City of Arts and Sciences

At the end of a long green park, a cluster of vast white structures rises like the bones of some future creature, all sweeping curves, glass, and water, reflected in long blue pools. This is the City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia's futuristic complex of museums and halls, and the boldest piece of modern architecture in the city.

The complex was built from the late 1990s onward in the bed of a diverted river, a series of huge buildings designed mostly by a famous local architect known for white, skeletal, organic forms. Together they turned a flood-prone riverbed into the city's modern showpiece.

The buildings each have a purpose. There is a science museum shaped like a giant whale skeleton, a domed cinema and planetarium that looks like a vast eye, an opera house and arts palace under a sweeping shell, a landscaped walkway of arches, and a great aquarium.

The aquarium, set slightly apart, is one of the largest in Europe, with tunnels, tanks, and a dolphin pool recreating the seas and oceans of the world. It is the single most popular part of the complex, and a major draw for families.

The science museum is built for hands-on learning, with interactive exhibits aimed at curiosity rather than quiet looking, while the eye-shaped hall shows films on a huge curved screen and projects the night sky.

Even without entering any building, the complex is a spectacle. The white forms, the reflecting pools, and the play of light and water make it one of the most photographed places in the country, especially in the calm of early morning or at night when it is lit.

The opera house and arts palace, a soaring shell of white, hosts performances and gives the complex a cultural heart beyond the science and the aquarium, and its dramatic profile dominates the skyline of the modern district.

The whole complex sits at the seaward end of the long park that runs through the city, so you can walk or cycle down the old riverbed straight to it, the green leading you to the white.

It is, frankly, a place of modern spectacle rather than old history, and some find it cold or theme-park-like; but as a statement of ambition and a feast for the eye, it has put Valencia firmly on the map.

The buildings are best appreciated with time to walk among them, around the pools and under the arches, rather than rushing between ticketed attractions, so allow space simply to look as well as to visit.

A few practical notes. The aquarium, science museum, and cinema are each ticketed, sometimes with combined tickets; the outdoor areas and views are free. Come early or at dusk for the light and fewer crowds, and wear sun cover, as the white plazas are exposed.

Walk among the white shells and blue pools as the light shifts across them, and the City of Arts and Sciences feels like stepping into a vision of the future dropped into an old Spanish city. When you walk back up the green river park, the modern dream gives way to the old town once more.