If you're fortunate to make it to Valencia, I think one of the best things to do is take a long,…read moreleisurely walk through this unusual urban park. Snaking through the middle of the city for over 5-1/2 miles, it's the former riverbed of the Turia River. A tragic flood in 1957 forced the city to reroute the river, and while Franco wanted to build an autobahn, the local populace insisted it be turned into a green oasis. Because we had only a couple of days in Valencia, Jamie W and I focused mostly on the continuous walking path. We didn't have time to stop at destinations along the way like the various museums and historic bridges. Starting at the City of Arts and Sciences on the southern end, we made our way back toward the center of town. Because of its submerged level, the park is well insulated from traffic noises. There are many places to take a rest and enjoy the orange trees (Photo 5) or watch Valencians jog, bike, and frolic, including the Gulliver playground where groups shared the same slide on one of his sleeves (Video). RELATED - Exploring Valencia? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/xRp9hOr4NT

When Im in town i generally stay by the Calatrava complex. After taking a stroll through the…read morearchitecture, I make my way through the Turia river bed gardens. If I had a day to spend Id try and walk the whole thing out to the outskirts of the western parts of the city. It is quite huge. It's interesting that this city planning and beautiful space came out of the tragedy of the city flooding and the new river, which is almost completely barren on the outside of the city is down trodden. Anyways, there is way more to explore than meets the eye, and a bonus is on hot days, it's usually more temperate in the gardens below

The Albufera is much larger than I imagined. I think I only got to the northern tip of it. Mostly…read moreto find places with excellent arroces dishes. There is no denying the best rice comes out of this area, but the scenery and the wildlife is also equally amazing. I think next time Im here and it's not dumping buckets, I may just go get a kayak and troll around the central parts.

Most of my four stars are for the best sunset in Spain that you can enjoy here on the jetties. The…read morephotos provide all the info required for the sunsets here. The rest of the national park and beach is pretty bland. We stayed here for 5 nights and 1 was enough. May have been more interesting if the rice fields were in full swing and not just empty fields of mud. Apparently this is where Paella was born!!

I am originally from the Pacific Northwest, and I really miss the green trees and fresh air. The…read moreJardins de Ayora are a sanctuary for those that need to escape from the city for a little while. The trees here are stunning and plentiful, the air is clean and crisp, and the sounds of the birds drown out the city noise. I also love that there are no dogs allowed in this park because I spend most of my day playing hopscotch trying to avoid this millions of crap bombs all over the city, and here I can take a break from that too. I love this city for many reasons, but I love the Jardins de Ayora because they remind me of home.

I really like this park. It is good for picnicking and taking a walk or a run. The best thing about…read morethis park is the small water channels that go around the park connected with a big pool with a fountain in a middle. There are many ducks and gooses. They're so cute!!! There are small bridges, rock and wooden paths to walk, and nice benches to chill. It is also nice to ride a bike there and around. Inside there is a small hill to go up and see the whole park. There is also an open-air auditorium next to and connected the hill. It is located just at the end of Jardin del Turia and before Parce de Canaleta. The only thing I don't like about this park is that there are too many dogs on a loose and a lot of dog's poops.

Parc de Capçalera is a great place to take a walk or a bicicle ride, it is in the middle of the…read morecity but you just feel like you are outside of the city it's feel really nice. Around the park the is a small water channels (like a fake river) but it is really nice there are a lot of ducks and gooses swimming around it is a really good place to have a picknic or just a rest on the grass of the hot weatter. I absolutly recommended.