Valencia is the third largest city in Spain, after Spain’s capital, Madrid, and Barcelona. The city is a pleasant surprise for anyone who chooses to visit it, but also to those who return or even decide to settle here for good. The city is located on the east coast of Spain, on the shores of Mediterranean Sea and it was an important harbor of the Iberian Peninsula and an economic power and a famous cultural center.
One of the greatest attractions in Valencia is Palacio del Marques de Dos Aguas, a splendid baroque building, whose facade is adorned with extravagant sculptures, and its interiors successfully match the outside. This palace houses the Museo Nacional de Ceramica, which exhibits works from Manises, Paterna and Alcora.
Museo de Bellas Artes is another imposing building in Valencia and one of the most famous museums in the country. The world-renowned artists El Greco, Velasquez and Goya have many of their works exhibited here. Another famous touristic objective is Loja de Sela, a remarkable gothic building dating from the XV century.
Catedrala de Valencia is located in the heart of the city; as representatives from Vatican claim, it houses the famous Graal and the cup used at the Last Supper. Even if this might be just a legend, this does not prevent thousands of pilgrims from visiting the cathedral each year.
Bull fights have always been a strong symbol of Spain and this bloody tradition is well represented in Valencia in Museo Taurino, one of the oldest and most impressive such museums in Spain, displaying many items and documents, which tell the story of bull fights throughout the 18th-20th centuries.
One of the most important cultural events in Valencia is Las Fallas, a festival that lasts from 12 to 19th of March. During the festival, hundreds of huge statues made of papier-mache are risen in all squares of the city and most of them are critical or ironic messages.
Best of Valencia
Valencia is a large, beautiful city, which pulses with life and features some touristic sights unique in Europe. You can either visit Valencia by foot, by car or with a touristic guide to enjoy the best of Valencia.
Torres de Serranos
The tour of the city usually starts from the old historical center, where you can admire old parts of the old fortress, known as Torres de Serranos and Torres de Quart. Valencia’s Cathedral can be visited free of charge and is one of the most important places for sightseeing in the city. It is an old construction, built in the 18th century, on the spot of a former mosque. It has a gothic design and houses holy treasures of Christianity (such as the Graal) and art masterpieces.
La Lonja de la Seda
The building known as La Lonja de la Seda is the most famous building in Spain included in the UNESCO patrimony and considered the best-preserved example of late gothic architecture.
Plaza de la Virgen
The squares in the city, such as Plaza de la Virgen, are very beautiful places where you can admire the fountains and architecture of the buildings and you can have lunch at a terrace. Green areas of the city, and Turia gardens, are other free attractions, extremely beautiful.
Valencia’s museums
Museo Fallero
Museo Fallero is famous for its extensive exposition of items and documents related to the history of bull fighting in this region. Between 12 and 19th or March, the city hosts a celebration called Las Fallas (The Celebration of Fire) and the locals burn paper statues of politicians, characters in books or movies. As a remembrance of each year’s festival, only one of this statues in kept in Museo Fallero.
Museo Historico Municipal
Those who love history can visit the Museo Historico Municipal located in the building Ayuntamiento (City Hall). The museum has an impressive collection, including special items such as Senyera (Regional Flag), many very old books, documents and objects that belonged to various trade guilds.
Museo Maritimo Joaquin Saludes
Among the important museums we can also count the Museo Maritimo Joaquin Saludes, located in Torres de Serranos which hosts an impressive collection of amphorae and other archaeological objects recovered from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, and an exhibition of models of ships.
Instituto Valenciano Arte Moderno
Instituto Valenciano Arte Moderno focuses mainly on the modern and contemporary art and displays a permanent exhibition of sculpture by Julio Gonzalez and numerous exhibitions of some of the leading avant-garde artists of today.
Food in Valencia
The rich variety of the cuisine in Valencia successfully reflects the diversity and attractiveness of the products here, and offers a list of pleasant surprises to any foreign visitor.
Paella stands among the specialties of the place, with a long tradition. Paella is cooked over a wood fire and is one of the famous Valencian recipes based on rice. Other famous foods that contain rice are arros a banda (rice with seafood or fish), arros negre (rice with cuttlefish), arros amb fesols i naps (rice with beans and turnips) and many others.
In Valencia, you will be lucky to enjoy the famous local noodles, which resemble to paella, but are made of pasta instead of rice, all i pebre, eels in garlic sauce, suquet de peix, some sort of dish prepared with fish, esgarrat, salted cod with sweet peppers, and figatell, liver meatballs.
All these delights are excellent when combined with the local wines, from the white wines, called Alto Turia, or Serrania, to the red wines, such as Requena, Utiel or Campo de Lliria.
There are many local deserts served in Valencia’s restaurants. Most people prefer the fresh fruit that have an incredibly good taste among which oranges occupy the first place. Arnadi, a sweet potato pie, is a preferred cooked dessert.
If you like to prepare your own meals, at extremely affordable prices, you can do your shopping for food in one of Valencia’s many open-air markets. The Central Market or Mercado Central is a place where you can find fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, seafood at a very low cost.
There are many restaurants in the city where promotions are made. For instance, a three-course meal may cost as little as 10 euros per person. Bars and clubs also serve the famous appetizers food known as tapas, which may be a good meal and very low prices.
Shopping in Valencia
Valencia is one of the few European cities where you can admire sunny beaches, surrounded by mountains and beautiful natural parks. In addition, the historical center of this wonderful settlement is guarded by old defense towers that offer a great view over the Mediterranean Sea.
Shopping Streets in Valencia
You can find many small stores on the streets that leave from the historical center, offering souvenirs and traditional items. If you are interested in jewelry and luxury stores, we recommend Calle Colon and its surroundings. On Calle Colon there are many other types of stores, including three different buildings from El Corte Ingles, the Spanish largest department store chain.
There are many other streets in Valencia, well-known for their various and attractive offers for shopping:
Poeta Querol is a street with fancy stores, famous for the brands they commercialize.
A street offering similar designer stores is Calle de Virués, also known as the Golden Mile. Barrior del Carmen is an attraction for those who don’t want to leave Valencia empty handed: small items, souvenirs, traditional clothing and art craft, antiquities – you name it, they offer.
La Calle de La Paz is mainly specialized on sports stores, and home items.
Shopping Malls in Valencia
Shopping stores are a convenient location to do your shopping when abroad. They gather together stores, which sell anything you might need or think of, from food courts, to clothing, shoes, souvenirs, cafes, electronics, music and film.
Galeria don Juan de Austria is a small shopping centre, attracting tourists and local population willing to spend high amounts of money on exquisite art items.
Centro Comercial el Saler is a tempting average-sized mall, with plenty of stores, a cinema, food court and a Carrefour supermarket on the ground floor.
Centro Comercial Nuevo Centro, another medium shopping center, includes over 30 shops and a Mercadona supermarket.
El Corte Ingles – Moda is a branch of the famous stores chains, that accommodates fancy clothing stores and can be found on Calle Pintor Sorolla.
Aqua Shopping Mall is a recently opened large mall, near the City of Arts and Sciences. Besides the regular stores attractions, it also offers leisure options, such as spa and beauty saloons.
Most shops open at 10 a.m. and close for lunch at 1-2 p.m.; they reopen their doors around 4-4:30 and close at 8:30 in the evening.
