Weekend in Valencia (Spain) with kids

Last weekend we made the first getaway of the year and the destination was Valencia (Spain).

It's a must if you haven't be there ever, it's a really nice city.

We dedicated saturday to visit the Oceanogràfic and the Science Museum, because the opening hours are longer in saturday.

And we dedicated Sunday to see the city that is really beautiful and calm, and it has an old downtown clean and nice.

But let's see little by little.

Let's start with the Oceanogràfic.

You may take a combined ticket with the Science Museum just for a little more and that's what we did.

The Oceanogràfic it's not just an aquarium, in fact it's a research center and also a shelter they have animals that have been brought (just like a zoo) but also they have rescued animals.

Imagine you find a stranded sea animal in the beach and you call emergencies (112 in Spain), well, they will take the animal to the aquarium to check its health and to take care of it before taking it again to the sea.

If you get there early, you may take a special ticket to see how the facilities work, it cost 12€ extra per person (it doesn't matter the age) they give you an appointment and show you the `backstage`of the aquarium, from the systems of pipelines and depuring of waters in the different habitats to the breeding area or the infirmary for the ill animals and even you walk over the ocean tank (where the sharks are).

I don't have any photo from this part because it isn't permitted, but, it's amazing to see all the work it has backwards.

Well, as said, that was a scheduled visit, so, when you take the ticket they say you an hour that you have to be in the hall with the guide and it lasts 1 hour (more or less) out of that you visit the aquarium your own way.

If you haven't been in the Oceanografic, the visit it's great, they have an exterior part where there are animals such as seals and sea lions, you see acuatic birds like pelicans or flamingos, turtles some crocodile, so, animals with lungs that use to spend some time in mainland.

There's also a huge aviary and exterior tanks for the dolphins show.

The rest of the Oceanogràfic are the different ocean habitats from the artic where you may see belugas or penguins, the Mediterranean area or the coral reefs.

After visiting the Oceanogràfic we went to visit the Science Museum, I thin we dedicated to it about an hour, and well, I must say, I thought it would be better, since I had other past references in the Cuenca Sciences Museum or the Tekniska in Stockholm, I thought it would have more experiments for kids, but it's fine anyway.

Sunday was dedicated to walk and enjoy the city, we started again in the outside of the City of Arts and Sciences (just because our hotel was in that part of the city) and we walk through the Turia Gardens till the Serranos Tower.