Discover Valencia: Bike Tour Through Turia Gardens & Historic Landmarks

Hello, this is Renee, and Tom and I are on the Ultimate World Cruise, and we just docked in Barcelona, Spain. Welcome to our bike tour of Valencia. We'll explore the lush tour gardens, a park that once was a river, and uncover its fascinating history. We'll visit the stunning city of arts and science, the bustling town hall square, and taste some delicious horchata. Yep, we are actually going to taste some real local cuisine. We took a shuttle bus that took us to the center of town, which took about 20 minutes. From there, we walked a mile to the bike shop. Our mile walk took us through the same path that we're going to bike, and we had no idea that we were walking through tour gardens that once was Tura River. Valencia was founded in 138 BC by the Romans. Following the Roman era, Valencia was occupied by the Visigoths and then the Moors in 714 AD. In 1238, King James I of Aragon reconquered Valencia from the Moors and integrated it into the Kingdom of Aragon. This period marked a significant transformation with many mosques converted into churches. The 15th and 16th centuries were Valencia's golden age, turning it into a major economic and cultural hub. The landmark buildings like the Silk Exchange date from this era. And where we're standing in now is a really famous facility for the Valencians, because this is the Turria Park. And the Turria Park is a 90-meter-long park that goes through the city of Valencia. And the Turria Park also has a nickname, and that's the Green Law. The Turria Park, it wasn't always a park, because before this was a park, it was a river. But because of a lot of floods, and the last flood in 1957 that killed 81 inhabitants of Valencia, the local authorities decided to make a new plan, and the plan was called Plan del Sur, like the South Plan, because they built a canal around the south of the city, and let this dry out by the stream. The Valencian people directly knew when this was dried out, they wanted their own garden in here. And the reason why, if you check around, everyone here lives in apartments. Some people, they have a balcony. Some people have an interior garden. But a lot of people don't have any outside space by their house. So a big garden here was the main plan. But there was one guy who said, we're not going to do that, and that was Francisco Franco. And Francisco Franco was a dictator in that time, and he wanted to have a big highway here. And why did he want to have a big highway? If you go to the end of the park, and you walk a little bit further, you will see the harbour of Valencia, and all the goods from the harbour needed to go to Madrid, and the fastest way was like a highway through the city of Valencia. The Valencian people, they demonstrated against this plan, but Franco was a dictator, he couldn't do anything against it, until the moment, actually the 20th of November 1975, because in 1975 Franco died, and the Valencians, they took the matters in their own hands, and they asked 12 architects to design by old bridge by old bridge the park, and in 1986 the park was officially opened. During the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939, Valencia served as a republican capital and faced significant challenges and bombings. These towers were built between 1392 and 1398. Originally part of Valencia's fortified walls, these towers served as a principal gateway and defensive fortification for the city. Next up, we're going to see the City of Arts and Sciences. It is a striking example of futuristic architecture and a prominent culture and architectural complex. The Hemispheric opened in 1998, and it is an IMAX cinema, planetarium, and laserarium. Its eye-shaped design is symbolic in representing an eye that observes the world. An interactive science museum opened up in 2000. This museum covers over 40,000 square meters. A landscape walk that serves as a beautiful open-air gallery and garden opened. Before we get to the City of Arts and Sciences, the first thing we're going to see is the bridge in Valencia with palm trees growing through it. This bridge was designed by the renowned architect, and it spans the former riverbed of the Tura River and features an iconic white cable state design with central pylons that rise 125 meters high. The City of Arts and Sciences complex has even more buildings. And in 2003, the largest oceanographic aquarium in Europe spanning over 110,000 square meters opened, and it houses more than 45,000 animals from 500 different species. In 2005, the Opera House opened. It has four main performance halls, and it hosts a wide range of performances including opera, ballet, theater, and concerts. We biked around Valencia for nearly three hours. Well, this is the famous City of Arts and Sciences, and this is actually the reason that Valencia has a lot of tourism. And the City of Arts and Sciences counts in total seven buildings. And six of the seven buildings were designed by Santiago Calatrava. And one of seven of the seven, the aquarium had some special needs. It needed to be waterproof, and they didn't allow Calatrava to do that, so they asked the Mexican architect, Felix Candela, to design the aquarium. Calatrava was not really happy with it, so he made one of his buildings wider to get the aquarium out of the picture. But the estimated price was 300 million, and it ended up to be 1.3 billion euros. Costs a lot, but it gets also a lot of money back, because while the tourism here, but also like companies come here often. For instance, Apple has a release video of the iPhone 15 last year, and it was filmed here in the City of Arts and Sciences. Also, the Star Wars films came here, and a few weeks ago, Mercedes, the car company, came here to make some promotion videos for their cars. When Tom and I rode up to the City of Arts and Sciences, we had no idea what to expect, but we didn't expect those gorgeous buildings. We then visit the historic sea gate, which once served as a defensive structure and a gateway to the city. The original gate was demolished in 1865. A replica was constructed in 1944 to commemorate its historical significance. Next stop, the Columbus Market. This building was constructed between 1914 and 1916. In the early 2000s, the market underwent extensive restoration to preserve its architectural beauty and adapt it to contemporary uses. We tasted the traditional Valencian drink horchata, which was made from tiger nuts and has been enjoyed since ancient times. Next stop, the University of Valencia. The University of Valencia was founded in 1499 by Pope Alexander VI. The university is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Spain. The statues on the front of the building feature five prominent historical figures, Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Saint Thomas Aquinas. Our next stop is downtown Valencia. You have the Valencia Cathedral, which is a stunning Gothic cathedral that houses the Holy Grail, Central Market, which is one of Europe's largest and oldest food markets, the former Silk Exchange, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This area also comes alive with spectacular fireworks. Our tour continued to the Serranos Towers, one of 12 gates that was formed as part of the ancient city walls. From the late 16th century until 1887, they were used as a prison for noble prisoners. During the Spanish Civil War, they stored valuable artworks. The holes in the walls were caused by cannon fire during the French siege of Valencia in 1808. This was part of the large Napoleonic Wars, which was led by Napoleon Bonaparte. The towers underwent significant restoration projects to preserve their historical integrity. What we did notice is that Valencia has an extensive network of bike lanes. At the beginning of the ride, we had a safety briefing that we should ride single file. At the lights, there were traffic signals just for bikers only. The city boasts over 150 kilometers of dedicated bike lanes, making it easy and safe to navigate on two wheels. The combination of scenic routes and extensive bike lanes and flat terrain made this bike ride a delightful experience. One more ramp and we're back at the bike shop. After the bike tour was over, we walked a mile back to the shuttle bus and the 20-minute ride back to the ship. Make sure to like, subscribe, and ring that bell for more adventures from every corner of the globe. Here's our itinerary for the next four ports. See you at the next port!