• Closes in wind and rain, so check the sky before you go; it also shuts on Dec 25 and Jan 1
• Paths only, no balls or scooters: kids stay off the planted beds, and bikes park in the rest area by the entrance
• Five free-entry days a year: Jan 31, May 18, May 22, Jun 5 and Science Day in November

El Botànic is the University of València's botanical garden, on this plot since 1802 and fully restored in 2000. About 4 hectares of paths wind past monumental trees, cactus beds, a pond and 19th-century iron greenhouses, including a tropical house from 1862 and a wooden shade-house.

A colony of cats lives in the garden, and younger kids tend to go looking for them.