About Valencia
Founded on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea as a Roman colony in 138 BC, heralded as a paradise by the Moors in the 8th century and even serving as the capital of Spain at a couple of points in the nation’s history, Valencia is a city filled with stories to tell, with one of Spain’s largest historic centres to reflect this.
However, Valencia is very much a city looking forward, the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences complex being one of the most striking architectural endeavours in European history, sat at the end of Turia Gardens in the former Turia riverbed, itself an extraordinary feat of engineering. Its rich culinary traditions are also of great importance to Spain’s reputation as a foodie destination, with the beautiful Albufera lagoon just to the south having gifted the world paella. And we’ve not even mentioned Agua de Valencia yet. Whether you’re a foodie, a beachgoer or an historian, Valencia has something for you.
Getting Around
With probably the best transportation system of any city we’ve been to, getting around Valencia on its many metro lines and buses is an absolute pleasure, taking you all over the city with underground rail and trams at a very, very reasonable cost at incredibly regular intervals. We recommend buying an EMT card, which you can top up and scan before getting on metro trains, trams and buses. If you’re using the metro, you’ll need to scan out to leave too. Important metro stops for the centre are Colón and Xàtiva, which are right in the old part of town. If you want to go to the beach via tram, you can go from Benimaclet, taking you just a few metres from the city’s beaches. If you wanted to get to the paella heartland in the Albufera, look for the number 25 bus leaving from the city centre. Need a taxi? Download the MyTaxi app, Uber doesn’t work in Valencia.
Valencia City Centre
The Turia Gardens (read our guide to the gardens here) divide Valencia in two, with the beaches north of the former river and the Old Town and its various architectural and cultural goodies to the south. For a grand entrance to the city, enter either through the 14th Torres de Serranos in the north or the 15th century Torres de Quarts – marked by cannon fire from the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 18th century – in the west, the sole remnants of Valencia’s once majestic city walls that were pulled down in 1865. Both are worth a visit. Once inside the Old Town, keep your eyes peeled for stunning examples of street art, some of the best we’ve ever seen. A great area for this is El Carmen, a trendy area with boutiques, bars and restaurants, decorated by beautiful works of art. Keep an eye out for the Cat House in this part of town, a Valencian house in miniature reputedly built by an old lady to shelter the area’s street cats.
Walking around the Old Town, you can’t help but notice the city’s bell towers, of which the city has hundreds. Most famous of all is the Gothic tower El Miguelete (which is climbable, if you’re up for a slightly scary challenge) by the beautiful Valencian Gothic cathedral in the Plaza de la Reina, which is apparently home to the Holy Grail. The Vatican even backs them up in their claim. Other churches to check out are the Colegio del Patriarca and San Nicolas church, especially for its magnificent ceiling, which has been described as Valencia’s answer to the Sistine Chapel.
Walking around the centre of Valencia is beautiful, with its narrow streets decorated with street art and a beautiful range of architectural styles, from the Gothic Lonja de la Seda to the Art Nouveau Mercado Central just opposite it, both of which are worth a visit – especially for the oranges in the market. The narrowest shopfront in Europe is also nearby, if you’re into narrow shopfronts. Who isn’t? Head over to the Plaza de Ayuntamiento, especially if you’re visiting in March during Las Fallas, where huge effigies are blown up right in the magnificent art nouveau city centre. The buildings in this area are truly beautiful, with the Estacio del Nord being a firm favourite for its striking styles (this is also right by the Xativa metro station). Another architectural highlight in the centre is the Mercado de Colon, right by the Colon metro station, built in 1916 by Francisco Mora Berenguer, who studied in Barcelona and was inspired by Catalan Modernism. It’s also a good spot to grab a wine, beer or bite to eat.
What to Eat and Drink
Speaking of food, highlights in the city include Mercado Central – where there’s also a small restaurant called Central Bar run by a local Michelin starred chef selling local delicacies (it can be steep and pretty hard to get a place). Try the all i pebre, a Valencian delicacy where eel is cooked with garlic and pepper, being very succulent indeed. If you can’t get a seat, you can’t really go wrong with sampling some of the local oranges, cheese and ham (read our guide to Spanish cheeses here and ham here).
While you’d be forgiven for thinking that Mercado de Colon is a market, it certainly began that way but it’s now home to a wide range of restaurants and bars. The Colon area is famed, while Ruzafa to the south is filled with great bars and restaurants to frequent. Keep in mind that the Spanish eat late, typically from around 10pm and places will be serving until late.
If you’re in the Old Town, consider heading for El Rall, where the selection of delicious local dishes is superb and at a reasonable price for the centre. It can be a little touristy, but it’s to be expected for the area. Valencia is, of course, famed for its rice, meaning it creates create paellas (Valencian paella contains chicken, rabbit and snails) and other rice dishes like arroz a banda. Not a fan of rice? Get fideua, which is prepared in a similar way but with small pasta. There are plenty of other places worth mentioning, but a couple of others are La Pepica (Ernest Hemingway’s favourite restaurant) by the beaches and Bodega de la Fila, which sells beautiful Spanish hams, cheeses and wines for a criminally low price.
Click here to find out more about sweet dishes to try.
If you’re really looking for cheap eats and are comfortable in places that only speak Spanish, head for smaller bars further out of the city centre. We had a colossal order once, including drinks for under 25 EUR for two people. Alternatively, head to one of the many 100 Montaditos in the city, with large drinks for 1.50 EUR and small sandwiches for as little as 1 EUR.
Explore Further Afield
This post only covers the very centre of Valencia, and doesn’t even begin to mention the many other things to do in the city, but the beaches (click here), the Albufera (click here), the City of Arts and Sciences (click here) and Turia Gardens are all very much worth a visit. For art galleries, check out the Museum of Fine Arts (free) and the Valencian Institute of Modern Art (free on Sundays), while the Museum of the History of Valencia and Bioparc zoo are also worth paying a visit.
Commentaires