We've been living in Valencia for years and we still never get tired of a question people ask us a lot: "Which museums should I see if I have two or three days in the city?" or if you simply want to do something different. The truth is, every time someone asks us, we realize we haven't been to all of them ourselves, but we have been to most of the ones we feature here.
So we seriously went over our list of museums: we checked what's open right now, which new exhibition has arrived at each museum, and which one has something interesting coming up in the next few months. Valencia has a museum scene that's no less impressive than much bigger cities, and on top of that, a good number of them are free or nearly free.
This is not a list of "everything there is." It's our selection of the 10 that we think are worth the visit, from contemporary art at El Carmen to the museum that smells of March gunpowder all year round. We hope this helps you when you're looking to learn more about Valencia and its history, traditions or art in general.
IVAM: 20th-century art in the heart of El Carmen
The Institut Valencià d'Art Modern was the first modern art museum in Spain, and since 1989 it has occupied a huge building on Guillem de Castro street. Here you'll find the Julio González collection and a selection of European avant-garde movements ranging from Pop Art to Informalism. This year it has a strong lineup: "Cristina de Middel. Apoteosis Now" (until October 12), "Tania Candiani. Radix" (until September 20) and, starting in October, an exhibition by Melanie Smith.
Watch the price: it went up a while ago from the historic €2 to €5 for general admission. We still think it's worth it, and free entry is on Wednesday afternoons from 4 to 7 pm and all day on Sundays. More info at ivam.es.
Museum of Fine Arts: Gothic, Sorolla and now Rubens
Museum of Fine Arts, Valencia
It's one of the few large museums in Spain with free admission all year round, which already makes it special. The permanent collection covers everything from Valencian Gothic to the 20th century, with names like El Greco, Velázquez and one of the best Sorolla collections outside Madrid.
What has us excited this year is "Rubens. The Flowering of a Genius", from July 2 to October 4. Before that, until late May, there was "Tiempos Modernos", focused on 20th-century Spanish painting. Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 20:00, closed Mondays. At museobellasartesvalencia.gva.es.
Príncipe Felipe Museum of Science: the Calatrava one, for going with or without kids
It's inside the City of Arts and Sciences, and although we always associate it with family outings, the truth is that as adults we also had more fun than we expected the last time we went. The building itself, with its whale-skeleton structure, is already worth the visit.
Museum of Science, Valencia
It has very solid permanent galleries, such as "The Legacy of Science," dedicated to Ramón y Cajal, Severo Ochoa and Jean Dausset, and the Chromosome Forest on the third floor. Tickets start at €7.60, although the price varies depending on promotions and combined tickets with the Oceanogràfic. It opens every day from 10:00, with closing times that vary by season.
Bombas Gens: from Art Deco factory to digital art temple
This is one of the places that has changed the most in a short time. Bombas Gens used to be a hydraulic pump factory from the 1930s converted into a contemporary art center, and now it has shifted toward immersive digital exhibitions, with experiences like "The Legend of the Titanic" that use virtual reality, holography and even the largest metaverse room in Europe.
Here's our usual honesty: it's not cheap. Tickets on their website range from €6 to €10, far from the €2 the general visit to the center used to cost. If you like technology applied to art, you'll enjoy it. If you're looking for something more contemplative, you might prefer another one on this list. It's open Tuesday to Sunday, in the Marxalenes neighborhood.
González Martí National Museum of Ceramics: the most spectacular palace in Valencia on the inside
We've been here 3 or 4 times, and from the very first time we walked in we understood why everyone recommends it. It's located in the Palace of the Marquis of Dos Aguas, with a Baroque alabaster façade that leaves you speechless even from outside, and inside it holds Rococo salons, chinoiserie motifs and the largest national ceramics collection, from pieces dating back to the 8th century to designs by Picasso.
Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 20:00, Sundays from 10:00 to 14:00. Admission is practically symbolic, and free for those under 18, over 65, and during the afternoon slots on Saturdays and Sundays. Calle Poeta Querol, 2.
MuVIM: for those who want to think as well as look
The Valencian Museum of the Enlightenment and Modernity is less about objects and more about ideas. Its permanent exhibition, "The Adventure of Thought," covers 2,000 meters of chronological route from the Middle Ages to today, and you can book it in four languages.
It also has a constant temporary program: this year it hosted the work of photographer Luis Vidal Corella and, since June, "¿Qué tengo en la cabeza?" in the Sala Nova, open until October. Free admission, Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 20:00, Sundays from 10:00 to 20:00.
Fallas Museum: understanding the Fallas 365 days a year
If you haven't experienced the Fallas in person, this museum gives you a condensed version without the firecrackers. Here they keep the ninots indultats since 1934, the figures the public saved from the fire every March 19 by popular vote. It's one of those collections that only exists in Valencia.
The visit is short, less than an hour, and perfect to combine with a walk through the Jardines del Turia or Gulliver Park, which are right next door. General admission €2, free on Sundays and public holidays. Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00, Sundays from 10:00 to 14:00.
L'ETNO: the Valencia that doesn't appear on postcards
The Museu Valencià d'Etnologia, known as L'ETNO, was named European Museum of the Year in 2023, and we understood why as soon as we stepped into the Beneficència. Here they tell the real Valencia: the huerta, the marshlands, the dryland farming and the mountains, with exhibitions that break quite a few clichés about what it means to be Valencian.
It shares a building with the Museum of Prehistory, so if you go you can use one ticket for both. Tuesday to Friday €2, free on weekends and public holidays. Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 20:00.
Centre del Carme (CCCC): a 13th-century monastery for the most current art
The former Royal Monastery of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, with its Gothic and Renaissance cloister, today houses one of the city's most interesting contemporary art programs, and it's always free on top of that. This summer it featured "Circuito Cerrado" and "El ritual del respawn," two exhibitions about loneliness, companionship and our relationship with screens.
We also recommend it as a climate refuge in summer: it has rest areas, cool water and air conditioning, plus a free outdoor summer cinema in the cloister during August. Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 20:00 (at certain times of year until 21:00).
Hortensia Herrero Art Center: international-level contemporary art in the heart of the old town
The newest one on the list, and the one that surprised us most. It occupies the former 17th-century Palacio de Valeriola, with Roman and Visigothic archaeological remains in the basement, and brings together works by more than 50 first-rate contemporary artists: Anselm Kiefer, Anish Kapoor, Jaume Plensa, Olafur Eliasson, Joan Miró. Several pieces were created specifically for the building, integrated into chapels, courtyards and corridors.
General admission €12, reduced €5, free for children under 12. Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 20:00, Sundays from 10:00 to 14:00. If you can, go on a summer Friday for the "sunset" visit, when the palace looks completely different in the light. Here is the famous work that self-destructed this 2026; we saw it when the piece was just starting its exhibition 2-3 years ago. Here's the page where you can buy tickets https://tickets.cahh.es/
💡 Tips for Your Visit
🎟️ International Museum Day Every May 18, virtually all of Valencia's municipal museums open for free with special activities, from theatrical tours to concerts. If your trip coincides with those dates, make the most of it.
💰 Budget The regional and municipal museums (Fine Arts, CCCC, L'ETNO, Fallas, Ceramics, MuVIM) are free or cost between €0 and €2. The ones that hit your wallet hardest are Bombas Gens and the Museum of Science, so if you're traveling on a tight budget, prioritize the first ones.
📅 When to Go Most of them open Tuesday to Sunday and close on Mondays, so if you arrive on a Monday, it's best to spend it strolling around the city center or the Turia and save the museums for the rest of the week.
🚶 How to Organize It We group them by area: IVAM, MuVIM and Bombas Gens are relatively close together along the El Carmen axis. Marxalenes; Fine Arts, CCCC and Ceramics are in the historic center; and the Museum of Science and the Fallas Museum are near the Turia riverbed. That way you avoid crossing the city from one side to the other in a single day.
Have you been to any of these already? Is there a Valencia museum you miss on the list? Tell us in the comments, we're sure we've missed some. 👇
