I have been looking forward to visiting Valencia Spain (Valencia - Wikipedia) for some time now. Ever since I have had thoughts about living in Europe, Valencia has been a city on my list. The combination of seaside and historic old town seemed to hit two of my main interests and criteria.
The train ride from Barcelona to Valencia was very comfortable, at one point I actually dozed off for 30-45 minutes. Something about the back-and-forth rocking of the train. I find it very relaxing.
After a relaxing train ride from Barcelona, I hired a taxi to get me from the train station to the AirBnB apartment. I didn’t want to deal with the bus system right away. Unfortunately, the older driver did not speak English, so I had to write the address for him. He seemed like a nice guy and tried to converse with me; some I understood and could reply, some I couldn’t. Makes me even more committed to be proficient in Spanish (currently doing Duolingo lessons online at: About Us - Duolingo).
The AirBnB apartment in Valencia was large, very clean, and modern, with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a large well-appointed kitchen, a living room, separate dining area, and a large balcony looking out to the beach (Apartment on the beach! Best views! (FREE Parking) - Apartments for Rent in València, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain - Airbnb). The owner, Luis, lives in the building with his mother who checked me into the apartment though she spoke no English. We just seemed to understand each other.
I proceeded to unpack and got my dirty clothes together. Although I’m visiting Valencia Spain to explore and experience the city, a laundry day was in my near future. That handled, I went out for a walk along the beach.
Playa del Cabanyal beach views from AirBnB balcony
After Luis finished his shift with the Police department, he stopped by that evening. He brought me water and some food – bread, juice, milk, and a couple of beers. Never had that from other AirBnB owners. Luis is a great person, and his apartment is a great place to reserve on your trip to Valencia. I highly recommend Luis’ AirBnB apartment. Across the street from the Playa del Cabanyal beach, many great restaurants, and close to multiple bus and tram stops that get you to the old town of Valencia. The bus system is very easy to use.
Began City Kickstart Tour at Plaza de Manises across from Beer & Travels Bar Valencia
My first full day began with a Private City Kickstart Tour, organized through Viator (Valencia Private City Kickstart Tour 2024 (viator.com)). I figured this would be the best way for me to get a feel for Valencia. I met the guide at Plaza de Manises, across from an English Pub (Beers & Travels Bar - Beer and Travels Bar Valencia – The Brewery with the most taps in Valencia (beersandtravelsbar.com)) and next to a few Valencian government buildings, with several Police walking around the Plaza.
Valencia Spain city gates: Torres de Quart and Torres de Serranos
The tour essentially took me from one city gate Torres de Quart to another Torres de Serranos Valencia, Spain - Quart and Serranos Towers (veryvalencia.com), with a lot of sights in between. It was a nice walk, and our first stop was Plaza de la Virgen Plaza de la Virgen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, with the Turia fountain and the Basilica of the Virgin of the Forsaken next to the Catedral de Valencia (also known as St. Mary’s Cathedral) Valencia Cathedral - Wikipedia. A short walk around the Cathedral and we arrived at Plaza de la Reina (Plaza de la Reina | Queen's Square in Valencia (visitvalencia.com)), which faces toward the front door of the Cathedral.
Plaza de la Virgen and the Cathedral of Valencia to the Plaza de la Reina
From Plaza de la Reina we walked to the Church of St. Nicholas (Iglesia de San Nicolas San Nicolás, Valencia - Wikipedia). From the church, we walked to the Torres de Serranos medieval city gate where you can still see parts of the old Roman city wall.
The last stop was the Plaza Mercado and the Mercado Central (the Central Market) Mercado Central, Valencia - Wikipedia and Information about Central Market (visitvalencia.com). I love these markets, the colors, variety of products, and the melding of aromas from fish to spices. There were a lot of tourists and locals in the Plaza and in the market.
I almost wasn’t going to write about this. Anyway, from the Mercado Central I decided to walk to the Plaza Ajuntamento (Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Valencia - Visit the Plaza Today! (plaza-ayuntamiento.com)), location of the Ayuntamiento de Valencia (City Hall) Valencia City Hall: The Ultimate Guide (From a Local!) (spaininspired.com), for my bus stop to return to the AirBnB.
Since I didn’t have a good paper map, I decided that Google was my friend and tried to follow the rights and lefts dictated by Google Maps. Well, the satellite signal and the narrow deep canyons of medieval streets don’t always work well. It seemed like I was continually misunderstanding the directions only to have them change when I reached an open area.
After three very frustrating circles back to the Mercado Central, I finally made it to Plaza Ajuntamento – this typically 5–10-minute walk took over an hour. I was just about to call an Uber, when I finally figured out the correct route, using a static Google Map.
I caught the bus to the AirBnB and spent some beach time, one of the most relaxing things when visiting Valencia Spain. After a couple of hours at the beach, mostly lying in the sun and just relaxing, I went back to the AirBnB and found a paella restaurant nearby.
Even though I had my Paella Cooking class the next day, I decided to find a good restaurant to have a Valencian Paella dinner. Along the south end of the Playa del Cabanyal, I found La Pepica (LA PEPICA – Since 1898. 125 years of rice tradition), and their “authentic” traditional Valencian Paella dish, which I had along with their Valencian potato salad as a starter. Although the potato salad was more like a tuna salad with a few potatoes, it was delicious.
The paella was served in a traditional paella pan (actually, I learned that paella means pan and that all pans are called paella) Amazon.com : paella pan.
Traditional, “authentic” Valencian Paella is made with chicken, rabbit, and snails, along with green beans (wide, flat green beans), butter beans (or lima beans), and of course rice. After dinner, I found a gelato shop in the row of restaurants along the beach. Always a good time for dessert!
The next morning, I took the bus to the old town and walked around until it was time to meet the group for the Paella Cooking Class, in the Russafa neighborhood, near the Russafa Market and the Iglesia Parroquial de San Valero Obispo y San Vicente Martir church (Infociudad - ESGLÉSIA PARROQUIAL DE SANT VALERO BISBE I SANT VICENT MÀRTIR - València (valencia.es)).
Iglesia Parroquial de San Valero Obispo y San Vicente Martir church and Paella cooking class ingredients
The Paella Cooking Class (My First Paella - Paella cooking class Valencia) organized through Viator (Valencia Authentic Paella Cooking Class with Tapas and Sangria 2024 (viator.com)) began with a trip through the Ruzafa Market (Ruzafa Market València | Ruzafa District (visitvalencia.com)) to better understand our ingredients. Although authentic Valencian paella is ONLY made with chicken, rabbit, and snails, our instructors explained that there are countless different versions of paella that are not authentic Valencian paella, like seafood paella.
I chose to cook authentic Valencian paella, some in the class chose seafood paella, and one family of three chose “authentic”, without rabbit because they had a pet rabbit and couldn’t bear to think they were cooking and eating Fluffy. We had a class of about 20, divided into 2 groups – traditional and seafood. The team of 4 guides/cooks did a great job with their instructions and explanations. I highly recommend this class, through Viator (Valencia Authentic Paella Cooking Class with Tapas and Sangria 2024 (viator.com)).
In addition to experiencing ingredient selection, cooking the paella, and of course eating the paella, the class learned about and drank Sangria. The company that provides the class provides all the recipes for paella and for the Sangria on their website (My First Paella - Paella cooking class Valencia). I am glad to have the paella recipe, but the class pulled it all together for me. (I’m going to do an individual blog post focused only on learning to cook paella… stay tuned.)
After the full day of sightseeing and the class, late afternoon was beach time. So, a couple of hours at the beach, then off to dinner. This time it was another local restaurant/burger place called Hundred (HUNDRED (hundredburgers.com)). One of the best burgers I have ever had, anywhere. I highly recommend Hundred (the Bear – their logo), a gourmet burger in a casual restaurant.
My last day in Valencia. I decided to take the Hop on /Hop off bus sightseeing tour (Valencia Hop-On Hop-Off Tour 2024 (viator.com)), this time to see what I may have missed. The bus tour reinforced the beauty of Valencia. We viewed the City of Arts and Sciences in southwest Valencia (City of Arts and Sciences - Wikipedia), the Jardine de Turia (an extensive green area with multiple foot and bike paths, made in an old river bed) winding its way through Valencia with the Gulliver park statue (Information about Turia Garden in Valencia (visitvalencia.com)), the harbor area Puerto de Valencia (Port of Valencia - Wikipedia), and many of the old town sights Centro Historico (Valencia Historic Centre | Visit Valencia).
One of the stops was Iglesia de San Nicolas and I “hopped off” there to see the church (San Nicolás, Valencia - Wikipedia). This is a beautiful, very ornate gothic church from the 13th century. It seems as if frescos, statues, and other ornamentations cover every square inch of the walls and ceiling. An incredible amount of art and architecture to see in this one church.
From San Nicolas I went back to the AirBnB. Remember I mentioned Laundry Day. Well, that’s today. I found a place about two blocks from the AirBnB and took my clothes there and washed and dried my one load for about 10 euros. It took about 2 hours including the walk there and back. So, for my last afternoon I figured about two hours of beach time would take the edge off.
I can’t do more than about two hours of lying on a towel on the beach. So, I decided to walk around and found a sports bar across the street which served Brewdog beer (a Scottish company in which I invested). I had to stop and have a beer, a Punk IPA (BrewDog | Craft Beers | Online Beer Shop | Bars & Hotels). On the way back to the AirBnB I stopped at a market and bought some cheese, bread, and sausage to make a quick sandwich (I wasn’t very hungry and just wanted something light).
Since I had to leave early to catch the train to Malaga, I had a quick sandwich, packed my bags, and watched the sunset.
I had a beautiful three days in Valencia, a fantastic AirBnB apartment on the beach (Apartment on the beach! Best views! (FREE Parking) - Apartments for Rent in València, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain - Airbnb), great food, awesome sights, and wonderful weather.
Valencia is amazing and I’ll be back!
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