Museum of arts and sciences – Valencia

Any trip to Valencia should include a visit to the museum of arts and sciences complex (Ciudad de las artes y las ciencias). This incredible futuristic collection of buildings is a work of genius and rightly deserves its place as one of the 12 treasures of Spain

Construction was started in 1995, finished 10 years later in 2005 and it consists of several stunning buildings, each one a work of art in its own right. Originally budgeted at 300 million it came in at close to 1 billion around the time of the financial crash and it practically bankrupted the city so was not popular with many of the locals for a long time.

The buildings each have their own purpose – an opera house, an IMAX cinema showing immersive, educational films, Europes largest Aquarium, a science museum, a beautiful covered park and a large shell shaped building that has a vague purpose and doesn’t seem to be used much but still looks amazing. It’s more about form than substance here, however this truly is an architectural work of magnificence, (mostly conceived by local architect Santiago Calatrava) and it’s hard to think of anywhere else in the world that matches it for style and scale.

Its innovative and visionary design lends itself to filming and has had several science fiction films and TV shot there, including Dr Who, Tommorowland, HBOs Westworld and the upcoming TV adaptation of Aldos Huxleys Brave new world.

It is a major tourist attraction and and not to be missed in any visit to Valencia.