Housing some 45,000 living creatures spanning 500 different species, the Oceanografic de Valencia is Europe’s largest aquarium and attracts huge numbers of visitors every year.
The L’Oceanogràfic de Valencia seen across the Turia River (Photo: José Estévez via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0)
Situated about 4 miles southeast of Valencia city centre, the family-friendly aquarium offers a fun day out with its dazzling array of marine life. Spread across several different buildings, each housing examples of the most important ecosystems from each of the planet’s seas and oceans, the attraction entertains and educates in equal measure. We’ve compared the best ways to visit the Oceanografic below.
Tickets
Entry tickets to the Oceanografic start at around €37 for adults and €27 for children aged 4-12 years old. This includes admission to the dolphin show at the Dolphinarium, as well as a discounted day ticket at the venue’s on-site car park. Opening hours for the attraction are 10am to 6pm on Sundays to Fridays with an 8pm late closing on Saturdays.
We recommend buying Oceanogràfic admission tickets via Tiqets.com
You can also visit the Oceanografic as part of a combo ticket package that includes at least one other attraction. The benefit of this is that it works out cheaper than paying to enter each attraction individually. For example, you can combine a ticket that includes access to any two of the Oceanografic de Valencia, the Hemisferic digital 3D cinema and the Prince Felipe Science Museum, all of which are part of the City of Arts and Sciences cultural complex.
Oceanografic, Hemisferic & Science Museum combo tickets can be purchased at GetYourGuide.com
Backstage Tour
As well as standard admission tickets, the Oceanografic also offers visitors the chance to go behind the scenes on a unique and exclusive Backstage Tour. During the experience, you’ll see where food is prepared each day for the thousands of animals who reside here, get up close and personal with baby sea horses and sharks waiting to be housed in exhibition tanks, and learn how the 960,000 litres of water that comes straight from the sea every day is filtered to be monitored to ensure the animals’ health. Backstage Tours are available Friday to Monday and last for around 1.15 hours.
You can book Backstage Tours at the aquarium’s official website