Laurie4

My co-worker will be in Valencia, Spain for a week starting June 20th. She will be alone and would like some ideas for safe, interesting days trips, using Valencia as her home base. Her son is staying with a foreign exchange host family and she at a hotel, but would like to be independent and not assume they will provide entertainment and excursions. Any ideas? Thank you in advance!

lincasanova

Sagunto. take cercanias train or bus to town. If one takes the long distance train that has a STOP in Sagunto it costs a lot more.then walk or taxi ( loooong) up to fortress walls and enjoy the Roman Ruins.

A morning at the beach .. go to the upper part ( Bus 31 til end of the line) and walk back towards city. not north and you will come to a string of places along the walkway. La Mas Bonita is a nice place to stop for a coffee/cake/ salad.

Valencia city has so many nooks and crannies . Be sure to go to Municipal museum called LAS ROCAS, off street near Serrano Towers. Most people will not take her there and many locals have never gone.

Museo de la Historia de la Ciudad.. excellent history museum of the city. One of the most perfectly designed museums, in reconverted water deposit building.

Coffee break or lunch at the spectacularArt-Deco Mercado Colon.The lower level is filling up with special restaurants...

Don't miss the massive ( largest in Europe) central market and behind it, La Lonja ( our only World Heritage building): Renown chef has a bar in the market.. if you can grab a seat, try some of his tapas mid-morning.

I also place exchange students. Do you know which program he is on and what school he is going to?

I'm sure she will have a great time in the city even if she doesn't leave it.

One of my favorite places for breakfast, lunch or tea, is La Petite Brioche. On calle Sorni, corner with Grabador Esteve. Two blocks up from the Corte Inglés on Colon.

A 10 ride bus/metro pass ( usable by all traveling same route) can be purchased at metro stations. Good for getting to the beach, science center na history museum. the rest are quite walkable from center. One free transfer (within 40 minutes I believe), between two different bus routes or bus and metro.

lincasanova

I also forgot about the free bike tours on Saturdays at 10 a.m. when you rent an "easy way" bike, might be something to do with her son. They also have an evening tour. Not sure if also saturday though.

jelopez33

Saving Lincasanova's tips for future(second) visit to this lovely city.

From our first visit, I second that Las Rocas Museum, the Markets and Lonja de la Seda are two of many not to miss in Valencia.

Laurie4

So helpful! Thank for the wonderful information. The son is visiting the student who was an exchange student in their home here in the US. He can practice his Spanish and my friend can tour Valencia. Good to know there is enough to see within Valencia without venturing too far. She is a bike rider so the bike tours would be of interest.

kanadajin

I am bookmarking these for our October trip - thanks for this great info Lincasanova!

A quick question if I may : we will be in Valencia the long w-e of Oct 9 (Valencia day) and 12 ( Spain National fiesta). Most businesses will be closed, but I wonder if some of the restaurants (Petite Brioche, Horchateria Santa Catalina, and even Mercat Central, etc.) in the centre might be open regardless?

Any special noteworthy events on those days? I think I read somewhere that there is a special parade (?).

lincasanova

Businesses, large commercial properties will not be closed the entire weekend. With this new change of government i have no idea what the festivities will be but I imagine there will be some type of parade. Closer to the date come back and remind me to find the schedule, which may not even be up yet.

Eateries should be open every day or maybe closed ONE day..

Central market SHOULD be open the 10th since it is not a holiday.

funkmonkey

Jelopez33,

You stated elsewhere that you are planning to be there for Fallas 2016. So am I. Have some questions: Do we miss much if we depart before the 'burn night' (18th I guess). Is there enough enjoyment if one stays 15-17th? Any tips will be appreciated - if I can contact you otherwise. Thanks.

lincasanova

The burning night is the 19th. I am not a huge fan of it.. and watch it on TV if I can stay up that late. You can watch it live on line at many of hte websites set up for fallas.

Must sees:

Mascletá 2 pm everyday plaza ayuntamiento

Ofrenda ( flower offering to the Virgen, 17th and 18th or 16th and 17th

-go see top 6-10 fallas with a good map. Do as much fallas visiting the 15th and 16th as the crowds get worse as the week advances.

funkmonkey

Another one: Is the Valencia Tourist Card worth it? There are definite travel and musueum benefits and quite a few freebees and discounts at restaurants (as a foreigner).

annhig

I was going to say Sagunt too - very cheap return ticket bought from the ticket counter at the station - but lin with her encyclopaedic knowledge of Valencia got in before me.

We were only there for 4 nights so we didn't have as long as you but we could see how one could easily fill a week with all the different museums,gardens, monuments etc. plus the lovely food of course.

Don't forget the beach - lovely for cycling along the prom plus lots of restaurants offering various types of paella and rice dishes. There are also tours out into rice-growing country which we didn't manage to fit in but looked like fun.

lincasanova

sagunto does close castle ruin grounds at lunchtime. i¡m not sure if they re-open in the afternoon. Also, there is a dungeon which many people never find. it is very easy and not far from the entrance if you walk towards the sea. ask the fellow at the ticket counter.