City of Arts and Sciences Free Tour

Nothing in Valencia's old town prepares you for the City of Arts and Sciences, the cluster of white, curved concrete structures that architect Santiago Calatrava built over the old riverbed at the far end of the Turia Gardens. This tour walks the whole complex from the outside, explaining what each building actually does: the eye-shaped Hemisfèric with its IMAX dome, the ribbed Museum of Sciences shaped like a whale skeleton, and the vast Oceanogràfic, one of the largest aquariums in Europe.

Your guide also covers the how and why — the 1957 flood that pushed Valencia to bury the river underground, the decades it took to turn the dry channel into public space, and the controversy and cost that came with Calatrava's vision. You'll finish with a clear sense of how this futuristic complex fits into a much older city.