Modern Valencia: A City Reinvented
Discover Valencia beyond the postcard. Walk through grand avenues, gardens, public institutions, and iconic landmarks as you explore the political, social, and urban transformations that shaped the city throughout the twentieth century.
Basic Information
Total time
2h 30m
Language
English (check the calendar for availability)
Price
💛 Our "Pay What You Wish" tours don't have a fixed price — you decide how much the experience was worth. At the end of the tour, please make a fair contribution that reflects your satisfaction and appreciation for your guide's work. Most guests give between €15 and €50 per person. 💳 Payment options: Cash, Digital Payment
Meeting point
Plaza de la Ciudad de Brujas (Square of the City of the Witches)
Ending point
Palau de la Música
Nearest public transport: Albereda - Palau de la Música (imparell); Palau de la Música
Additional info
☂︎ This tour is organised by Walkative Valencia guides. Look for the guide with the yellow umbrella.
Booking rules
Booking is obligatory. Our "Pay What You Wish" tours are meant for individual travellers and small groups. Large groups (7+ people) cannot join these tours, as they significantly affect the experience for others and the guide. For school trips, organised tours, or groups of friends, please book our paid option (18€ per person) or arrange a 👉 Private Tour. For more information or to schedule a group visit, please contact us directly.
About the tour
Valencia is often introduced through its medieval streets, Gothic monuments, and centuries-old traditions. But the city we see today is also the result of constant reinvention. Beyond the old town lies a story of expansion, political change, urban ambition, and transformation, a story that shaped modern Valencia.
Join us on a journey through a different side of the city, where markets, squares, public institutions, elegant buildings, and green spaces reveal how Valencia evolved throughout the turbulent twentieth century. This is not only the Valencia of merchants and medieval guilds, but the Valencia of republics and dictatorships, civic life and urban planning, civil war and democracy.
Beginning beside the Central Market, one of the great symbols of Valencia’s commercial life, we follow a route through streets and landmarks that reflect the hopes, conflicts, and transformations of modern Spain. Along the way, discover how Valencia experienced political change, social transformation, the trauma of the Civil War, decades of Franco’s regime, and the country’s eventual transition to democracy and constitutional monarchy.
Walk through Plaça dels Porxets and Plaça de l’Ajuntament, where civic life, public celebrations, and political power have shaped the city’s identity. Explore the area around El Patriarca and La Nau, connected to education, culture, and intellectual life.
Admire the institutional presence of the Palace of Justice and the elegance of Colón Market, one of the finest examples of Valencian modernist architecture and a symbol of the city’s bourgeois expansion beyond the medieval centre.
Few places illustrate Valencia’s capacity for reinvention better than the former Turia riverbed. Once associated with devastating floods, it has been transformed into one of Europe’s largest urban parks, a green artery running through the city and a symbol of Valencia’s ability to reshape itself.
Far from a simple walk through the historic centre, this route reveals hidden corners, everyday spaces, and layers of history often overlooked by visitors. Through markets, squares, monuments, and public spaces, the city itself becomes a map of modern Spanish history.
Join us and discover Valencia beyond the postcard, a city shaped not only by its monuments, but by the ideas, conflicts, and reinventions that continue to define it today.
Highlights
- 1
Plaza de la Ciudad de Brujas
Public square often mistranslated as 'City of Witches', originally honoring the 15th-century Flemish textile merchants of Bruges.
- 2
Plaça dels porxets
Plaça dels Porxets is a small historic square in Valencia's old town, tucked behind Plaça de la Mercé and known for its traditional atmosphere and surrounding historic buildings
- 3
Plaça de l’Ajuntament
Valencia's main civic square, surrounded by landmark buildings such as the City Hall and the Central Post Office, and serves as a focal point for public events, celebrations, and the city's famous Fallas festival.
- 4
El Patriarca / La Nau
Valencia's most important historic landmarks: El Patriarca is a Renaissance church and former seminary renowned for its elegant cloister, while La Nau is the historic building of the University of Valencia, now a cultural center hosting exhibitions, concerts, and academic events.
- 5
El Parterre (Monumento de Jaime I)
Historic garden in central Valencia that features the impressive Monument to James I, an equestrian statue honoring King James I, who conquered Valencia in 1238 and founded the Kingdom of Valencia.
- 6
Palau de Justícia (Palace of Justice of Valencia)
Grand neoclassical building that originally served as a customs house and now functions as the city’s high court.
- 7
Mercado de Colón (Colón Market)
Beautifully restored Art Nouveau landmark that now houses cafés, restaurants, and gourmet food venues.
- 8
Jardín del Turia
Vast urban park created in the former Turia River bed, offering green spaces, sports facilities, and pedestrian routes across the city.
- 9
Palau de la Música de València
Valencia’s premier concert hall, renowned for its modern architecture, excellent acoustics, and diverse musical performances.
FAQ
Map
Plaza de la Ciudad de Brujas (Square of the City of the Witches)
Our customers said about us
Valencia
Kristina10.7.2026
Amazing and really interesting tour! The tour guide has some great personal stories, you're never too long in one spot and the walking is also not as long as you think!
