Visiting dog-friendly Valencia

Valencia is a fantastic city with lots of historic and beautiful buildings. Parts of the city were so ornate, with wide boulevards that it made me feel more like I was in Paris than Spain! I also loved that dotted all around the city are clusters of beautiful Valencia orange trees - that not only look, but smell amazing.

In addition to the stunning architecture, one of the main reasons I wanted to visit Valencia was to see the City of Arts and Sciences and its futuristic buildings, which totally lived up to expectations - and Beatle was able to walk all around the complex with us too.

While there wasn't much that Beatle could do indoors in Valencia, it didn't matter at all - the weather was really mild (even in January) and the city is full of so many interesting buildings, plazas and parks so you'll be able to easily fill your days walking around, sightseeing and eating lots of great food.

THINGS TO DO

Valenica City

Plaza del Ayuntamiento

Plaza del Ayuntamiento is a spectacular plaza is the central square and is surrounded by beautiful buildings, including the majestic Town Hall. And next to the main plaza is a small, triangular shaped park with an interesting fountain. We spent some time exploring this area as there are many streets that lead off it and each is worth exploring as will take you to a different part of the city There is also some grassy areas here as well as lots of great photo ops due to it being a pedestrian only area. While you’re exploring this area don't forget to look at the ground, as this part of the city seems to be paved in marble!

Plaza de la Reina

This large plaza is about a 10 min walk from Plaza del Ayuntamiento along Carrer de Sant Vicent Martir. The Plaza is surrounded by cafes, restaurants and ice-cream/gelato stores.

At the end is the impressive looking El Micalet Tower and the La Catedral del Santo Caliz. Head around the side to be the back of the Catedral and you'll reach Plaza de la Virgen.

Plaza de la Virgen

Keep walking and you'll reach Plaza de la Virgen. This plaza is one of the most famous in Valencia and includes the Turia Fountain and small Orange orchard. It also full of more beautiful buildings, including the back view of the Catedral (which in my opinion is a better photo), Basilica de la Mare de Deu dels Desemparats and the Government Palace. At the opposite end of Plaza de la Reina is the entry to the intersting and photogenic Plaza Redonda a round plaza and building, head into the centre for a great pic. As you leave, explore the many small, cobbled streets around this area.

Plaza Redonda

Head back towards Plaza de la Reina and at the opposite end is the entry to the interesting and photogenic Plaza Redonda. Head into the centre for a great pic of the round plaza and building. When you leave, explore the many small, cobbled streets around this area.

The National Museum of Ceramics and Decorative Art

This stunning building is about an 8 min walk from the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, or a five mins walk from Plaza de la Reina. The outside is really intricate and you can get good photos from across the road of the entire building. The nearby Plaza del Col legi del Patriarca is only a two min walk and is surrounded by interesting buildings, churches and orange trees.

Valencia Markets

While dogs aren't allowed in fresh food markets, it’s still worth mention a couple as the outside of the buildings is equally impressive and provide great photo ops. The first is Mercado Central, located on Carrer Vell de la Palla in central Valencia. This building itself is is really pretty and has a large domed roof, you can walk around it to get different viewpoints.

In the area outside the front entrance of the market is the beautiful Esglesia de Sant Joan del Mercat Church and the Llotja de la Seda gothic building, which makes the area well worth visiting.

Lots of great buildings near Mercado Central

Another market worth mentioning is the colourful Market Russafa, which is on the other side of town and sits on an entire block. Its very photogenic due to the colourful panels all around it and for the best photos, go to one of the four corners where you can see two sides at once.

Torres de Serrans - City Gate

Torres de Serrans (or the Serranos Gate) sits in a large plaza, opposite the Pont de Serranos Bridge. From both sides of the road you can get good photos and you can easily walk around, or though the middle of it to see different angles.

The plaza itself has many eateries to pick from and you can follow the pretty Carrer Dels Serrans street from here (which has lots of cute shops) back into the centre of town, or head over the road in into the vast Jardin del Turia park.

City of Arts and Sciences

This was a definite highlight for us and has to be seen to be believed. Made up of a series of futuristic looking buildings just outside the city, the complex itself is set in park like grounds with huge water features. We walked there from the city centre and it took about 40 mins at a relaxed pace. If you're going to walk from the city, the best way is to head directly to Jardin del Turia park and then follow the park towards it, which is a lovely walk (see Jardin del Turia for more info about the various attractions in the park).

The City of Arts and Sciences is made up of four distinctive and very different and main structures. The Palace of the Arts, Hemisferic, Science Museum and CaixaForum. We spent quite a while walking around each of them from different angles and getting lots of amazing photos. You can walk through the centre of Hemisferic and we took turns going into the CaixaForum for a quick look (it’s a giant atrium so easy to get through in about 15 mins and it has bathrooms which can be handy after a big walk)!

The Museum of Science also has a café on site that has outdoor seating around a huge body of water - and when we visited you could rent a paddleboards from out front of here (though we weren’t game to try it!). On the other side of the water, at Street level, there is also a large open air atrium that you can walk through full of palm trees which is very pretty.

Take your time to explore this amazing area

As you exit the atrium at Street level you can also venture on to the Puente de Monteolivete Bridge to get more great views back across the complex.

The futuristic City of Arts and Sciences - great views from the Puente de Monteolivete Bridge

Jardin del Turia - Park

This gigantic park is a dried up riverbed that runs around most of the city. It has a variety of amenities in it including sports facilities, but also has lots of different pathways, gardens, fountains, water features and other attractions and is well worth a visit or two as every part of it seemed to be dog-friendly. A couple of the most interesting things we saw in it included; Puente del Mar - is an historic arched bridge made of stone that sits on a round water feature and is quite striking to photograph. While, technically dogs are not allowed in this, we saw a few splashing around as it’s quite shallow. And Parc Gulliver - this is actually a fenced kids playground, but you can see if from outside and it’s one of a kind. Its basically a giant Gulliver character flat on his back with loads of kids running all over it. You'll spot it near the Puente del Reino bridge as you're walking towards the City of Arts and Sciences.

Excited to explore the huge Jardin del Turia

Gran Via Del Marque Del Tura

Whether you are heading to the City of Arts and Sciences and want to take a scenic route, or just enjoy meandering through parks, walking up this long street will not disappoint. Its not a long walk, maybe 20 mins or so, but you feel outside of the main centre and it’s a beautiful mixed use area with shops at street level and pretty apartment buildings. The part itself runs up the centre of the road and is made up of lots of small parks with seating, spots to sit and sculptures. Keep an eye out for a good coffee or lunch spot on either side of the road as you wander. As you explore this part of the city, you can also divert to see Marcado Colon which is less than five mins from the park (turn at Carrer de Jorge Juan Street).

Murals

I love finding a good mural and we saw quite a few good ones Valencia. In many Spanish cities the shops close metal shutters over their windows at night, and some have murals painted on them. As many shops don't tend to open till 10ish you have lots of opportunities to get out early to explore the streets and alleys with your dog before the inevitable crowds descend. I don't have a map of these as we just randomly came upon them, but looking for them is a great excuse for an early morning walk!

OTHER THINGS TO DO

Dog-Friendly Beaches

One area that's easy to forget about in Valencia is its waterfront and marina area. The city is very close to the coast and has some dog-friendly beaches to explore. However we only saw this area briefly, by doing a hop on hop off tour as it wasn’t very accessible by public transport. This meant we couldn’t visit any of the beaches with Beatle so I can't make any personal recommendations about how dog-friendly this area is, but I am aware there are some restrictions around times of the year dogs are allowed. I've included a link that has more info around locations, regulations etc here

GETTING AROUND

We traveled to Valencia on a RENFE train from Barcelona and at the time they only allowed dogs under 10kg to travel in a carrier. Beats is slightly over that weight, but fitted in her carrier fine and napped at our feet. However, this policy has recently been updated so that on some lines, dogs up to 40kg can now travel too! For more information about RENFE’s dog policy click here

Local taxis in Valencia were also happy to take her - and we either had Beatle in her travel crate on the seat, or she sat on the floor (as personally I don't think pets should sit directly on the seats when travelling in someone else's vehicle). We also tipped the drivers a couple of euro extra as I think small incentives like this help encourage them to keep accepting pets (for example we've travelled to some countries where it was impossible to take a pet by taxi).

We found the city and main attractions to be quite walkable so didn't try use public transport, but it was difficult to find a single source of truth about taking dogs on public transport. It seemed like only smaller dogs (under 10kg) in a carrier would be allowed to travel by public transport.

EAT AND SLEEP

This goes without saying, but the food in Spain is fantastic and good value for money (don't even get me started on the cheap wine!). There are definitely more touristy parts of the city, particularly around Plaza del Ayuntamiento and some of the other popular plazas, but generally if someone is outside trying to entice you in with a menu - keep walking!

We found that by heading a little further out, towards El Pla Del Remei or Gran Via areas we got a much better quality of food, with many small places having signs out offering two course lunches with a glass of wine for around 12 euro.

Valencia is also the home of paella, but best to ask a local or the hotel concierge for a recommendation as many of the best places won't have it as an everyday item on their menu, instead only offering it fresh one or two times a week.

We stayed at the Palacio Santa Clara, Autograph Collection. While it wasn't the cheapest option it was incredibly central and made a great base to explore the city from. The rooms were beautifully decorated and I don't think there was a pet fee. While technically dogs weren't allowed to drink or dine with their people in the ground floor bar and restaurant, we did see a couple of very good boys and girls sitting very quietly under the table with their people. You can see their pet policy here

Beats loved her stay at the Palacio Santa Clara

IN SUMMARY

If Valencia isn't on your wish list already, add it immediately! This beautiful city is well worth visiting with your dog as there are so many things you can see and do together. While I think you could get around all the main attractions in a couple of days, its worth spending four or five to really explore the city, as well as the amazing Arts and Sciences area. Overall we found Valencia to be very dog-friendly and saw lots of happy pups exploring the city alongside their people. I imagine in summer it would be incredibly hot and very busy so would definitely recommend visiting in the shoulder seasons or winter. We visited in January and found the temperatures were mild and good for all day walking with Beatle.

Good times in dog-friendly Bilbao

Bustling dog-friendly Barcelona