I got to visit Valencia in the first place upon the comment of a friend that she is determined to go and live there. Well, she never did, but she was so enthusiastic, that in a couple of days I bought my ticket and planned my visit. Here I am 5 years later, happily living in this amazing city.
A mix of historical sites dating from Roman, Muslim, and Christian cultures , modern architecture and many green areas, long and sandy beaches, as well as delicious Mediterranean cuisine, it makes it a natural choice for a summer vacation of just a long weekend trip.
Every season is good to visit Valencia.
Great weather with 300 sunny days per year.
Amazing Mediterranean weather – be it to spend the Christmas with short sleeves on the beach, or to go for a summer beach holiday in hot summer, Valencia is always a win.
Great gastronomy, delicious Mediterranean cuisine - Valencia is home of the famous paella.
You can enjoy paella in every part of Spain but the famous dish has its roots in Valencia, specifically in the rice fields of the Albufera – a freshwater lagoon situated around 11 km (6.8 miles) south of central Valencia. It started off as a lunchtime dish prepared by workers in the rice fields.
Visiting Albufera is a great choice, there is public transport and bike route to there, it is specifically famous to enjoy the stunning sunsets from the terrace of some of the exquisite restaurants in the area.
Valencia - European Green Capital 2024
“Valencia has earned the Green Capital title because of its ambitious sustainability strategy, and it has learned from lessons in the past,” says EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius.
Valencia is indeed a very green city, many amazing parks and a very bike-friendly city with an amazing bike routes all along the coastal line and crossing the whole city.
The Turia Park
The Turia Garden is one of the largest urban parks in Spain. It was once the river bed of the river Turia, and after the infamous flooding in the 1960s it was turned into a park and the river was redirected elsewhere. It runs through the city along nine kilometres of green space with lots of areas for leisure activities and with sunny weather all year round. It is favourite place for open air yoga, salsa, latino dances, stretch classes as well as long biking lanes.
The city of Arts and Science
The City of Arts and Science is gigantic 17km complex designed by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava and started in July 1996, it is an impressive example of modern architecture. The "city" is made up of the following, usually known by their Valencian names: El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía — Opera house and performing arts centre; L'Hemisfèric — Imax Cinema, Planetarium and Laserium; L'Umbracle — Walkway / Garden; El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe — Science museum; Oceanografic — Open-air aquarium or oceanographic park; Ágora — A versatile space that will allow the holding of varied events. It is also featured in the latest iPhone promax commercial video.
The Old Town - Ciutat Vella
If you’re visiting Valencia, you simply can’t miss the Old Town, also known as Ciutat Vella. This historic center has a rich and diverse history, with influences from Roman, Muslim, and Christian cultures.
The Fallas Festival
In a country known for its unique and odd fiestas, Las Fallas is undoubtedly one of the craziest ones. During the last five days of the festival, locals put on royal traditional clothes, place in the streets enormous (2-3m long) polystyrene monuments called fallas ( a true piece of art), and send tons of gunpowder up in smoke. There are amazing fireworks too. The culmination of the festival is on the last day, 19th March – the day of San Jose (St.Joseph) when those statues are being burned in front of numerous crowds of people.
It is estimated that over 3 million people attend each year and Valencia’s population more than triples during Las Fallas festival.
The July festival
The Feria de Julio (July Fair) is a month of various concerts, theatre, open air cinema, traditional fiestas, sports events and bullfighting. During this month there are big concerts and festivals in the Viveros Gardens, Jardins de Vivers. Also visitors and locals go to see bullfights in the Plaza de Torros (the Square of the Bulls). In the Turia park there is a big entertainment park assembled especially for the festival, with all month long thrilling adrenaline attractions.
The Beach area – Malvarossa and Cabanyal
Besides all the above, Valencia has a very long beach area. It is not very close to the city centre, as the beach area was once a fishermen village, later on joined to the city. The picturesque area of Cabanyal – the quarter close to the beach has an unique charm with 2-floor houses painted in vivid colours and with artistic big graffiti on some of them. The beach can be reached by public transport some 20 min from the centre, direct metro line or by bicycle with a bicycle lane connecting the city centre and the beach.
Valencia is a very charming city, the locals and very kind and welcoming, the city is very diverse with its many faces and there are fun and interesting activities and pastimes for every traveller.
Written by- Daniela D from Valencia
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