Getting around Valencia as a family
If there is one thing Valencia can boast about, it is that it is a city that is easy and quick to get around. That’s always useful, but if you are travelling with your family, it is even more important to make the most of your time, so you all have a good time together.
Anyone who has travelled with kids knows it is REALLY important to ration out your energy as, even if they get tired or bored, or don’t want to look at anything, Valencia really does have a lot to show them and everyone.
If you get yourself properly organised and combine moving around on foot with other means of transport that will let you recharge your batteries in a fun way, the city is your oyster!
Valencia has a very extensive public transport network, added to which there are 80 kilometres of cycle lanes and a green route crossing the city, for safe walking and for children to charge around freely and as they please.
Here are a few ways of getting around Valencia as a family.
How to get around Valencia with kids
For starters, in Valencia, the little ones travel for free on most public transport.
On buses, up to two children under the age of six can travel on each ticket or Valencia Tourist Card. On the metro, children up to the age of nine go free of charge.
With those details out of the way, let's look the options you have for getting around Valencia as a family.
Valencia Tourist Card
We’ll start with the Valencia Tourist Card because it is a very interesting option if what you have in mind is to visit the city’s most important museums and monuments. And there is a special price for children under 12!
The Valencia Tourist Card includes free entry to the city's museums and monuments and special discounts at the main tourist attractions such as the City of Arts and Sciences, the Oceanográfico (Aquarium) and the Tourist Bus.
What's more, with the card you can get around Valencia on public transport without having to worry about buying tickets, because you can use the bus, metro, and tram for free and there are special fares for children.
And there’s more still.
You get, for free, a map of Valencia, a tapa (snack), and a drink.
If you know how long you are going to be in town, choose the one that best suits you; there are 24, 48 or 72-hour tickets that start from the first time you use them and can be topped up at tourist offices with a 10% discount.
Valencia by tourist bus
The tourist bus is an excellent idea, especially if you are short of time, because in a couple of hours it covers all of Valencia’s top spots. There are two options to choose from, both of them are good.
On the one hand you have the Red Tourist Bus, a modern double-decker, and as well as this, the Green Tourist Bus, which is also has two floors. Their itinerary is practically the same, but they have different timetables. Both offer a tour of the best of Valencia.
Both do a tour that shows you around the city in comfort, and you can get on and off as many times as you like. In short, it's a good option for getting around Valencia and visiting its must-see places.
If you choose one of these buses, there are two things to keep in mind when buying your tickets: they may be valid for 24 or 48 hours, and with the Valencia Tourist Card you get a discount.
Tuk Tuk
A somewhat less conventional way of getting around Valencia with children is to use the Tuk-Tuk.
Yes, indeed, that sort of a three-wheeled motorbike thing you can fit several people on!
But, chill, you don't actually have to drive it; you just have fun taking in the views along the way as you pass by the city’s main attractions.
And if you feel like stopping to take photos, or going back to some of the places you've already seen, no problem: that's what the drivers are there for, to answer your questions and tell you the stories behind each of the places you visit.
Getting around Valencia in a Tuk-Tuk with kids is a guaranteed barrel of laughs.
Bicycle
If there is just one means of transport for getting around Valencia with the whole family, it is the bicycle.
As we mentioned before, the city has a very extensive network of cycle lanes and is also pretty much completely flat. If that wasn't enough, the weather is also good 300 days a year.
Renting a bike in Valencia is extremely easy and you can go on your own or take a guided tour of the city's must-sees, from the old town to the City of Arts and Sciences.
Everywhere is all so accessible you can even get from the centre to any of the city beaches in a quick, healthy, and fun way.
If you choose to go on a guided tour on wheels, do bear in mind that your children should be at least eight years old and used to riding a bike.
Valencia with children, on foot
We round up this list of ways to get around Valencia with children with the most obvious, but one that is no less interesting.
In case you don't know the city of the Turia well, let us give you some details that make it especially appealing for walking with the little ones.
In the Turia riverbed (the river itself was diverted after the major flood of 1957, to prevent further disasters) Valencia has a huge urban nature park that runs through the city from one side to the other, making it the safest way to get from one point to another.
It is the safest way, and also the most beautiful, and the most peaceful.
It is beautiful because its 18 bridges are from different historical periods and are built in a variety of architectural styles, and between one and another you have gardens, playgrounds, football fields, little bars and some of Valencia's main attractions such as the City of Arts and Sciences.
It's also the quietest way to go, because there is no traffic, and you won't have to worry about keeping an eye on the road.
As well as that, all along the route there are many ways to come up to the ‘surface’, to go to whatever points of the city you feel like seeing.
Have you already figured out what your favourite way to get around Valencia with your family is?
If you are still thinking about it, maybe you can clear up your doubts by getting to know all the plans there are to do with kids in Valencia.
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