leisure in Valencia

Back in the 1950's Valencia suffered a huge 'Gota Fria'(a massive and concentrated rainfall) that was so heavy that the Río Turía burst it's banks and flooded the city. The city fathers then did something quite amazing, diverting the river to an enormous flood channel that circles the city, and making the old riverbed into a huge and beautiful park. It is said that this park alone makes Valencia one of the greenest cities in southern continental Europe. The park winds through the heart of the city and boasts a wealth of outdoor activities, football, rugby and basketball pitches, running and walking tracks. Fountains and gardens and shady picnic areas, a Music Palace, beautiful bridges, a huge Gulliver for children to climb and play on, and, at its top end a new water park, where you can rent boats. The crowning glory of this fabulous park is the City of Arts and Sciences - a futuristic complex of Science Museum, Imax Cinema, Europes largest Oceanarium and the incredible new Palau de les Arts.

There are other lovely parks all over the city and now a new one is in the planning, The railway sidings behind the Main railway station are going underground and the entire area is to become Central Park with the station becoming a museum.

A few stops on the metro, bus or tram takes you out of the city to some of the outlying suburbs were there are more parks and green spaces and of course, there's always the Beach.

Malvarrosa is Valencia's beach, by the port which is now undergoing a huge transformation it time for the America's Cup. Well worth visiting to watch the superyachts and to take a coffee on the waterfront.

Download formulario

COOOOOL COOLTRA!

Thisisvalencia.com paid a visit to the brand-new COOLTRA store on the Avenida del Puerto this week to check out their selection of motorbikes available for both long and short term rental and purchase. COOLTRA has been running successfully in Barcelona for a while now, and even run a motorbike tour service in conjunction with Barcelona Turisme up there. Their plans for the next two years are to open 30 more stores across Europe, starting in Valencia, Madrid, Seville and Zaragoza. In Valencia, they are just starting out, and their large, warehouse-style shop is already open for business. With a cosy area at the front complete with sofas, internet, and laptop computers and friendly and helpful staff on hand, rentals start at just 20€ a day. COOLTRA are unique in the rent-a-bike business in that they build their own bikes from scratch and they are pretty great to look at too. In shiny bright blue finish and available in 50cc and 125cc versions, I have to admit I think the 50cc's are seriously cool and a lot more impressive with their higher, wider handlebars, Harley-style mirrors and bulkier rear. You can buy their bikes for €1,199.00 and €1,499.00 respectively, and the workshop is just out the back of the store.

COOLTRA's motto is Move Like A Local, and will do their best to help you do so. They offer three special services for a very different biking experience - Azafata, Pilot and Buddy. With Azafata, bikes are available for corporate events, Pilot is a crash-course in riding a motorbike in the City, and Buddy is an excellent way to get around - hire your own driver to escort you through the streets of Valencia if you're not sure of your way. A tour is also on offer, either personalised for groups or the standard tour, both with Valencia Guías - a guide leads a pack, usually stopping around 8 times en route, for a complete and comprehensive explore of the City.

If you're looking to advertise with COOLTRA, what better exposure for your business than to have your logo all over their super-cool bikes as they are rented out and driven all over Valencia, at very low rates.

COOLTRA are having an opening event on 16th June and plan to storm the City with 50 bikes being ridden around all afternoon in a pack, so keep your eyes peeled! For more information on COOLTRA bikes, services and rates, visit their great store at: Avenida del Puerto, 47, 46021 Valencia, Spain,tel., 96 339 47 51 or take a look at their website. www.cooltra.com.

Not listed on our pages? Click above to download our listings form in Word format, fill it in and mail back to us!
We'll include it as soon as possible.