A City That Looks Like the Future

Stretching along the old Turia riverbed in Valencia, the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias is the kind of place that makes you stop walking and just stare. Designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, the complex is a sweeping collection of white skeletal structures, gravity-defying curves, and crystal-blue reflecting pools that somehow manages to look simultaneously like ancient bone and pure science fiction. Every angle is a photograph, and every hour of light makes it look completely different.

The scale of it is hard to prepare for. The Hemisfèric is an IMAX cinema shaped like a giant human eye. The Oceanogràfic is the largest aquarium in Europe. The Palau de les Arts is an opera house that looks like it's about to take off. The Science Museum is an architectural masterpiece with hands-on exhibits. All of it sits together in one long, walkable stretch that rewards however much time you give it.

Valencia tends to get overshadowed by Barcelona and Madrid, but this complex alone makes a serious case for putting it at the top of the list. It is unlike anything else in Spain and, honestly, in Europe. Once you have seen it in person, it is very hard to understand why more people are not talking about it.