About a year ago I made a resolution to spend at least a week every winter in a sunny place. German winters are brutally dark, and every year my SAD gets worse. Looking for easy destinations that are affordable and not to far, I landed on Valencia. I’ve been interested in Valencia ever since I learned that it has a science center that is often used as a filming location for sci-fi movies and TV shows.

Originally, this trip was supposed to actually happen a week before Christmas 2023, but I got COVID—so I ended up escaping the dark German winter in early February instead. I landed in Valencia around noon on February 4, was immediately amazed by the sunshine and mild weather. It had already been several months of winter after all, with very short days, almost no sun, and just plain cold temperatures in Germany.

Not so in Valencia, while mornings and nights were still chilly (around 5–8°C), daytime temperatures were usually between 15–20°C. Sometimes cloudy, but generally sunny and pleasant! And so nice!

On my first day in the city, I had no real plan—just wandered through the old town, taking photos and admiring a lot of weird trees.

On my second day, I visited the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in the morning. This place truly feels like a set from a sci-fi movie (fittingly, Tomorrowland and an episode of Doctor Who were filmed there, amongst other things). I started with the science museum—it was a pretty cool museum, but the architecture of the whole place was the real highlight.

After a brief lunch break, I headed to the Oceanogràfic. It’s more than an aquarium (if you’ve been to aquariums). I would call this a water zoo. It’s the biggest I’ve ever seen and it completely blew me away. It’s really enormous—and they even have dolphins and belugas! I’m not so sure how ethical it is to keep those in captivity, but at least the people there seem to do a lot of research.

In hindsight, doing both the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències and the Oceanogràfic in one day was a bit much. I would recommend only doing one of them per day, even if it means a bit more time to get around the city (as they’re both not in the city center).

On the third day, I joined a 2.5-hour free walking tour of the old town, which was super informative and full of fun facts. I learned for example, that Valencia’s symbol is a bat, and apparently there was once a legal dispute with Batman/Warner Bros over it. That’s why you can find a lot of cats and Batman graffitis all over town.

The tour was nice, and I found it funny how the tour guide complained about how cold it currently is in Valencia (it was about 18°C).

After the tour, I explored the city on my own a bit more, found one of the old city gates and visited the botanical garden.

On Day 4 I visited the Bioparc, Valencia’s zoo. It’s beautifully designed with very natural-looking habitats, but it felt a bit small—especially after the overwhelming Oceanogràfic the day before.

Afterward, I went to the beach and let the sand massage my feet. It was super windy though, and I ended up having sand everywhere.

On the fifth day, I had originally planned to explore some other neighborhoods, but quickly realized they were pretty dead in the mornings—many shops don’t open until late afternoon or only in the evenings. Also, there’s a general siesta break from ~2 to ~4 PM, and the city doesn’t really come alive until after 5. Unfortunately, I’m usually worn out by then. Ended up spending a couple of quiet hours reading in the park, where I watched mounted police let their horses graze nearby. Later I strolled through the cathedral and the city again, but was back at the hotel by 6 and read books for the rest of the evening.

The sixth day  was my departure day. Before heading to the airport, I visited a Civil War-era bomb shelter (a refugio) right across from my hotel—fascinating, though it only took about 10 minutes to walk through. Then I took a last stroll to the train station, which was surprisingly charming.

I didn’t feel like doing much else, so I went to the airport early and passed the time reading. Finished my book half an hour before landing back in Düsseldorf.

To summarize, Valencia is a really great place to visit for a break from German winter. The weather was really great, I got some sun, and there are plenty of really cool things to see in the city. The Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències and the Oceanogràfic are both absolutely worth a visit, both are really great, and I recommend to take it slow with both of them and don’t do both in one day.

Link to my travel pictures