Most visitors buy the Valencia Tourist Card expecting it to open the Oceanogràfic. It does not. The aquarium, the rest of the City of Arts and Sciences and Bioparc all sit on the discount list, while the free list is fourteen municipal sites priced at 2 euros each.
What does the Valencia Tourist Card include? The Valencia Tourist Card includes unlimited transport in zones AB and 14 municipal museums, but the cathedral is free only on the 7-day version. That card costs 13.50 euros online against a 12 euro cathedral ticket. The Oceanogràfic and Bioparc are discounts, never free.
Does it cover the airport
For anyone landing at Manises this is the question that decides the purchase. Visit València states that the 24, 48 and 72-hour cards cover zones AB with the airport stop included, which is the one fare in the city that costs noticeably more than a normal ride.
That trip is priced at 4.80 euros each way because the Aeroport station sits in zone B+, so a return journey alone is 9.60 euros of the card’s face value. A single zone A ticket, by comparison, costs 1.50 euros.
The 7-day card carries no transport, which is the trap in the naming. It is the cheapest of the four and the only one that leaves you buying your own metro ticket from the airport, so anyone who picks it on price and then flies in pays the 9.60 euros return fare on top of the card.
What the card leaves out
The exclusions are more useful to know than the inclusions. The Oceanogràfic, the Hemisfèric, the Museu de les Ciències and Bioparc are all discount partners rather than free admissions, and those are the four attractions most first-time visitors have already decided to see.
The scale of the gap is easy to picture. Oceanogràfic admission runs to 43.05 euros, more than the 30.00 euros of the most expensive card at the ticket desk, so no version of the pass could absorb it. Bioparc at 32.50 euros is in the same position.
What the card does open for free is the municipal layer: the Lonja de la Seda, the Serranos and Quart towers, the Museu Faller and L’Almoina among 14 sites, each of which charges 2 euros at the door.
The cheapest version is the one with the cathedral
Only one of the four cards hands over a serious admission, and it is the one without transport. The 7-day card includes the Catedral de València with its museum and audioguide free, plus the IVAM. The 24, 48 and 72-hour cards discount the cathedral instead.
The cathedral charges 12 euros for that same ticket. Against a 7-day card at 13.50 euros online, one cathedral visit plus a single 2-euro municipal site already reaches 14.00 euros of value, which is the fastest break-even any of the four offers.
The 72-hour card at 27.00 euros has to build the same amount out of transport and 2-euro entries with no cathedral in the mix. Paying more buys mobility, not access, and that distinction is what the product name hides.
How many sites it takes to break even
| Your trip | Paying separately | Card that fits | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fly in, 3 days, 6 municipal sites | 9.60 euros airport, 5.10 euros bus pass, 12 euros entries = 26.70 euros | 72 hours at 27.00 euros | card loses by 0.30 euros |
| Fly in, 1 day, 3 municipal sites | 9.60 euros airport, 6 euros entries = 15.60 euros | 24 hours at 15.30 euros | card wins by 0.30 euros |
| Arrive by train, cathedral plus 1 site | 12 euros cathedral, 2 euros entry = 14.00 euros | 7 days at 13.50 euros | card wins on day one |
| Any Sunday visit | municipal sites free to everyone | none | buy nothing |
Those figures come from the published fares rather than from the card’s own marketing. The 4.80 euros airport fare, the 1.50 euros zone A single, the 5.10 euros subsidised EMT ten-trip pass and the 2 euros municipal admission are all set outside Visit València, and the arithmetic only works if you actually run the full itinerary.
The pattern is consistent across the three transport cards: the airport does most of the lifting, and without a return airport journey inside the validity window none of them recovers its price from sightseeing alone.
L’Almoina stays on the list and closes until autumn 2027
One name on the free list cannot currently be visited. The Ayuntamiento de València announced on 21 July 2026 that the L’Almoina archaeological centre closes to the public for waterproofing and climate-control works, and it is still listed among the monuments the card opens.
The contract figures are specific: 1,723,777.99 euros, 14 months of work and reopening expected in autumn 2027. The works fix leaks from the reflecting pool above the site and rebuild the temperature and humidity control over the excavation.
Losing it costs a cardholder 2 euros of theoretical value, which changes no verdict on its own. It does mean the list published on the card’s page and the city on the ground have drifted apart, and that is worth checking for any site before counting it into the sum.
Frequently asked questions about the Valencia Tourist Card
Does the Valencia Tourist Card cover the airport?
The 24, 48 and 72-hour versions do. Visit València states the transport covers zones AB with the airport stop included, so the trip that otherwise costs 4.80 euros each way is already paid for. The 7-day card carries no transport at all.
Is the Oceanogràfic included in the Valencia Tourist Card?
No. The Oceanogràfic, the rest of the City of Arts and Sciences and Bioparc sit in the discount list, not the free list. At 43.05 euros for the Oceanogràfic alone, the discount is worth having but it is not admission.
Which Valencia Tourist Card is the best value?
The 7-day card without transport, at 13.50 euros online. It includes the cathedral and its museum with audioguide, which costs 12 euros on its own, so one visit plus a single 2-euro municipal monument already covers the price.
Anyone arriving on a Sunday should note that the museums that charge nothing already include most of the card’s free list.