JES28

My husband and I have a 6.5 hour layover in Valencia in July so we're thinking of running into the city for paella for lunch!
Any advice on where to go for an authentic experience preferably in an area we can also enjoy for a little bit?
Also, there doesn't seem to be a baggage storage facility at the Valencia airport. Any recommendations on what we can do with our bags (we depart on different airline than arrival so we will be collecting our bags but I'm guessing it will be too early to check for the next flight)

elberko

I won't comment if this is a good idea, or even possible, but Paella is typically eaten at the beach. I have eaten here twice.
https://www.restaurante-cocinamediterranea.com/es/

danon

danon

JES28

Thank you Elberko & Danon, it looks like these restaurants are right next to each other so this is perfect - thank you!

J62

Rather than guessing if it's too early to check your bags for the next flight, check with the airline what time their desks open, or look to see what time they have other departures by looking at the airport website.

Another, possibly better option is to see if the 2 airlines have an interline baggage agreement so that your bags could be checked through to your final destination. If you provide more info here we could assist you on that front.

JES28

We land at 8am arriving on Vueling and depart at 2:20pm on Ryan Air. When booking it said we had to collect our bags but I will try to find more info.
And shoot, timing is important because in looking at these restaurant recommendations I found that they don't open until 1pm which will be too late. We need to have an early lunch in order to get back to the airport on time. If anyone has a good reco for a location that opens earlier that would be great.

J62

This is the list of RyanAir flights tomorrow early morning through ~2pm, from the Valencia Airport Website, so their counters will definitely be open all through the day. Worthwhile to find out how early they will accept your bags.

danon

danon

JES28

Thanks so much, I will email them to ask!

JES28

Thank you Danon, the Central Market and that area sounds like a great option for us.

janisj

>>We land at 8am arriving on Vueling and depart at 2:20pm<<

That was an important missing detail. You are not going to find lunch anywhere at 10 or 11 AM and you will need to be back at the airport before 1PM. Ryan Air and Vueling do not interline so you need to collect and check your bags.

JES28

Janisj,
Definitely an important detail!
Danon suggested the Central Market which is open 7am-3pm so that should work!
A friend also just recommended Restaurante Arrocería Duna which looks like it opens at 10am so hopefully we'll get to enjoy an early lunch somehow!

misskdonkey

Restaurante Navarro in Valencia, family run, best Paella we have eaten.

misskdonkey

Sorry, just saw your timing schedule, you want breakfast not lunch. Way too tight for lunch, I'd second the market

JES28

Definitely agree that it's more suited to breakfast but we were hoping to try the paella since it's the specialty of the area (and it's origin). If we can't get paella at the restaurant that was recommended in time I think we'll have breakfast at the market and then maybe some tapas for a light lunch before heading back.

JES28

We just returned and I wanted to update for future reference that Ryan Air you can check your bags in up to 3 hours ahead of flight and no earlier. We ended up bringing our bags with us which wasn't ideal but not terrible since we traveled fairly lightly with bags on wheels.
We didn't think about the fact we were landing on a Sunday which in Spain meant limited options to eat with a lot closed including the whole Central Market. We were still able to find a nice option around the Center just be walking around luckily but not what we had planned.
We would have loved to have gone to the beach but we worried about the timing and going to the Center was a nice easy option on the train.
Thanks all again for the recommendations!

valenciaguide

We reccommend a fun paella cooking class , including a market visit. In the Ruzafa neigbourhood (you can arrive with the metro from the VLC airport) you can book a guided tour in the russafa market to get the fresh ingredients to cook a Real Traditional Spanish Paella, in a fun workshop. including tapas, sangria, Valencian DO wine. Its a must do in Valencia city.