In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The Lonja de la Seda costs €2 and is free on Sundays and public holidays. It is open Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 19:00 and Sundays 10:00 to 14:00, and closed on 1 January, 6 January, 1 May and 25 December. Visit València puts the visit at 1 hour 30 minutes. The audio guide is €2.25 at the ticket desk, with 23 tracks in about 60 minutes or a 9-track short version, in 11 languages. The Valencia Tourist Card gets in free. The first search results for Lonja tickets sell entry from €12, and the guided tours that include entry start at €20. Prices are in euros. Or book a tour: the Essentials walking tour of three World Heritage sitesad is from €20 and the old-town walk with entry to the cathedral, San Nicolás and the Lonjaad from €49 (GetYourGuide).
Tickets and prices
Prices are from Visit València, the city’s tourism foundation, which runs the municipal ticket office, and hours from the Ayuntamiento’s own page on valencia.es. Buy at the ticket desk. Searches for Lonja de la Seda tickets return sites that sell entry for several times the municipal price.
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| General | €2 |
| Groups, students, pensioners, large families | €1 |
| Sundays and public holidays | Free |
| Valencia Tourist Card | Free |
| Audio guide, bought at the ticket desk after your ticket | €2.25 |
- The audio guide runs about 60 minutes in 23 tracks, or in a short version of 9 tracks, in Spanish, Valencian, English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and Russian. Sign-language guides are free on request at the desk.
- The free tower visits last about 40 minutes and run in English as well as Spanish and Valencian, on set days. Reserve by phone on 680 484 887 or by email at reservas@globalmenta.com, which takes four places per call, and arrive 10 minutes before. The Ayuntamiento’s page prints two overlapping timetables, so ask when you reserve.
Where to buy
| What | The Lonja | GetYourGuide | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | €2; free on Sundays | No listing for the ticket alone | The ticket desk |
| Entry with a guide | Walking tours from €20 that include Lonja entry | GetYourGuide, if you want the guide |
Tours worth paying for
A guided tour costs more than the ticket and buys a guide, not a shorter queue: the Lonja prints no queue. Prices are the lowest “from” prices, per person.
Essentials walking tour of three World Heritage sites
From €20 · 4.6 stars from 850 reviews
Valencia: Essentials Walking Tour of 3 World Heritage Sitesad is a 2-hour guided walk with Lonja entry, sold by Turiart. The listing also names the Ayuntamiento, whose visits are suspended.
Cathedral, San Nicolás and Lonja walk
From €49 · 4.8 stars from 1,267 reviews
Valencia: Cathedral, St Nicholas, and Lonja de la Seda Tourad is a 3 to 4 hour guided walk with entry to all three. The tickets it lists come to €30 (cathedral €12, San Nicolás €16 online, Lonja €2), so the guide is about €19. The cathedral page has its hours, and San Nicolás admits no visitors on Mondays.
What to see
The Lonja is a Gothic civil building begun in 1483 to the plans of Pere Compte, UNESCO-listed since 1996. The Ayuntamiento calls the Salón Columnario a temple to commerce.
The star vault and helical columns of the Salón Columnario. Photo: Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- The façade. The Consolat del Mar wing, built from 1498 and finished in 1548, has an arcaded gallery and 40 medallions of Roman emperors and notable figures. The Ayuntamiento advises looking at it from the pavement opposite, beside the church of Santos Juanes.
- The Salón Columnario. The contracting hall has eight helical stone columns dividing it into naves, and a star vault decorated with shields, musical angels and the symbols of the evangelists. The Virgin of Mercy sits at the central keystone. Gargoyles, demons and animals fill the carving.
- The Consulate hall, the Cámara Dorada. In the Consolat del Mar wing, a gilded and polychrome 15th-century ceiling taken from the old City Hall, where every panel differs. The Consolat was the seat of Spain’s first maritime commercial court.
- The Patio de los Naranjos. The orange-tree court, a quiet place to sit between halls.
- The tower. Three floors that were once a prison for bankrupt merchants, with a spiral stair designed by Pere Compte that has no central column. It is open on the free guided visits.
The Lonja de la Seda from the street, with its tower and crenellated gallery. Photo: Juan Mayordomo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The order that works: look at the façade from outside, enter the Salón Columnario, look up at the Cámara Dorada and finish in the orange court. The ticket and the audio guide together come to €4.25. What to skip: the full 23-track audio guide if you are short of time, and the guided tours if you are happy with the audio guide.
The Patio de los Naranjos, the orange-tree court. Photo: José Luis Filpo Cabana, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
Hours, rules and getting there
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday to Saturday | 10:00 to 19:00; entry until 30 minutes before closing |
| Sundays and public holidays | 10:00 to 14:00, free |
| 1 January, 6 January, 1 May, 25 December | Closed |
- Getting there: Calle de la Lonja 2, across Plaza del Mercado from the Central Market, with the church of Santos Juanes beside it.
- The one thing that ruins a visit: paying a reseller instead of the €2 desk, or arriving after 13:00 on a Sunday, since it closes at 14:00.
What to book in Valencia has the closed days for every sight. The Central Market is across the square and shuts on Sundays, so the Lonja’s free Sunday visit does not pair with it. The cathedral opens on Sundays only from 14:00, when the Lonja has just closed. Free things to do in Valencia lists the other Sunday-free monuments. El Carmen covers the streets north of it, and the old town walk takes it after the Central Market on a route with the opening days. Valencia Tourist Card: is it worth it? counts the Lonja among its free sights. 3 days in Valencia puts it on the old-town day. For a bed, see where to stay in Valencia.
Common questions
How much is a ticket for the Lonja de la Seda?
€2, or €1 for groups, students, pensioners and large families. It is free on Sundays and public holidays and free with the Valencia Tourist Card.
Is the Lonja de la Seda free on Sundays?
Yes, on Sundays and public holidays, when it is open 10:00 to 14:00.
What are the opening hours of the Lonja de la Seda?
Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 19:00, with entry allowed until 30 minutes before closing, and Sundays and public holidays 10:00 to 14:00. It is closed on 1 January, 6 January, 1 May and 25 December.
Do I need to buy a ticket online for the Lonja de la Seda?
No. The municipal ticket is €2 at the ticket desk. Some sites that rank first for Lonja tickets sell entry from €12, and GetYourGuide's guided tours with Lonja entry start at €20.
How long does the Lonja take?
Visit València puts the visit at 1 hour 30 minutes. The audio guide runs about 60 minutes in its full version, with 23 tracks, or 9 tracks for the short one.
Can I go up the Lonja's tower?
Only on a free guided visit of about 40 minutes, in English, Spanish or Valencian, which needs a reservation by phone or email and takes four places per call. Visit València says the spiral staircase by Pere Compte opens to visitors only on special occasions.
