Valencia Key Facts for the visitor
What To See in this authentic Spanish City
A look at why Valencia should be high up on any traveller's hit list. Details the sightseeing highlights of this vibrant city and where to stay and eat.
There was a time when a city break to Spain could only mean Seville, Madrid or Barcelona. Well, no longer. If you’re savvy, there’s another hot contender and that’s Valencia. Less touristy, cheaper, and with fabulous restaurants, great shopping and an unusual blend of old and new architecture, it should be right up there at the top of your hit list.
Lovers of modern design will undoubtedly make a beeline for the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences, but if architecture or science don’t ring your bell, you can also spend lazy afternoons wandering in and out of cafes that line the ancient alleyways and narrow medieval streets.
It's not all nooks and crannies, though. This is also an incredibly spacious modern city with plenty of open plazas where you can easily find a spot to sit and watch the world go by.
Hey, this city really has it all – even a beach, Malvarrosa, just a short cab drive away. Here you'll find vibrant restaurants and the beautiful people enjoying the glorious weather the city also benefits from.
The cathedral boasts some sublime paintings and amazing artefacts, including what the Vatican claim is the real Holy Grail. Also – rather gorily – here you find the mummified left arm of one of Valencia's most famous sons, St Vincent. It was parted from its owner when the Saint was dismembered in 304 AD. Fished out of the sea, it travelled all round the world until the Bishop of Valencia installed it in a case in the cathedral.
If your visit to the Cathedral has you thinking that there’s a heck of a lot of pregnant women in this city (something in the water?), don’t worry. It’s just that they all congregate in the one place. Apparently it’s a local ritual – a few weeks before the birth, the local ladies believe that if they do a few circuits of the cathedral and pray for an easy birth and a healthy baby it will happen. Judging by the number of thank you cards round the Virgin’s altar it seems to work, so who am I to knock it?!
The fact there is a website entitled www.24-7valencia.com tells you what you need to know about the late hours this city keeps. Dinner at 10, clubs at 2am are the norm (how they manage this through the working week is testament to the power of the siesta)!
For shopping head for the Nuevo Centro shopping centre and also Calle Don Juan de Austria. Finding Designer shops is not difficult – the city is packed with them; in fact when it comes to shopping Valencia ticks all the boxes, from flea markets and the wonderful indoor food market thru to Gucci and Hermes.
Book a table at the restaurant of L'Oceanographic – Submarino. It’s fantastic food (especially the gastronomic menu with paired wines), and the venue is second to none.
It’s located at the enormous aquarium at the new City of Arts and Sciences. You should visit this through the day and then return at night for a totally different experience.Tel 96 197 5565 to book.
In this area the crafty Valencians have turned an area of marshland into a futuristic development comprising of four major attractions: L'Hemispheric; an IMAX cinema modelled on a winking eyeball; a science museum shaped like a giant
toast rack, an enormous art gallery and the aquarium - the biggest in the world and the jewel in the crown. There's enough water to fill 15 Olympic-size swimming pools sloshing around inside and as you walk though underwater tunnels you come nose-to-nose with sharks, rays, giant eels and turtles.
Outside, it's more spectacular still. Its enclosures are home to sea lions, dolphins, penguins and walruses.
Another fine recommendation is Restaurante Canyar at Segorbe 5 (tel 963 418 082). In the environment of a typical 19th century bourgeouis Spanish home you will be served typical Valencian specialities, and all at a reasonable price.
Valencia enjoys 300 days of sun a year so it barely matters when you go, but spring and autumn are wonderful.
As a central and comfortable base try the Hotel Melia Ingles Boutique Hotel at Marques de Dos Aguas (tel 34 963 516 426). Modern decor; an impressive breakfast and excellent facilities in the 3 star category.
Even if you go to Valencia in the winter, well hey, the city has about 2,000 bars so it’s never going to be dull.
In fact, dull is never going to be a word associated with this special and truly Spanish city.
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