Valencian sun

Last year in the summer, we spent 5 days in the coastal Spanish city of Valencia. It was a city break kind of trip, which I rarely do nowadays. During those five days, we mostly walked around the city centre, enjoying the art, the food and the slow pace of Spanish life. It was fun, especially the opportunity to spend such leisure time with friends. My favourite day of course was when I took a local bus to one of the nearby coastal village, and loved it.


Getting there

The flight to Valencia took us over the Pyrenees, and I could spot some blue lakes down below which sparkled over the mountains. Close to landing, there were many olive and orange plantations everywhere. And all the houses had blue pools in their backyard - it looked like the good life.

Streets of Valencia

It was quite easy to get to the city centre. I took the local metro and then walked 20 mins to get to our airbnb in Carmen. It was a nice walk through the narrow streets of Valencia. You could see that it was an old part of town, with its narrow colourful streets, metal balconies decorated with loads of plants and many squares and churches on the way. The graffiti on the streets was very prominent, and I enjoyed noticing and appreciating it over the weekend. I did not know then, but learnt later, that Carmen is actually famous for all its colourful street art.

The first day, we just walked near our airbnb. The second day we walked around town though without a plan. The next day we visited the local city beach. The fourth day was out of town, to the beach town of Perello. And the last day I did another tour of the city, based on some walks suggested online. And finally saw a lot more of the town. I think the first two days we were walking around in circles to the same areas, and it was nice that I did the more planned walk on the last day. At least I felt I had experienced quite a bit of the town.


The city centre

Streets of Valencia

In Valencia, we were staying in an airbnb in Carmen, which was the old part of town. For the first two days, we would mostly just walk around the city centre, checking out the colourful streets, the parks, the squares, the churches and local art. Given my friend was a foodie, we explored many restaurants too, some good and many not so good.

Valencia at night

There were loads of shopping options and eating places in the centre. It was always very active everywhere, full of tourists. The shops were full of people checking out local stuff, the squares were full of people gathered there to eat and drink. And in the evenings, all these places would be bustling (even more) with people. After 9 pm though - this was Spain 😂. And even at 11 pm, there would be music and a lot of noise outside. As our airbnb was in the city centre, we could hear the noise till very late. And very loud noise ☹️.

Cultural centre

While exploring Carmen, on our second day, we visited a cultural centre, the Centre del Carme Cultura Contermporánia (CCCC), which was a convent now converted into an art gallery. The paintings were nice, but the convent and its central garden was stunning. After the cultural centre, we walked all the way to the Turia Jardin (gardens) and spent some time there - it was huge. (The park is built on the former riverbed of the Turia river). We then walked back into town, walking past grand colourful buildings, old gates, churches and squares everywhere.

The third morning, we explored the university side of town (while on our way to the local beach). It was green all the way and we walked through many parks, most of them full of trees laden with purple jacarandas in full bloom. As we walked from Carmen to the university, the scene suddenly changed from old colourful buildings in the city centre to the modern glass and steel buildings in the university.

Valencia Cathedral

The university felt grand and open. The area was quite empty though, as it was afternoon and quite hot - so all the streets had emptied out. We were planning to take a bus to the beach and were trying to buy tickets - it took us an hour to find a shop which would sell us that as everything was closed for siesta 😂. Finally we were able to buy a bus ticket pack - 10 journeys cost just 6 euros with that card. We then took the bus to the beach. While coming back, we stopped at the Valencia Cathedral and were impressed by the grand square. It was full of activity, with some local markets and loads of tourists there taking pictures.

Turia gardens

The fourth morning we started with a run in the Turia gardens. It used to be a riverbed which was later converted into a park circling the old town. We went running there and loved it. It was quite hot and humid, but still fun to be out and active. There were loads of people running and many activities going on in the park. It was also fun to observe all that it had, small waterbodies, old bridges, and loads of flowers everywhere. Every bridge over the Turia has its own history too.

Plaza de la Virgen

While coming back from the beach that day, I explored the eastern part of old town and realised that it was quite grand. The streets had metal lamps all along its sides. And everything was cleaner and better maintained. Also much richer than the poorer and rundown part of town we were living in 😂. My favourite was Plaza de la Virgen, with its churches and towers all lit up. It looked so grand, so charming, with loads of activity going on there. So I decided to return the next day for sure.

The last day, I finally decided to explore Valencia properly. So I found a walking tour online and then walked around town, going farther than where we had been till then. I realised we had barely scratched the surface of the place 😂. I saw a newer, grander side of town and loved the walk.

I walked past the La Lonja de la Seda, a grand building housing an old silk exchange. The square there was quite grand. And right next to it, was the Central market, a covered indoors market selling loads of touristy stuff. It also felt so much cooler inside than outside.

Colon Market

I walked along the Calle de la Paz, a street with many more modern buildings. I walked on Colon Street, a quiet tree lined street with charming buildings and architecture around. I stopped for a while at the Mercado de Colón, a covered market built in Art Nouveau style with some art and eating shops inside. It was so relaxing to take a break there under the shade, and enjoy the art exhibitions on display.

Plaza Redonda

I walked through many other Plazas (or Placas as they are know) and each one had its own character. Placa del Tossal was where we had gone for drinks one of the days. It was so active even during the day, though looked completely different from the night look. Plaza Redonda was a round square with a fountain in between. In fact, we had our first day's dinner there. And it looked so different during the day.

Valencia Cathedral

Plaza de la Companya had a church and was surrounded by charming old buildings. Plaza del Ayuntamiento was a majestic square with the city hall on one side and other elegant buildings all around, with a green park in between. Plaza de la Almoina had a huge pink stone palace on one side and many charming buildings around.

Behind Valencia Cathedral

The walk from Plaza de la Almoina till the Valencia Cathedral was lined with historic gates and churches and doors and many other lovely views. It was quite nice to walk here, you felt like you had turned up in a different era. I also walked past the Museo del Patriarca, and it was impressive. There was a stunning church next to it, and I attended mass inside.

On this walk, we walked past so many lovely churches on every street. And picturesque churches. The colourful houses, though old all looked lovely, with their facades and their balconies with so many flowers. The whole historic area was huge, and apparently Valencia has one of the largest historic centres in Europe. And it was fun to explore. And then all the art!

Street art

Everywhere in the city centre, there were so many gorgeous paintings on the walls. Everywhere. Some many storey high, some small ones on the corner of the building. Some in modern designs, some commercial marketing on a shop’s shutter. Some with social messages, some just funny. Some colourful and some in monochrome, It was a real pleasure to see them all. And wonder what would have been going on in the artist’s mind when they made it. Here are a few of those graffiti art that I photographed.

Street art

Street art

Street art

Street art

The street art was everywhere, notable though were Carrer de Baix, Calle Alta and Caballeros, these streets were full of art everywhere (and quite near our airbnb).

Placa de la Virgen

Overall, I enjoyed this last day's walk through town. I think I did repeat many streets, but at least I knew what those buildings were. And after this city walk, I had lunch at Placa de la Virgen, with a view of the goings on in the square. And got a feel for what Valencia is all about.


The beach

On the third day, we took a bus to the local beach - Patacona. The bus was very crowded, so clearly it was popular 😂. The whole beachfront was lined with restaurants. And the food, especially the seafood here was better than what we had in the city centre. I swam for a bit too. The water was clean and shallow, though a bit choppy. But given the heat, the swim was very welcome.


The countryside

One of those days, I decided to take public transport and explore the countryside. So I walked to a bus stop, from where I could get a bus to Albufera Park. I saw so much of the city on that walk too, as I had time to kill before the bus arrived. On the bus, I decided not to get off at the park but go all the way to Perello beach. And just enjoyed the ride out of town.

It felt amazing to be out of the city. There was much more greenery everywhere. We passed by the Albufera Park with its marshy lakes. And then rural Spain appeared, with one village after another. All seemed welcoming. Though when I got off at Perello, I wasn't sure I had made the right choice or not. The village seemed empty, probably because it was quite hot

Perello Beach

But once I reached the beach, it was sheer joy. There were restaurants all along the waterfront. I ate at one which was still open at that hour, the Tapas King, a non-descript looking restaurant on the promenade. I had the best lunch of the trip. And the atmosphere was also so warm and relaxing there. By the time I finished my lunch, the sun had dipped behind the buildings, and the weather became more pleasant.

So I started walking along the beach, enjoying the views. The beachfront was lined with holiday homes, and the beach with people surfing or windsurfing. It was so chilled and relaxed there, I ended up walking for almost 2 hours, enjoying the warm breeze. 

Sunset over Albufera Park

Coming back to Valencia took 2 hours though as the bus I was to get on didn’t come, and the next one came after one hour. (I also realised that like in India, buses here don’t always run on time 😂). Plus we got stuck in the evening traffic. But the scenes outside were stunning. I saw the sunset behind the Albufera lagoon and paddy fields, it was just so serene. It made the entire day so joyful.


Eating out

As my friends were foodies, we spent some time trying to find good places to eat, based on their Google ratings. I would say though that the experiment wasn’t always very successful. Overall, I was not impressed with the food we found, though Valencia had come highly recommended.

The first day, we stuck to the Carmen district for our meals. I had my first lunch at a local tapas place, close to our airbnb - Tasco el Botijo. I sat outside in the shade and enjoyed the food, it tasted average though. Our dinner was at a well rated restaurant with apparently the best paella in town, the El Leon in Plaza Redonda. There were live local musicians playing in the square, which provided a lively background for the meal. The paella didn’t, though.

Streets of Valencia

The second day again in Carmen, we found a vegan place for lunch, the Lo de Ponxe. It had quite a unique menu which was quite tasty. That evening we again researched and went to a well rated fancy place called JamonJamon. It was quite upmarket but the food was a disaster and I had to use my emergency chilli pack to spice up the dishes and make them edible. Somehow we were not having good luck with food in Valencia.

We did find good ice cream at La Romano though - it always had long queues outside. We had drinks in the Placa del Tossal that day and enjoyed the vibe. I did enjoy the whole experience of sitting outdoors at the restaurants in all the squares. Everyone would be outside after 8 pm, talking loudly and having fun, with music playing in the background. And everyone would be out way past 2 am! Every day!

The third day we got out of Carmen and found better food - I think that was the trick. We had seafood lunch at one of the waterfront restaurants on the Patacona beach, the La Murciana. We walked in without checking the reviews, and loved the food. In the evening, we tried two places for cocktails in Carmen again. The Cafe Madrid at the Madrid Hotel, a fancy rooftop bar, was quite bad. But a cocktail bar called Santo Remedio was just awesome.

Continuing with my eating-outside-of-Carmen theme, the next day, I had lunch at a non-descript restaurant on the Perello beach promenade called the Tapas King and the food there was one of the best I had in Valencia. The ambience, the food taste - everything was perfect.

Carmen delivered on the last day though. I had my last lunch in Plaza de La Virgen at the Petit Bistro. Its location was its best selling point. It was on this grand square, where you can eat while observing the goings-on in the grand square, with the huge churches, the fountains and all the tourists. It was just so relaxing to sit there, with a cool breeze blowing. I also started talking to an American lady there who was staying in Valencia for a month, evaluating whether she would like to move to Spain or not. The food was ok, but the experience was still fun.


Weather

As it was June, the weather in Valencia was hot, especially in the afternoons. It was still breezy and the temperature would be manageable in the shade. (Interestingly it didn't feel as hot as it showed on the app). Only under direct sun would the temperature be unbearable. So we mostly got out in the mornings, then came back home in the afternoons for a siesta as it was just too tough to be outside (unless you spent time indoors in a shop or restaurant). And then we would go out again in the evenings, when it was pleasant, and sometimes even a little bit chilly.

I loved the weather, especially the heat as it made it easier to relax and slip into the chill zone, not trying to do too much. And the city felt like that too - the squares would just empty out in the afternoon, and the only people outside would be sitting around lazily in shaded restaurants, waiting for the evenings when they could get back to activity again.


Overall, I enjoyed Valencia, but also realised I don’t enjoy city breaks much now. I prefer being away from the crowds, anywhere in the mountains or by a beach works.