Walking in Valencia, Spain 🇪🇸: Jardín del Turia / Turia Gardens, 4K, summer travel, tourism
The Turia Gardens is one of the largest urban parks in Spain. It runs through the city along nine kilometres of green space boasting foot paths, leisure and sports areas, and romantic spots where you can unwind. From Cabecera Park to the City of Arts and Sciences, the Turia Gardens are the perfect place for runners, cyclists, families and nature enthusiasts.
Crossed by 18 bridges full of history, the former riverbed passes by the city's main museums and monuments on either bank. The vast gardens are built on the former riverbed of the Turia, whose course was altered to prevent constant flooding in the city. After a devastating flood on 14 October 1957, the Turia's course was diverted south of the city, leaving a huge tract of land that crosses the city from West to East, bordering the historical centre. Several urban planners and landscapists designed different sections of the park, recreating the former river scenery.
They created a unique itinerary of palm trees and orange trees, fountains and pine woods, aromatic plants and ponds, sports facilities and rose beds. The gardens were inaugurated in 1986. The Cabecera Park and Bioparc border the huge gardens to the west, and the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences border it on the opposite side, near the mouth of the river. The Turia Gardens connect a realistic-looking African savannah in the Bioparc with the underwater world and ecosystems you can visit in the Oceanogràfic, and the spectacular opera auditorium and Palau de les Arts housed in the City of Arts and Sciences.
There are many other interesting stops along the way. In the huge Gulliver park, children can climb onto the fingers, hair and legs of a giant, 70m recumbent figure and slide down them like Lilliputians. The Palau de la Música, which offers a complete annual programme, is nearby. Broad esplanades outside the Palau provide spaces where children can skate and play football. Small, swan-shaped boats are for hire in Cabecera Park.
The ponds surrounding the City of Arts and Sciences hire out water walking balls and canoes in summer. Valencia is a flat city, so the Turia Gardens are the perfect place for running enthusiasts and those who prefer to cycle on bicycles, segways and tandems and you will find many bars and cafés with extensive terraces along the way. The Turia Gardens are crossed by 18 bridges from different periods and architectural styles. The most outstanding ones are those of San José (17th century), Serranos (16th century), Trinidad (15th century), El Real (16th century) and El Mar (16th century). More recent bridges are the Puente de la Exposición, 9 d'Octubre, Las Flores and l'Assut d'Or, designed by Santiago Calatrava; the Las Artes bridge, next to the IVAM (Valencian Institute of Modern Art) and the Ángel Custodio bridge.
The former riverbed also links other points in Valencia not to be missed, like the Serranos Towers, a gate in the old city walls that surrounded Valencia, currently converted into a wonderful viewpoint over the historical centre and gardens; the Valencia Institute of Modern Art (IVAM) and the Museum of Fine Arts. All of these are located on the former banks of the Turia, which serve as a guide for an interesting cultural itinerary in the city of Valencia.

El Jardín del Turia es un parque urbano público situado en el antiguo cauce del río Turia de la ciudad de Valencia. Ocupa unas 136 ha actualmente, que serán 160'5 ha en un futuro con la finalización del parque de Desembocadura y con una longitud próxima a los 8'5 km que llegará a casi los 10km con la finalización del último tramo del parque y una anchura media de unos 160 m.1​2​ Es uno de los mayores jardines netamente urbanos de España. El parque comienza en el límite con el municipio de Mislata, junto al parque de la Canaleta de dicho municipio y el zoológico Bioparc Valencia y finaliza en el Passeig de l'Albereda junto al Oceanogràfic a 1 m.s.n.m.
Se fundó en 1986, varios decenios después de la gran riada de Valencia. Tras la riada, el Ayuntamiento y el Gobierno de España planearon en la década de 1960 la construcción de un gran eje de comunicaciones que conectase el puerto con el aeropuerto y solventase también el tráfico interno. Posteriormente, y tras el movimiento ciudadano 'El llit del Túria és nostre i el volem verd'3​ , se dio un vuelco hacia su conversión en un lugar de ocio y naturaleza para los ciudadanos y visitantes.
En 1986 se inauguró el parque en el que uno de sus tramos más céntricos está junto a los Jardines del Real. El jardín cruza la ciudad desde prácticamente el puerto, más concretamente desde la Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, hasta el nuevo Bioparc Valencia, que sustituye al antiguo zoológico. Su forma lineal que atraviesa la ciudad conlleva que numerosa población de la ciudad resida en las proximidades del parque, lo que hace que probablemente sea el parque más visitado de España.

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