Red Bus, Blue Bus...Valenica Bus Turistic

Over our years of travel, we have generally found the best way to see a large part of the city at once and get our bearings is to take a ride on a Hop on/Hop off tourist bus.  It seems a little pricey for a bus ride, but you usually get headphones, a recorded spiel (in multiple languages) about the history of the city and you can sit on the top of the open double-decker bus and view the lay of the land.

Plaza de la Reina is dedicated to Queen Maria de las Mercedes de Orleans, 
briefly wife of King Alfonso XII

We selected the Valencia Bus Turistic as our guide for that day.  We bought a 48 hour ticket which also got us some discounts at other attractions we had planned on going to anyway.  Bonus! It had two routes, red and blue which covered the city very well from the old city center, to the beach to the new suburban and cultural centers.  We began the tour at the lovely Plaza de la Reina, one of the most busy squares in Valencia. We spent the morning riding the Ruta B (Blue line)  and took a break to tour the Valencia museum.  After lunch we took the Ruta A (red line).  

Entrance to Museo de Ceramica

Valencia Cathedral in Plaza de la Reina

This gave us an excellent overview of the city sights in a very leisurely way. We also used the map provided for this tour the whole time we were in Valencia as a landmark guide when we got lost wandering around.

We usually steer clear of heavy tourist attractions, but this one has always served us well.  After this day, we were already beginning to fall in love with Valencia.

Fountains on the Plaza de Ayuntamiento