Hola!

My wife and I are traveling to Valencia this week for a 5 days visit trying to get the last grasp of "good" weather in Europe...

We love to walk and do outdoor activities and then enjoy a nice restaurant with good ambience at night.

So far, plan looks something like this:

Wednesday: will arrive at 1:30pm....will walk around the city all afternoon and get familiar with the city and key places...(will taste the local Horchata asap)
Thursday: Oceanografic y el museo de las Artes y Ciencias...then walk around the coast/beach.
Friday: City & Monuments (eat at the Market)
Saturday: Bioparc
Sunday: City & Monuments (maybe renting bikes and go around the city?)
Monday: City...and airport

Can you please recommend some good restaurants (where locals go, good ambience, music, etc) and provide any tips on the itinerary?

Muchas Gracias!

For a typical Valencia dining experience, try L'Estimat from 1927: http://www.restaurantelestimat.com/
For further inspiration: http://gastronomyblog.com/2010/07/14...imat-valencia/

If you want to splurge, Arrop gets raving reviews and is one of two restaurants in Valencia with two "soles" in the Guia Repsol, the national equivalent to the Michelin guide. Bargain three course lunch menu for 30€. http://www.arrop.com/
http://www.guiarepsol.com/Gastronomi...staurante.aspx
Photos and Spanish guest reviews: http://11870.com/pro/arrop-ricard-camarena

And when in Valencia, be sure to visit the food market, have a look at this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds8ryWd5aFw

Mandel:
Last june we did a trip which includes Valencia, a city we really enjoyed.You can read my report at:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-valencia.cfm where you can read about various sites of interest in the city(do not miss the Museo de la Cerámica and the Iglesia del Patriarca).
There is also a wonderful report from Ekscrunchy qhich is a bible of food in Valencia.
Enjoy your trip and we wait for your report!!!!!!

How wonderful you are spending so much time here in Valencia. I hope the weather accompanies you well.

If you like museums, you will be happy here.

The Ceramic Museum, Museo de Cerámica, is free on Sundays but closes at 2 pm.

The Museo de la Historia is a fabulously designed place architecturally, and the exhibits have been down by a true professional. This is across the river form the Bio Parc, but a bit hidden off to the right.

The BioParc has a nice little café where on goes and admires watching the animals at from a close distance. Then walking to the higher part of the park, the giraffe are always sticking their heads way up hoping for non-existent treats and are quite a spectacle.

A lovely park for strolling is below he Bio Parc bridges.

The best view of the Valencia beach of course will be had at the elevated café/restaurant called Latitud xxx.. I am trying to find the exact name. Great place for a glass of something and nice view.

I like L'estimat also. Especially Arroz del senyoret. Ask for ajo aceite to go with it.

In town near the Plaza de la Virgen we enjoy Seu Xerea.

There are many new tapas places cropping up in the Salamanca/Conde Altea area which is a great place to stroll and just sit where you see a lot of people.

For Horcahta and FARTONS, or chocolate y Churros, try the picturesque Horchatería Santa Catalina across from the church of the same name.

Enjoy your trip. It sounds like you have done a lot of research. I hope you enjoy it.

The tourist bus will take you all the way out to L'Albufera if you want to venture that far our and the weather is good.

Otherwise, BUS 95 is the one that goes up and down the river back and forth, and also goes to Bio Parc.

We rented bikes for a day and cycled all over the city and along the beach boulevard. It was a great way to discover the city. We had great weather (Nov 14-18 of last year).

We had an excellent dinner one night at Restaurant Ness.
http://www.nessrestaurant.es/

Lucky you!

Here is my report from the past winter:

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

Dear all,

Thank you very much for these recos and reports!

Lincasanova: First place we are dining in Seu Xerea!
and believe that L'Estimat Ness & Arrop will follow...food looks great!

We are very excited and leaving tomorrow!

All the best!