Valencia Transport

Valencia is Spain’s third largest city, although the bulk of the main city attractions are located in the compact Old Town, which is right in the centre, where walking is the best form of transport. The city has a Metro with regular connections to the main beach and the port as well as to outlying suburbs, while local buses run throughout the day and into the night on a loop around the city. Valencia also operates two sightseeing tour bus services and four taxi companies provide fast access to any city destination.

By Metro

Metro trains and buses are interconnected, although the Metro is mainly aimed at commuters, with services running to the outer suburbs of Valencia. Trains run every 20 minutes from Estación del Norte and hourly at weekends. Line 4 is particularly useful for tourists; this is a high-speed, above-ground tram that runs between the city and Las Arenas, the port and the beach at Malvarrosa.

By bus

EMT buses (MetroBus) run to destinations around the town as well as to outlying towns and villages. Buses do a loop to and from the bus station (Avenida Menéndez Pidal) from early morning to late at night, while night services continue until 01:00; buses depart every 10 minutes. Bus number 5 takes in many of Valencia’s top points of interest on its regular route and is a cheaper alternative to the tour buses.
Bus number 8 is also particularly useful, with regular departures from Plaza del Ayuntamiento to Avenida Menéndez Pidal bus station. Bus maps are available from the EMT office at Calle Correo, Viejo 5.

Taxis

There are four main taxi companies in Valencia including Onda Taxi, Radio-Taxi, Tele-Taxi and Valencia Taxi. Taxis are white and are reasonably cheap, especially when compared with taxis in other European cities. Taxis can be flagged down anywhere and the green ‘libre’ light will be illuminated on the roof if they are available.

Tourist services

There are two tourist sightseeing services in Valencia, one of which is a hop-on-hop- off bus tour of the city and the other makes a tour of La Albufera National Park. The bus tour is on an orange double-decker and it takes in most of the major city sights, running from Plaza de la Reina. The other tour includes a bus ride out to La Albufera nature park, from where a boat takes tourists around the lake. Tour bus tickets are valid for 24 hours.

From the airport

Manises Airport is situated fairly close to Valencia and all transport options are available for getting to the city and back including trains, buses, hire cars, hotel shuttles and taxis. The N111/Avenida Cid highway provides access to the city for drivers, while trains run to North Station in the city centre every 30 minutes and buses run to the main bus station every 10 minutes. Taxis also run all hours, while those on package holidays will invariably have airport transfers included in the deal.