ECOTOURISM IN VALENCIA

Valencia is a Mediterranean city located on the east coast of Spain. It’s the perfect place to discover nature and practice some ecotourism activities. In the south of Valencia you can find the beautiful Albufera Nature Reserve.

This Reserve is a Mediterranean ecosystem forest, where you can see many species of birds that come to this wetland. Also you can discover all the rice fields, have a romantic boat trip in the Albufera where you will see many fish jumping around and you can discover the typical houses of Valencia, the "Barracas" this type of house has usually only one room and they are made of wood, mud and straw, families with many children used to live in these houses; or why not just have a nice walk around the area of the Reserve… This natural reserve offers many guided routs around the Albufera for very reasonable prices… If you want to try one of the best paellas in Valencia, you can have a good meal in one of the numerous restaurants of paella in the Palmar near l'Albufera.

You can arrive by car, cycling or by metro bus from Valencia, and it takes around 40 minutes.

Another place where you can see nature inside town is the old Turia River that nowadays it's not a river anymore; it's a huge park that crosses all Valencia city. This huge park begins in the Cabecera Park and ends at the Art and Science City. The Cabecera Park it's another beautiful park that has an artificial river with ducks, it's the perfect place to relax or have a nice walk by the river side. In both parks you can go cycling, play football, have a picnic…

Next to Cabecera Park you can fin the Bioparc, this is one of the best Mediterranean zoos, the zoo has different animals from South Africa and you can see them as if they where in their natural habitats. The zoo also offers wonderful animal shows for the visitor, and has many restaurants where you can have a good meal while you are visiting the zoo. The entrance ticket is not expensive. It's really worth visiting this African ecosystem in a European city. For more information about the Bioparc click in this link : http://www.bioparcvalencia.es

In Valencia you can go to most places cycling as it is a city witch has many cycling paths, you can go to Pinedo cycling for example, until you arrive at Pinedo beaches. You can cross all Valencia city cycling and to all those places you can arrive by Valenbici, it's a system to rent bicycles by hours with an annual card witch is very cheap, around 20 euros a year… For more information : http://www.valenbisi.es