The whole Christmas period and the weeks leading up to it can be a bit frantic, so what better time to book a city break; our first with P since we took her to Montreal and Toronto in the summer of 2016. So as the sleet fell on a cold morning in Scotland, we hopped on a flight to Spain’s third largest city Valencia hoping for some sunshine.
The inspiration? Well, I can attribute Michael Palin for my thirst for travel but I can’t say I have tuned into any travel programmes since that have had a similar effect. Since that is Richard Ayoade’s Travel Man where he embarked on a weekender to Valencia. I’m not sure if the sunshine, the Agua de Valencia or Turin Gardens or his unique dry and sarcastic humour that lured us but here we are and no regrets so far.
We based ourselves in a great 2-bed Airbnb apartment in Ruzafa. Once a no go area it is now described as a hip barrio teeming with bars, cafes, independent shops, upcoming restaurants and with streets lined with orange trees, like much of the rest of the city.
We hit up Ubik a bookshop come cafe/bar where we had some delish tapas (carpaccio of courgette, Serrano ham, and stuffed pepper pictured below). For those travelling with kids, it is worth noting that Ubik has a nice little kids area with a stage, toys and books. Another spot to hunt out is La Finestra for super tasty and incredibly cheap pizzas (€1.60 per pizza) with very friendly staff.
Ruzafa is a 15/20 minutes walk from the old town and about the same to Park Gulliver, which I would recommend regardless of whether you are travelling with kids or not. Built in 1990, it is a giant sculpture of Gulliver to climb and slide all over. Great fun and makes me wonder why we don’t have more of these back home when I have heard of similar sculptural parks in both Denmark and Japan.
Generally worth spending some time exploring the lovely Turia Gardens too, which is the former riverbed which used to sweep through the city before it reached the sea. Popular with walkers, runners, cyclists and also a lovely spot for a picnic under the orange trees. There’s a skate park plus play parks dotted about the place, so plenty to keep everyone entertained.
The Gardens are pretty extensive so I would definitely consider hiring a bike. We hired bikes from Dutch owned and run Verrassend Valencia, purely because it was opposite our apartment. Worked out at 29 euros for two bikes plus a bike seat for P for 8 hours. Once we had mastered the pedalling backwards to break, we had a ball. As it is so flat, it is fairly easy to get around.
Our route took us to Turia Gardens, then on to the absolutely stunning Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias where you can find the Science Centre and Aquarium. If you are into modern architecture, I’m sure you will love it.
We passed on the Science Centre and opted for the Aquarium instead, which to be honest was no different than any other we have visited and very pricey 80 Euros for the three of us. Personally, I wouldn’t bother. Instead, pedal on to one of Valencia’s blue flag beaches – Las Arenas – where you’ll find a load of nice bars and restaurants lining the modern and slick promenade.
The sights in the old town – the Cathedral, the various Plaza’s, the Silk Exchange, the Towers – are easily ticked off and if you aren’t fussed about going into them all, you could easy trot round them in a morning or afternoon. I do regret us missing out on a trip up the Bell Tower to take in an aerial view of the city.
If you are a foodie, you have to visit Mercado Central (central market) to stock up on some amazing ingredients for a picnic. And take full advantage of some of the amazing Menu del Dia’s on offer. We hit up Revel, opposite the well-known Navarro on Calle Arzobispo Mayoral, where we had a lovely two-course lunch with bread, beer, dessert and a coffee for 10 euro per head. Amazing value but more importantly super tasty too.
Another so called must is to sample Horchata, the cold tiger nut milk drink which the locals apparently love. We opted to sample it in the historic Horchateria de Santa Catalina, alongside the recommended accompaniment Fartons. Yes, that isn’t a typo, they are called Fartons: a long pastry stick to dunk into the drink. The jury was pretty clear on Horchata being a little like Marmite, you either love it or loathe it. We were in the latter camp.
Final tip for all the foodies, do sample some paella when you are in town. Valencia is the home of paella and it is typically eaten at lunch, particularly on a Sunday. You’ll have no shortage of places to sample the local delicacy.
Travel for travel's sake 