Valencia and traveling between the port and the Oceanografic

[Cretia]

My husband and I are in Valencia on a cruise this fall and since we're big aquarium people, we're dying to see the Oceanografic. However, from the general tours I've been able to find, we're apparently the only ones because I can't find any tours, ship or private, that spend enough time there to enjoy it.

 

I've seen that it's on a HOHO stop; however, I've read that hopping back on a HOHO bus in Valencia can be significantly more difficult (in terms of available seating) than hopping off. Anyone have any recent experiences?

 

I imagine the port here is similiar to other ports in that there will be a massive supply of taxis waiting to shuttle people into the city proper, but how hard is it to find a taxi to take back to the port? My husband is not the best traveler and the idea of risk involved in catching a taxi back would freak him out.

 

Finally, all of the reviews seem to indicate that the signage (if not the dolphin show) will be multi-lingual. Is this the case? Does anyone know of a tour company that does something more than a photo-op at the Oceanografic? I'm not crazy about having a superfluous guide trailing after us if we can just read the signs and wander along at our own pace, but if the English signs are few and far between, it might be worth it. Heck, it might be worth it to have a guarenteed ride to and from the port.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[CM2J2R2S]

We just did this.

 

We went from the Port to the Océanografic by cab. I had the bus route mapped out and knew that we could easily manage it; however, the cab was quick, easy, not expensive and gave us more time to enjoy the day at the aquarium. We spent the whole day here and did not see any more of the City of Arts and Sciences since this place was fantastic. We asked the desk girl to call us a cab but she indicated that there were and abundance of taxis waiting outside to take us back to the port.

 

You won't need a guide. A cab. A camera. Good to go.

[roothy123]

We just did this.

 

We went from the Port to the Océanografic by cab. I had the bus route mapped out and knew that we could easily manage it; however, the cab was quick, easy, not expensive and gave us more time to enjoy the day at the aquarium. We spent the whole day here and did not see any more of the City of Arts and Sciences since this place was fantastic. We asked the desk girl to call us a cab but she indicated that there were and abundance of taxis waiting outside to take us back to the port.

 

You won't need a guide. A cab. A camera. Good to go.

 

I also may want to go to Oceanografic during my day in Valencia, although I will probably get too wrapped up in photographing City of Arts and Sciences and decide I don't have enough time to do justice to Oceanografic. However, if you still have your notes on the bus route, could you try to answer a couple questions I have? I have been trying to figure out just where at the port cruise ships dock, and if it's close to where the ferries come in or a different location. I am tentatively planning to find the bus on Ave. JJ Domine (not the first street I get to but the second, from what I can tell) but I would feel a little better if I could figure out where I would be walking FROM to get to where I can pick up the bus. On the other hand, I may decide to just take a cab, or else buy one of the transportation cards that are supposed to be available at the tourist kiosk near the port - not sure yet. So I guess my questions are: 1) Where did your cruise ship come in? 2) was it much of a walk to where the bus would be? 3) Do you remember about how much the cab was one way? 4) Do you remember seeing a tourist kiosk near or at the port? and 5) Was there a shuttle to either the city center (which I'm told is near the train station, which I assume means the one close to Town Hall) and/or to Arts & Sciences?

 

If you can help, great, and thanks. If not, I'll certainly understand, as I tend to ask very, very specific DIY questions, which is not the norm for cruisers, I guess! And to the original poster, I hope you don't mind that I jumped on here.

[Cretia]

We just did this.

 

We went from the Port to the Océanografic by cab. I had the bus route mapped out and knew that we could easily manage it; however, the cab was quick, easy, not expensive and gave us more time to enjoy the day at the aquarium. We spent the whole day here and did not see any more of the City of Arts and Sciences since this place was fantastic. We asked the desk girl to call us a cab but she indicated that there were and abundance of taxis waiting outside to take us back to the port.

 

You won't need a guide. A cab. A camera. Good to go.

 

Thank you so much for your response! While I'm looking forward to my entire vacation, aquariums are special to us and I"m hoping it will be as much of a highlight of our trip as it sounds like it will be.

 

Am I correct in believing most of the signs are multi-lingual? Not that I'm really sure it matters to me.

 

Again, thanks for your response. I'm glad to have a definitive answer from someone who has done this telling me cabs won't be an issue.

 

Roothy123, I definitely don't mind you hopping on the thread. I confess I'm a bit puzzled at the lack of information anywhere (here, tour sites, ship websites) on the Oceanografic.

 

How is it possible there are only 3 of us interested in this fantastic place! :p

[roothy123]

Well, I don't know what cruise you're on, but I've found that the cruise line we use (Oceania) doesn't visit Valencia a LOT, so perhaps there just aren't too many cruisers going there in general. I admit I knew nothing about Valencia until I started researching, and now it sounds like a great city to visit. I'm a photographer, and the snazzy buildings in the City of Arts and Sciences complex look like they could occupy me easily for a day. Then there are the old buildings in the old part of the city, and tons of museums, although I'm not much of a museum fan...

 

I'm not a huge aquarium fan either, but this one sounds truly fabulous, so it is definitely on my radar screen. I see you're from DC; can I assume you've been to the aquarium in Baltimore? (I'm from Silver Spring.)

 

Anyway, are you familiar with Trip Advisor? It usually has information on attractions in major cities and areas. Also, I found this site which looks pretty useful: http://www.valencia-cityguide.com/tourist-information/maps/valencia-bus-map.html That link will probably take you to the bus section, but of course, you can just go to another link at the same site for info on attractions and what not.

 

Our cruise line is offering an excursion to Oceanografic, but like all shore excursions, it is overpriced (in my opinion, anyway) so I plan to DIY it in Valencia. It's a big city and probably not all that easy to get around by public transportation, but at least Oceanografic and the rest of that complex isn't all that far from the port, which helps. Of course, I have never been to a port in Europe that didn't have cabs, so I'm sure they will be readily available to help us.

Edited February 8, 2014 by roothy123