Valencia through five senses: a guide to experiencing the city between conferences

Anyone arriving in Valencia to attend a conference usually has a packed schedule: sessions, meetings, presentations and professional get-togethers. But alongside that programme, there is another experience that begins as soon as you leave the Conference Centre.

Last year, here at ePalco, we discussed the multiplier effect of business tourism: the way in which an initial business visit can spark a desire to return later for leisure. This time, we want to take a closer look at what happens during that first stay. How you discover Valencia almost without realising it.

Here at the Conference Centre, we work to link each event with its destination. And Valencia offers something particularly valuable for MICE tourism: a comfortable, peaceful and safe city, on a scale that makes it easy to combine the intensity of a major conference with the opportunity to explore the city, even during a short stay.

We explore it through our five senses.

The view: a city worth taking the time to explore

A first visit to Valencia usually reveals a city of very different scales. Visitors can move from the contemporary architecture of the City of Arts and Sciences to the streets of the historic centre, cross the old Turia riverbed or head to neighbourhoods with links to the Mediterranean, such as Cabanyal.

In 2026, moreover, the cultural programme will feature a theme with a distinctly Valencian flavour: Joaquín Sorolla. The city is once again making its mark on the international stage through this painter’s work and his unique way of depicting Mediterranean light. The New York Times has highlighted Valencia this year in its international travel recommendations, specifically for the cultural experience linked to Sorolla.

An opportunity for those attending a conference to discover a different way of experiencing the city through its museums, its heritage and one of the artists who best captured its essence.

Taste: tradition and modernity at the same table

It is probably one of the easiest senses to stimulate.

Valencian cuisine draws on a highly distinctive region: the Mediterranean and the huerta, seasonal produce, rice dishes, fish, vegetables and a culinary culture closely linked to markets and everyday cooking.

But Valencia’s culinary scene has also evolved to include contemporary offerings that reinterpret these ingredients and traditions. The city is now home to Michelin-starred restaurants and a generation of chefs who have helped put it on the national and international gastronomic map.

This blend of traditional cuisine and haute cuisine means that a professional dining experience can range from an horchata or a Valencian lunch to a signature dinner, and from a historic market to a creative menu based on locally sourced produce.

For conference attendees, moreover, the table often becomes a natural extension of the event itself. A meal after a session or a dinner amongst participants provides an opportunity to continue conversations and forge new connections in a different setting.

Sound: a city that can also be heard

In Valencia, music plays a particularly prominent role in everyday life, so much so that it is a ‘Music City’ and part of the musical cities network. Bands, concert halls, venues, festivals, conservatoires and events spanning a wide range of musical styles form part of a cultural ecosystem that welcomes visitors all year round.

But experiencing Valencia can also be much simpler: a square in the late afternoon, the atmosphere of a market, a terrace, or the sound of the Mediterranean after a day’s work.

That urban pace contributes to one of the attributes that works best for those arriving in the city for professional reasons: switching between different paces of life easily. Stepping away from a busy day at the conference and find places just a few minutes away where you can take a stroll, have a chat or discover another side of the city.

Smell: gardens, vegetable patches and the Mediterranean

There is a side to Valencia that is best appreciated outdoors and which can be understood through three closely related landscapes: the Turia Gardens, vegetable gardens and the sea.

The old riverbed is now one of Europe’s major urban green corridors and runs through the city, linking neighbourhoods, cultural venues, sports facilities and recreational areas. Their presence allows visitors to explore Valencia from a different perspective and to understand just how much green space forms part of their daily lives.

A few kilometres further on, another key feature of the landscape comes into view: the Valencian vegetable garden, an agricultural area that continues to shape much of the city’s gastronomic and cultural identity. And, to the east, the Mediterranean, with its city beaches, the marina and the seaside neighbourhoods.

Three different settings situated within a short distance of one another, allowing conference attendees to move from the professional programme to an experience directly linked to the local area.

Feel: a city made to be explored

Perhaps this is the meaning that is the hardest to explain and the easiest to experience.

Valencia is a great place for a walk. Stroll through the historic centre, explore the Turia Gardens, head down to the sea or discover neighbourhoods with a very distinct character. Its size makes it easy for visitors to experience little snippets of city life, even when they only have a few hours to spare between sessions.

This proximity is particularly important for MICE tourism. The conference experience depends on the content and the organisation, but also on everything that happens around it: how attendees get about, what they discover in their free time and what memories they take home with them.

Where the conference meets Valencia

Here at the Conference Centre, we see the venue as an integral part of the experience of every event. That is why, when we talk about Where Valencia Connects, we are also talking about the connection that is forged between those who come to our auditoriums and the city they discover during their stay.