In a nutshell
- Valencia is an excellent travel destination for families — you can get around easily everywhere with a stroller or pram, and the city is super manageable.
- The top family activities in Valencia are the aquarium, the science museum, the Bioparc, and Gulliver Park — easily enough for a full week.
- Our hotel pick for families in Valencia is the Core Suites Valencia — spacious two-bedroom apartments in a great location. We loved it!
- Best restaurant for families: Le Favole serves great pizza and pasta, and there’s a playground right next door.
The Best Things to Do in Valencia with Kids
Animals to Watch and Wonder At: Bioparc Valencia
Animals are always a hit with kids — and the Bioparc Valencia is a truly beautifully designed zoo where you can spend a fantastic family day.
The enclosures are modeled closely on the animals’ natural habitats, and you genuinely get the feeling the animals are well cared for.
There’s so much to see: elephants, lions, giraffes, rhinos, hippos. The absolute standouts are the gorillas and the chimpanzees.
Plan on spending a full day at the Bioparc. There’s a restaurant on site — fair warning, the food quality is pretty poor while the prices are steep. That seems to be a universal zoo experience. On the bright side, you can watch the giraffes and other animals while you eat.
The Bioparc is very stroller-friendly. All paths are paved and fully accessible.
Getting there by Metro lines 3, 5, and 9 takes only five minutes from Valencia Norte station. From the metro stop, it’s about a ten-minute walk to the Bioparc.
Admission isn’t exactly cheap at €28.90. Children under four get in free.
We’d recommend buying tickets online in advance. The price is the same as at the door, but you’ll skip the line — and on weekends especially, the wait can get really long.
Europe's Largest Aquarium: Oceanogràfic de València
If the kids still haven’t had their fill of animals after the Bioparc, you absolutely have to visit the aquarium too.
It’s located in the futuristic Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències and offers so much more than just a few fish. The highlights include beluga whales, sharks and rays, and a 70-meter-long tunnel through the South Sea tank.
There are also penguins, crocodiles, giant tortoises, and much more. The aquarium is seriously enormous, so plan for at least half a day. There are also various playgrounds and restaurants on the grounds.
What about wildlife conservation? Honestly, pretty mixed. The beluga whale tank looked quite small, dolphin shows are offered, and there’s no consistent enforcement when visitors knock on the glass.
Our money-saving tip: combo ticket for the aquarium and science museum. It saves you 10% compared to buying two separate tickets. You can purchase the ticket online and even choose different days for the two attractions. Children under four are free.
Play and Explore: Science Museum
The Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe is right next to the aquarium and was our personal favorite for kids on a city trip in Valencia.
The museum is designed specifically for children, with loads of hands-on stations where kids can try things out for themselves. It’s a blast — and they even learn something along the way.
The main exhibition is especially great for older kids between 6 and 14 years old.
A real highlight for toddlers is the play corner exclusively for children under eight. There’s a construction site with a crane, wheelbarrows, and a conveyor belt. We spent a full two hours there ourselves.
You can buy tickets online — we recommend the combo ticket with the aquarium.
Buy science museum tickets online
An Extraordinary Playground: Gulliver Park
Gulliver Park is a pretty wild playground. Viewed from above, it looks like an oversized Gulliver figure lying on his back.
Kids can climb all over it and slide down the many very steep slides. It’s a ton of fun, but it’s not entirely without risk — there’s a first aid station right at the playground for good reason.
We’d recommend this spot mainly for older kids. Kids between 6 and 12 will have the most fun here. Admission is free.
Heads up: On weekends the playground is usually packed. Since the maximum capacity fills up fast, long lines often form at the entrance and wait times of one to two hours are not uncommon. On weekday mornings, though, it’s usually pleasantly quiet — at least when schools are in session in Spain.
Running Wild in the Jardín del Turia
The Jardín del Turia is a park in a former riverbed that winds around Valencia’s historic center.
Between sightseeing, you can keep coming back here with your kids and let them burn off some energy. The park has various playgrounds, including Gulliver Park.
You can also rent bicycles with child seats or trailers right on site.
Hit the Water: Valencia's Beaches with Kids
One of the great advantages of Valencia as a family destination is its location right by the beach. Depending on where you’re staying, it’s only about a 15-minute bus ride to a wide sandy beach.
Don’t picture a dream beach with palm trees — it’s a city beach, plain and simple, but the kids probably won’t care either way.
Along the several-kilometer-long beach you’ll also find playgrounds here and there, though unfortunately there’s very little shade.
In Search of the Cat House
How do you get a small child to stroll through an old town? With a game, of course.
Our game was: Today we’re looking for the Cat House. This little house built into a wall is one of the quirkiest sights in Valencia. Our little one was absolutely thrilled when we finally found the tiny house after a long search.
The Cat House is at Calle del Museo 9. But, shhhh — don’t spoil it.
Great Family Hotels in Valencia
There are plenty of hotels in Valencia. Since traveling with kids often means you have somewhat different expectations for your accommodation, we’ve put together a selection of genuinely family-friendly hotels in Valencia.
Our Hotel Pick: Core Suites Valencia
We spent a week at Core Suites Valencia and can highly recommend it for families. The apartments are modern and feature two separate bedrooms, each with two beds.
For families with two children, there’s really plenty of space. There’s even a well-equipped kitchen, so self-catering families have everything they need.
The location close to the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències is ideal — many family-friendly attractions are within walking distance. A bus stops right at the door and gets you to the old quarter or the beach in ten minutes. There are plenty of restaurants in the area, and a supermarket is just a few doors down.
More Great Accommodations for Families with Kids in Valencia
Besides Core Suites, there are several other hotels in Valencia that are especially well-suited for families. Here’s our pick:
All our hotel recommendations for Valencia can be found here:
Eating with Kids in Valencia
When it comes to food, Valencia is a really great choice for families. Many restaurants offer special dishes for kids, and high chairs are standard in almost every restaurant.
One thing to be aware of is the Spanish dining schedule. Most restaurants serve lunch until around 4:00 PM and don’t open their kitchens for dinner again until 7:00 PM or even later. That can be tricky with kids.
There are exceptions, though — with a little searching you can almost always find a restaurant that keeps its kitchen open all day.
Family-Friendly Restaurants in Valencia
We never encountered a restaurant in Valencia that wasn’t welcoming to kids. That said, some stand out as especially great for families. We’ve included a Google Maps link for each one so you can save them directly:
- Le Favole: an excellent Italian restaurant with really great pizza and pasta. For families, the location is a huge bonus — the restaurant is right next to a playground. Another plus: the kitchen is open all day.
- Ubik Café: a mix between a bistro and a bookstore. There’s a play corner for kids with a few tables, so you can eat right there. Food is served at lunch and in the evenings from 7 PM.
- Portobello Horno Cafeteria: great for breakfast near our hotel pick Core Suites. In the back corner there’s a small play area for kids with a few toys and books.
- La Finestra: a small restaurant with a fun concept — they serve mini pizzas. You order, say, five pieces and each one has a different topping, which you don’t know until they arrive. For kids, Margherita and ham pizzas are always available, so no unpleasant surprises.
- Oli Bar Ruzafa: a very authentic bistro serving a few simple but affordable tapas (cheese, ham, olives, chorizo). There’s a playground nearby, though not directly visible from the bistro, so it’s better suited for older kids. Still very convenient even with younger children, as the bistro sits on a car-free square.
We've listed even more restaurant tips for Valencia here:
Practical Travel Tips for Valencia with Kids
Is Valencia Stroller-Friendly?
Valencia is super easy to navigate with a stroller or baby carriage. The sidewalks are wide and almost always in great condition. Even in the historic district, the paths are wide and mostly flat.
All metro stations have elevators, so getting around by metro with a stroller is no problem at all.
Public Transit in Valencia
Almost all attractions in Valencia can be reached on foot, but especially with tired kids, it’s handy to hop on a bus or metro for a few stops.
Bus rides are free for children up to age 6, and on the metro kids ride free up to age 9. For parents, the Valencia Tourist Card can be worth it if you’re using public transit a lot. The card also gets you discounts on a few attractions — for example, 10 percent off at the Oceanogràfic. We break down in our article about the Valencia Tourist Card whether it makes sense for your trip.
We've covered everything about public transportation in Valencia in this article:
Are There Plenty of Playgrounds in Valencia?
Valencia has a huge number of playgrounds. Most aren’t very large or particularly extraordinary, but there’s one on nearly every corner.
There’s usually something for younger kids too, so everyone gets to have fun.
Our Verdict: Is Valencia Worth It for Families with Kids?
We had a wonderful time as a family on our Valencia trip and can wholeheartedly recommend the city. You can combine a city break with a beach vacation here — which is pretty much perfect for a family trip.
Valencia itself has 800,000 residents and is a proper city, yet it still feels totally manageable. If you and your kids haven’t done many city trips yet, Valencia is the perfect place to start.
