Valencia City Guide

By Damian Corrigan, About.com Guide

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valencia

Basilica in Valencia, during the Pope's visit

Image: Damian Corrigan

Overview:

Despite being the third biggest city in Spain, Valencia's old town (where you will spend most of your time) is actually very small (comparable with Cadiz or Granada in terms of size). Valencia is a popular stop off for people traveling between Barcelona and Andalusia and is a great place to chill out after having been kept very busy in Barcelona!

Best Time to Visit Valencia:

March for the Las Fallas festival or August for Tomatina.

In 2008 there will be a Formula One race on the streets of Valencia, which will be a great time to come to the city.

Number of Days (excluding day trips) :

Two, although you could conceivably do it in one.

Hotels in Valencia:

For accommodation in Valencia, Venere is a very easy-to-use Web site with hotels in all price ranges.
Visit Vendor's Site

If you're after a budget-priced bed in a dorm, try Hostelworld.

Five Things to Do in Valencia:

Eat Paella in the region where it was invented.
The Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias, Valencia's gigantic arts center, cinema, science museum and oceanographic park.
La Lonja Silk Exchange
The (now-defunct) River Turia, re-routed around the city after a serious flood and now home to parks, sports grounds and the giant Gulliver children's playground (also popular with adults!).
Plaza de la Reina, with its Cathedral and its two-hundred-year-old horchateria.

Day Trips from Valencia:

The rice-growing region of El Palmar where they invented paella. El Saler, for good beaches. Read more about Day Trips from Valencia.

Where to Next?:

South-west to Granada and then on to the rest of Andalusia, north-west to Madrid or north along the coast to Barcelona.

Distance to Valencia :

From Madrid 350km - 3h30 by car, 4h by bus, 3h by train, 1h flight

Renting a Car in Valencia:

You can compare prices to from the major car rental companies here: Car Rental Price Comparison at Kayak.

First Impressions:

Valencia may be the third biggest city in Spain in terms of population, but in terms of the area of tourist interest, the city is actually quite small.

One of the best things about Valencia is how centrally located everything is. Coming out of the train station you have the bull ring immediately to your right and a major road spanning from left to right in front of you. Crossing the road, you come to Avenida Marques de Sotelo, which leads to the city’s main square, the Plaza Ayuntamiento. Beyond this the road forks, with the grand mercado (market) and the Lonja down the left-hand street (Avenida Maria Cristina) and the Plaza de la Reina down the right-hand street (Calle San Vicente Martir).

Upon entering Plaza de la Reina, you’ll find the Iglesia y Torre de Santa Catalina and (probably more importantly) the most famous horchateria in the city, currently hidden from your current line of sight behind some scaffolding.

At the end of Plaza de la Reina is the cathedral, which hides from view the even more attractive basilica immediately behind it, on Plaza de la Virgen. Turning left from here, you walk down Calle Caballeros, which leads on to c/ de Quart and on to the Torres de Quart, currently undergoing renovations.

Turn left again from here and you will find yourself on c/Guillem de Castro, which leads you back to the train station. This quite tight loop takes in the majority of Valencia’s sights, though some of the most important ones are a little further afield. They include the Ciudad de las Artes y Las Ciencias to the South East of the city, the Museo de Bellas Artes to the north-east and the Museum Valenciana de Artes Modernes to the north-west.