New Museums, Sporting Events and Green Routes Put València on the 2027 Travel Map

Sorolla and Manolo Valdés art projects join major sporting fixtures, Turia Garden improvements and planned hotel openings in a city-wide visitor programme.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• València is planning new Sorolla and Manolo Valdés exhibition spaces in 2027.
• The 2027 European Athletics Indoor Championships are scheduled for 4–7 March at the Lluís Puig venue.
• SailGP and other sporting fixtures are part of the city’s visitor programme.
• Turia Garden improvements and additional hotels are planned; several opening dates remain provisional.

València is preparing for a busy 2027, with new art spaces, an expanded programme of international sporting events and changes to its parks and waterfront offering travellers fresh reasons to return. Plans outlined by Visit València combine headline cultural openings with projects that will take longer to complete, making the city’s next chapter as much about improving familiar places as unveiling new ones.

Art takes a leading role in the visitor calendar

One of the most closely watched projects is a dedicated presentation of works by Valencian painter Joaquín Sorolla from the Hispanic Society of New York. The exhibition is planned for the City Museum at the Palacio del Marqués de Campo, with around 2,000 square metres distributed across 15 rooms. Set in the historic centre, the display would give visitors a substantial new way to explore the connection between Sorolla’s paintings and his birthplace.

Contemporary art is also due to gain ground at Espai Valdés, a proposed centre in Shed 3 of Parc Central. The former industrial space is expected to display 30 previously unseen works lent by artist Manolo Valdés, with free admission proposed. Together, the two projects would offer contrasting routes into the city’s artistic heritage, from Mediterranean painting to modern sculpture and other contemporary work.

Visitors interested in older neighbourhoods already have another stop: the Museu de la Mar has opened in Casa dels Bous in El Cabanyal, a historic building associated with oxen once used to bring fishing boats ashore. Its displays explore the fishing community and the city’s relationship with the Mediterranean, while the Palau de la Música plans a 40th-anniversary programme in 2027, four decades after its 1987 opening. The concert hall remains a principal venue for the Valencia Orchestra.

Indoor athletics, sailing and major fixtures

Sports fans will find a particularly full programme. The European Athletics Indoor Championships are scheduled for 4–7 March 2027 at the Palau Velòdrom Lluís Puig, according to the city’s sports foundation. The event brings continental competition back to a venue that previously staged major indoor championships.

On the waterfront, the high-speed catamarans of SailGP are expected to return to La Marina for a second consecutive year. The city’s plans also highlight the Copa del Rey basketball tournament, the established Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Zurich Marathon and the MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix. Travellers intending to attend should confirm event dates and ticket arrangements individually before booking.

Another significant sporting development is the ongoing construction of Nou Mestalla, the future home of Valencia CF. Designed for more than 70,000 spectators, the stadium is intended to accommodate football as well as meetings and other events. The club has targeted summer 2027 for opening, although the timetable remains a project forecast rather than a completed opening.

A greener route across the city

València’s linear Turia Garden, formed along a former riverbed, will also mark its 40th anniversary. Planned improvements include decorative lighting for 17 bridges and a 1.3-kilometre pedestrian and cycling connection from the garden’s final stretch towards the seafront. Once delivered, the link should make it easier to follow a continuous green corridor between Cabecera Park and the coast.

Families may also have a new reason to visit the Turia. A proposed Lilliput extension to Gulliver Park would introduce a seated Gulliver sculpture over eight metres high with climbing structures, walkways, tunnels and slides inspired by Gulliver’s Travels. Visitors should check its completion and access status nearer their trip.

Outside the centre, 2027 will mark a century since the city acquired La Devesa forest, an important natural landscape linked to L’Albufera. Environmental education and conservation are expected to feature in the centenary activities. Meanwhile, the Central Market will be looking ahead to its own 100-year milestone in 2028, extending interest in the city’s food and architectural heritage.

More places to stay across different neighbourhoods

Hotel development is adding another dimension to the tourism outlook. Projects identified for 2027 include The Bank Hotel MYR, a conversion of a historic building in the central financial and cultural area, and Cuber House Valencia Curio Collection by Hilton, planned for El Cabanyal. Both remain announced additions rather than confirmed operational hotels in the city’s 2027 preview.

They would join more recent properties including Sleep’n Valencia, described as a pet-friendly design hotel near Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Intelier Malvarrosa Plaza and Sercotel Valencia Ruzafa. Their different locations also illustrate how accommodation options are spreading across the centre, beachside areas and residential districts.

For travellers, the practical message is to match a visit to the part of the programme that matters most: established museums and neighbourhoods can be explored now, while planned exhibitions, park additions and larger construction projects warrant a check for updated opening dates. The combination of culture, sport, green space and coastal access is shaping what València hopes will be an especially varied year for visitors.