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La Ciutat de les Artes i les Ciènces

This sprawling, futuristic arts and science complex on the southern edge of the city is Valencia’s newest jewel. Designed by local celebrity architect Santiago Calatrava, it was commissioned in order to raise the city’s profile, after Valencia saw how the Guggenheim Museum renewed the fortunes of Bilbao. Some might argue that it’s a lot more fun.

The most enticing sections are the Museu de les Ciències, L’Hemisferic and L’Oceanogràfic. The first is a brilliantly inventive science museum, crammed with ingenious hands-on exhibits, which explain everything from how the body works to what electricity is. Though they are designed principally for children, they provide high levels of entertainment and information for adult visitors too. Meanwhile, in the Exploratorio, you can play with sounds, patterns and light, and in the Teatri Virtual you can try out some virtual reality surfing or volleyball.

L’Hemisferic, next door to the Museum, is a striking, spherical building, which contains a planetarium, an IMAX cinema and a laserium (with headhphones that allow you to hear commentaries in English.) Meanwhile, the most recently opened part of the complex is L’Oceanogràfic. Housed in 11 beautifully sculpted buildings scattered around a vast lake, it is Europe’s largest aquarium. The different subterranean aquariums recreate the world’s most important marine ecosystems – including the Mediterranean, Caribbean, South Pacific and coral reefs. Overall, the aquarium is home to 45000 fish and marine mammals representing 500 species. Vast glass tunnels link the different sections, making visitors feel as if they are walking underwater from one to the next. There’s also a large dolphinarium with a school of 20 bottlenose dolphins, who regularly perform shows.