a bit chilly in the morning, but by noon, it had become quite hot. We visited the Malvarrosa beach, which is vast and has fine, golden sand. We spent great moments looking for seashells, walking barefoot on the beach, laughing, and playing. The girls were thrilled and happy to run barefoot in the sand.
Restaurants 🐟
Spain has some of my favorite cuisines, particularly its seafood dishes. As we often do when traveling, we selected our dining spots based on Google reviews in the area where we were. During my trip to Valencia, I must admit I was not overly impressed by the food. We dined at various restaurants, but I wouldn't place them on my "highly recommended" list. The food was decent for hungry bellies, but nothing exceptional. However, I do want to mention two restaurants where both the adults and kids enjoyed the selections we made.
One restaurant we chose was Restaurante Yuso, conveniently located within walking distance from our hotel. Overall, the dishes we ordered were above average. We dined there several times during our stay, and I was pleased to see that my daughter and husband finally started to try seafood, opting for fried calamari and fried baby octopus.
We also had a delightful meal at a restaurant located close to the beach, called La Cabanyita, which had a more Italian-specific menu. It welcomed us with a great, positive vibe, and the girls were excited to receive free candies from the waiter. The food we ordered was tasty, and the sangria was enjoyable as well.
That’s a wrap! We had a fantastic city break in Valencia this spring. I believe Valencia is one of the most family-friendly large cities I have ever visited. If you enjoy pleasant walks, good sangria, positive vibes, friendly people, sunbathing, and beach strolling, then you should consider Valencia for your next trip.