Valencia, Spain
 

Our family is considering travelling to Spain for the first time this summer, in late June or early July, for ten to twelve days. We would fly into Madrid, spend a few nights, then rent a car and drive east towards the coast.

Has anyone travelled to Valencia? I have read that it is an interesting and beautiful city and one that many travellers overlook.

Should we include Valencia in our plans?

Thank you.

Valencia would be great. Plenty to see, wonderful food, and a terrific beach. If you're there for the Feria de Julio, all the better. Concerts, bullfights, etc.

Thanks very much Bedar.

Is the east coast, including Valencia, Barcelona, and other smaller villages, a better destination than travelling south to Andalucia for our first time to Spain?

Although Valencia has it own charms, I would not visit it on my first trip to Spain. I would consider Barcelona or Andalucia as other places to visit.

Hi IMDonehere,

Thanks for your thoughts.

My wife just showed my a trip report on western Spain (the region of Extremadura), including Trujillo, Plasencia and Caceres. What about this region and Andalucia and leave the eastern coast for another trip?

I have been to Extremadura in June and it was so hot you could not stay out long that long during the day. There is a wonderful Roman amphitheater in Merida.

I should also point out, to be fair, most of Spain will be terribly hot at the time you are visiting. Many Spaniards try to escape to the beaches in the Basque Region, Cantabria and Galicia.

The heat in Madrid can be overwhelming.

So please take that into consideration as you plan.

Just one of many reasons to like V.:
http://www.visitvalencia.com/en/blog...ture-valencia/

I like Valencia very much...the beaches are spectacular
There are so many great spots n Spain...not easy to chose.

One thing s for sure.. it is hot I the summer especially so in Andalusia.
You might drive to Valencia for a few days and continue up the coast
to Barcelona.

I'd have thought that for June, Valencia would be a great choice - there is loads to see, wonderful food, and a terrific beach. And it should be less hot than Andalucia too, and less crowded than Barcelona. Nice day trips to do too.

Just because it's not one of the places that tourist flock to doesn't make it a bad place to go, in fact to some of us that makes it more desirable.

Hi annhig,

Thank you for your thoughts. We, as well, try and travel to places less touristy and that is what attracted us to Valencia and the Extremadura region.

In Italy, our favourite cities were Bologna and Lecce, two places that are not filled with tourists.

We once stayed an extra day in Bologna just to eat.

in that case, MichaelAndrews, Valencia looks like a perfect fit.

I can't express a view on Extremadura but if others say that it's very hot in June, I would be inclined to believe them.

Love Valencia- it was the first city I visited in Spain- like the size , food, buildings , beach and especially around Las Fallas ( which is March ) . Drive out into the countryside where rice is grown and more lovely beaches.

I wrote a report here on my visit to the city:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-blossoms.cfm

Valencia, the coast and the mountains could be a very good idea. Here's an article about Valencia by Jason Webster who used to live here. He has written several excellent books about Spain, also from Valencia itself and the mountains:
http://www.jasonwebster.net/moorish-valencia/

Sacred Sierra: http://www.jasonwebster.net/sacred-sierra/

And Webster also writes critically acclaimed crime novels, and the Valencia setting and deep knowledge of the city is a key factor: http://www.jasonwebster.net/a-death-in-valencia/
http://www.jasonwebster.net/or-the-bull-kills-you/

thanks for the links to Jason's books, kimhe - I've just downloaded the first one onto my kindle.

eck - i remember that TR - I think it was one of the things that encouraged us to go to Valencia when the opportunity arose.

Thank you everybody for your help and your links. Fascinating and very informative.

Most people I talk to have never considered going to Valencia, but that makes us want to go even more.

Now, the question is, should we travel north from Valencia or south after spending about 5 or 6 days there?

Most people I talk to have never considered going to Valencia, but that makes us want to go even more.

Sometimes there is a reason for that.

A reason for that? Do you mean a reason they don't consider going or a reason I should want to go?

I am not sure I understand.

Re: the questions you posed, and that I answered, on another thread: I don't regret giving you advice, although I'm sorry that doing so took the thread so far from the OP's questions. I believe you are new to Fodor's? Welcome! You might want to learn a bit about our norms before violating all of them. ;-) JMO.

If going to Valencia, and if you enjoy modern and contemporary art, I recommend visiting Valencia's IVAM (Institut Valencia d'Art Modern). They have a wonderful gallery of works by Catalan sculptor Julio González, a contemporary of Pablo Picasso.
https://www.ivam.es/en/

If you enjoy aquariums, one of the largest is in Valencia, the Oceanografic:
https://www.oceanografic.org/en/
It's in the City of Arts and Sciences designed by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava:
http://www.visitvalencia.com/en/what...d-sciences-cac

Valencia's old town/historic centre (or Ciutat Vella) is wonderful, full of historic sites, plazas, and my favorite, the Mercat Central:
https://www.mercadocentralvalencia.es/El-Mercado.aspx#
Valencia is the home of paella, so the mercat is a great place to buy a paella pan, or the ingredients to make your own. I was especially impressed by the huge bags of paprika. We were happy to have stayed in an apartment, where we could enjoy some of our finds from Valencia's mercat. You must eat paella at least once while in Valencia.

The Ciutat Vella is also very walkable and full of fantastic street art; there's so much to look at.

The one place I regret not getting to was Albufera Natural Park, one of the Iberian peninsula's most important wetlands and home to rare wading birds, rice growers and fishermen.
http://www.visitvalencia.com/en/what...a-natural-park

kja:

I am new. Nothing like making a grand entrance and getting noticed :) But I do appreciate your advice.


Diamantina:

I knew Valencia was worth visiting. Thank you for the information and the links, I really appreciate it. I as well would enjoy staying in the historic center. Is there a particular area of the old town that you would recommend staying? Thanks.

Michael, we were in Valencia for 4.5 days, so I'm not familiar with all old town areas. I can only describe where we stayed: a modest, comfortable one-bedroom apartment at Valenciaflats Cathedral, on an alley and facing its own tiny plaza that was lively during the day (when mostly we were out and about), but quiet at night, when we needed to sleep. Not many cars entered these narrow streets. It was about a block and half from Plaça de la Reina and about a 7-minute walk from the Mercat Central—once we figured out how to get around. We never minded getting "lost", as there was lots to look at, murals, shop windows, historic architecture, in all directions. Here are reviews for Valenciaflats Cathedral:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Hotel_...n_Country.html

Valencians have their own language, related to Catalan. To add to our initial geographic confusion, we had a map that showed showed Castilian Spanish names, for instance, "Calle de las Cocinas" instead of "Carrer de les Cuines".

Our accommodation was surrounded by restaurants. We walked to IVAM (Institut Valencia d'Art Modern). It took us about 10 minutes to walk to Torres de Serranos, which was next to the stop for the bus to the City of Arts and Sciences. We walked to Xàtiva metro station (to get the city beach). Along the way, there were shops or markets to pop into, photos to take.

The old town is a great area if you enjoy walking, atmosphere, and people watching. Large concentrations of tourists could be found in the outdoor restaurants of the large plazas, such as Plaça de la Reina and Plaça de la Virgen. Otherwise, it was not so touristy. I must have visited the Mercat Central four times over four days, and never found the aisles close to crowded (in stark contrast to Barcelona's La Boqueria), though the area around the market was bustling.

The old town seemed as popular with Valencians as with tourists. We noticed this especially on the day we arrived, which was a holiday. The streets and restaurants of the old town were crowded with Spanish families and couples. This is not only a tourist zone, but a residential area.

If you are driving down to Valencia that itself is a nice trip. Be sure to stop in UCLES, not far outside Madrid to see the monastery and quiet village and then later Alarcon about half way to Valencia. Makes a nice picnic spot or overnight if you have left late from madrid. Beautiful castle /parador hotel and village with numerous churches.

Actually, I would stop in Alcaáa de Henares, to see historic buildings, storks galore and Cervantes' birthplace on your way out of Madrid, also,

If you like beaches head south after Valencia to Altea/Denia/Moraria.

Then on to Alicante but stopping in Guadalest.

If you have kids you must take them to the amusement park near benidorm, an otherwise densely populated hug rise beach area.. but very fine beaches. The southern beach is the quietest and quite lovely, although Benidorm, itself, is not attractive.

La isla de Tabarca is a curious island from Alicante. take a boat for day excursion.

Sign up for groupon valencia.. discounted catamaran boat trips around the coast with a glass of cava. Also, eltenedor.es will give you discounts at some restaurants ( El Coso at the beach) if you book through that site.

Since you are driving i highly recommend you do not stay in the old quarter as there is no street parking and garages are very dear. Stay near the science center.. lots of street parking and take a bus into town. some hotels there also have a pool and you are much closer to the beach.

If you are not going to stop to see anything on the way to valencia just take the AVE to town and rent a car when you leave to go down the coast.

Lin - Good to see you back posting. You've been missed !

Thank you.. I just have got out of the loop and also, I have to admit, irritated at the ZERO response to any of my emails to the editors.. or perhaps they have changed their email.. who knows. But I have asked them several things several times and the emails do not bounce back.. so ..

Nice to see a question about Valencia! I hope you are doing well.