8 Hours in Valencia Spain

The top sights in Valencia I would recommend in that time frame would be the Cathedral (Seu) including climbing El Micalet (bell tower) if that interests you. Also in the old city center are the Mercat Central and the Llotja de la Seda. You can find information about both of these by doing a basic Google search. If you have time, the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciencies is what Valencia is most known for. There are various museums you can visit there, but most interesting is just walking around the beautiful modern architecture. You would probably need to take a taxi to get there, unless you were comfortable taking a bus. With more time, walking around the relatively compact old city center is the best way to spend the rest of your time. I was there in December right before Covid, you're going to love it!!

The historic center and some of the old gates leading into the city. Other than those, to me Valencia is very uninspiring and 8 hours there is 5 to many. It has no “must see” sights like you find in other cities.

I say this in good fun, but every time I read Valencia has little to entertain the tourist I chuckle in glee.......... Stay away, stay away! There is little to do! Please stay away and leave Valencia untouched and all for me!

Thanks. But being on a cruise we are captive to the whims of the cruise line. To my knowledge, Rick doesn't address Valencia in any of his guide books, so I'm thinking he doesn't think much of it as a tourist destination. Just the same, we're going there so we're trying to make the most of it.

Here's what Wiki Voyage says: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Valencia

Take a look at TripAdvisor under “thing to do” for Valencia to see if anything suites what you like to do. You don’t need to read the reviews since you’re just looking for ideas. Many of the places are in the historic center; central market, city gates, cathedral, plazas, and some of the museums. Your eight hours in port will be over all too soon, especially if you like taking photographs.

Thanks to all.

I've spent a lot of time in Valencia - and enjoyed all of it.

Going again in a couple of weeks ---

I would recommend Mercado Central and the Cathedral/bell tower, and then take a taxi (they're really cheap) to the Ciutat de Artes y Sciences and walk around there for a while. Eat in the city!

UPDATE: We are home from our Transatlantic cruise. Our 8 Hours in Valencia Spain was OK, but nothing to write home about. The streets around the Central Market were heavily under construction/ repair/upgrade. The Central Market was delightful. It looks like Valencia is working hard to encourage cruise boat tourism.

Thanks for the update!