Vamos to Valencia

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 1) great food. 2) great cocktails. 3) beautiful architecture. 4) gorgeous weather. 5) need I say more? When me and Ash got back from our first holiday together to Bratislava in February, I was straight on Skyscanner the day we got back to book in our next trip. When we found return flights to Valencia for £50 in July, it’s needless to say that it was booked 5 minutes later! Valencia is somewhere that had been on my list for a while, having absolutely loved the other places in mainland Spain that I’ve been to, so I was excited to see what it had to offer.

Despite being dirt cheap, our flight times were pretty perfect so we left Birmingham at 11am and arrived at our hotel at around 4pm local time. Knowing how hot it would be at that time of year, we’d considered a pool an essential (even though it wasn’t a sunbathing holiday) and chosen the Blanq Carmen Hotel. The hotel was beautiful and I was very happy with our pick – even more so when we got upstairs to the rooftop! They had a gorgeous terrace with pool and bar, and we decided to spend the rest of the day chilling up there. We ordered some nibbles and enjoyed our complimentary welcome cocktails - something called agua de Valencia, which we would come to drink a LOT of over the course of the holiday!

My favourite thing about being in Spain is the dinner time. I’m a late eater by nature - I’d never even think about cooking dinner before 8pm and normally it’s more like 9pm or sometimes 10. The general consensus among English people is that this makes me a freak but in Spain? Totally unextraordinary. I love it. So after getting ready for the evening, me and Ash headed out at the glorious time of 9:45pm to find somewhere nice to eat. It also means you’re more likely to find spots loved by the Spanish, rather than tourist traps designed for Brits. We did a bit of research on Google maps beforehand, and ended up at a lovely spot called Bodega Valencians. We shared a few different tapas dishes, and were even feeling adventurous with some snails!

The next morning, we were excited for our first day of exploring the city. But not before a breakfast pit stop for coffees and sweet treats. This place was so delicious!

With a 5 day trip in total, it was nice as we knew we could take it relatively leisurely, and not try to cram everything in. We decided to kind of split the old town in half and went for the Eastern half (with most of the attractions and landmarks) first. We wandered through the Plaza de Manises, and then the Plaza de la Virgen, before stopping for a quick nosey inside the cathedral. We did plan to go up the tower but it had a rope across the entrance saying it was full, so we decided we were content just admiring the main hall.

Valencia is home to the narrowest building in Europe, La Estrecha, so we knew we had to go and see it. Although I was actually pretty disappointed with this one because not only was the rest of the block covered in scaffolding, but it’s also been knocked through by the building next to it. So it’s essentially just a very narrow frontage, but it’s actually one section of a much larger hat shop. Impressive back in its day I’m sure, but now fairly skippable.

It was 35 degrees the whole time we were in Valencia so walking around was very thirsty work! Serendipitously, like a mirage in the desert, an Agua de Valencia bar appeared before our very eyes when we popped out the old town onto the main, more modern, high street. This little kiosk bar, Finca, was super cute and we decided to stop for a cocktail in the shade. As you’ll see, we had a lot of Agua de Valencia, and this one was my second favourite spot we tried it!

We then went for a bit of culture as we moved onto the National Museum of Ceramics, housed in the Palace of the Marques de Dos Aguas. We assumed it would be a ticketed thing but it was actually free, which made it even more worth doing. It was in a truly beautiful building, and there were loads of lovely antiques and works of art. All the signage was only in Spanish and Valencian (a kind of Catalan twist on Spanish), so you didn’t learn too much about the pieces as an English speaker. But the main draw point was the building itself anyway, which can be enjoyed and understood regardless of language!

Obviously I’m a rooftop bar fiend. We all know this. But the rooftop bar on our radar for this trip was actually found by Ash (clearly he’s got a great travel mentor). Atenea was based in the Placa de I’Ajuntament so we had a wander down to it and started by visiting the city hall, and the old post office building. They were both gorgeous and my favourite kind of architecture style!

Then it was rooftop bar time! Ash had made a great pick with Atenea, as it had really beautiful views over the plaza, and we managed to get a seat right up against the edge. The cocktails were lovely too, and I’d really recommend going to this spot in the daytime like we did. We spoke to some people at our hotel who had tried to go in the evening and there was a big queue and a €10 entry fee, as opposed to free in the day with a perfect seat.

I was starting to think it was Ash who was the marketer instead of me, because he really proved he knew his audience. A rooftop bar followed by… A Mexican spot he found for lunch. Like what a perfect day is that?? Plus, the tacos were all super cheap at like €1 each and tasted very authentic, so we basically got a veritable smorgasbord and even went back up and ordered seconds.

When we decided that a hotel with a pool was an essential for this trip, it wasn’t because we wanted any sunbathing days. It was because there’s nothing nicer on a super hot holiday than coming back around teatime after a day of exploring and having a couple of hours chilling and cooling off in the pool. It’s probably just as well this is what we wanted it for, because our hotel pool was more of an oversized hot tub than it was the kind of pool you could swim in. But when we got back at around 4pm for a dip and a cold pint of beer, it may as well have been the best pool I’ve ever been in!

Despite the late Spanish dinner time, we were actually ready to go out bright and early on this day, as we had a special pre-dinner activity planned – a flamenco show! The problem with going out bright and early is that it’s still absolutely boiling, and it’s fair to say we looked a little worse for wear once we arrived at café del duende. Luckily the place was air conditioned!

The flamenco show was absolutely amazing and I literally had the biggest smile plastered across my face the whole time. There were 3 singers and 2 dancers and they were all just so talented. I searched to find a flamenco bar that felt more local and authentic, rather than a big show for tourists and I feel like I succeeded. It was a super intimate little café and there were barely any English speakers there. You definitely have to get there nice and early when it first opens at 7 though as it fills up fast.

After the show, we went off in search of a restaurant and ended up at the Clann tapas bar. I love that Ash is a totally unpicky eater and he’s always happy to try new things (more importantly, he’s always happy to try the things I want to try). So we ordered a tomato and goats cheese salad, artichokes with romesco sauce, grilled squid heads, and then steak with chimichurri. We’d learned that the optimum number of tapas dishes was 4, as we’d ordered 5 the night before and couldn’t finish it all, so this was the perfect feast. Perfectly rounded off with a few jugs of Agua de Valencia at a bar nearby.

The next day was our main big walking day, as we were exploring the further away spots. We managed 18k steps in the end, which is pretty good going in 35 degree heat. First up though was a spot very close to home, the Serrano towers (which were literally a stones throw from our hotel). We just headed straight up the steps and enjoyed the various views from the top; we only spotted that it was supposedly ticketed when we climbed back down. It would’ve been more than worth the €2 entry, but the views were even better for being free!

The Jardin del Turia is a giant ribbon-shaped park that wraps around most of Valencia, and our next stop was on the other side of it. We crossed the bridge that runs over it and then found a spot for our coffee-and-a-sweet-treat pit stop. Coffee & Day was a lovely little spot and my pastry on this day was amazing; I’m almost always a sweet breakfast and Ash is almost always a savoury breakfast.

I love cities with green spaces so I was excited to have a wander around the Jardin del Real. It was beautifully landscaped and had a pretty dancing fountain that changed pace in time with the songs. It was even home to some lovebirds (besides me and Ash).

Our walk for the day was largely parallel with the Jardin del Turia, so we continued down it and crossed back over until we reached the Porto de la Mar and then the Mercado Colon. The Mercado Colon was a really cool spot that we didn’t see a whole lot about online, but I’d really recommend it. Unlike the central market, which is still a market, the Mercado Colon is a former market which has been converted into a complex of bars and restaurants. It had that perfect indoor/outdoor feel and they made an amazing white sangria too. We finished our little exploration of that area with a nosey inside the basilica (and a confession of our sins).

I don’t agree with zoos or aquariums so hadn’t planned a trip to the oceanographic, but the surrounding area of it and the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias was definitely a must visit. The buildings are really futuristic and surrounded by big beautiful pools. We had seen videos showing that you could go on a little boat ride in the pool but either it was AI or some kind of private tour/excursion because when we saw no boats and asked at the desk, we were met with a ‘nada’. So it was a strictly land-based stop, but a lovely one nonetheless.

By this point, we’d been in Valencia for about 48 hours, and it was starting to feel a little criminal that we still hadn’t had a paella yet, in the iconic dish’s birthplace. So we set off on the walk back towards base, and looked up good paella places on the way. We chose Sabor del Mar, which had a cute nautical theme and plenty of paella options, as well as the slightly saucier ‘creamy rice’ alternative. We were tempted by the original Valencian paella (chicken and rabbit), but decided to go for a seafood one with cuttlefish, emperor fish and prawns. To be honest, I was a little unimpressed with the amount of seafood for the price (€20 per person), but it tasted really lovely all the same. For me though, in the fight between paella vs tapas, tapas comes out on top every time.

We completed our long walk back to the hotel, and then completed our daily ritual of cocktails and a dip on our rooftop.

That night something very exciting happened – we finally got in to the restaurant we’d been trying and failing to eat at for the previous two nights. But as they say, third times the charm! And wow was it worth a bit of perseverance, because this was easily the best meal we had all holiday. Rincon 33 is a super cute little spot, and it basically felt like a friendly neighborhood restaurant, but with really elevated food. We went for ham croquettes, honey prawns, grilled octopus, and slow cooked duck leg with truffle mash. Everything was incredible and it’s definitely my number one recommendation in Valencia. Even if you have to try, try again in order to visit.

We were back to exploring the old town the next day, and it was time to tick off the Western half. We started with coffee and pastry at 1 Rato Mas, and then wandered across to the Torres de Quart. It was an almost identical tower to the one right near our hotel so we decided to just admire it from the bottom, rather than climbing up it.

Clearly, pretty gardens were the headline of the holiday as we were onto another one; the Jardin Botanico. This one was more of an attraction than a green space (like the others had been) so it was €4 to enter, but more than worth it. A lot of thought and care had clearly been put into it, and there were so many gorgeous plants. The beds had different themes, such as exotic or cactus or vegetable, and there was also a lovely central conservatory. If you’re a flower lover like me, don’t miss this off your Valencia itinerary.

And if you’re a drink-in-the-sunshine lover like me, don’t miss the opportunity to sit having a beer overlooking the church in this lovely piazza (it’s right opposite the entrance to the botanical gardens).

We’d already been to the Mercado Colon but it was time for us to take a look at the better known Central Market. This one still very much being a functioning food market! It was absolutely huge and there were so many lovely little stalls of charcuterie, cheese, fruit, and other treats. Lots of them offered little snack sized portions so you could buy a little cone of something, but it was quite hustle-and-bustley in there. Not my preferred setting for a drink or a snack – I prefer to find a nice place to sit and chill out. So after doing a lap and admiring the gorgeous building, we left to find a pit stop better suited to our needs.

We didn’t exactly have to venture very far! I’ve never heard the term ‘spritzeria’ before but I’m all for it. This perfectly themed spritz place was not only an instagrammable paradise, but the drinks were amazing and served with a little extra theatre on this big stand.

The orange theme continued as we found ourselves in the courtyard of the Llotja de la Seda with all these beautiful orange trees. Again, we’d sort of just walked into the courtyard but I think we accidentally snuck in for free, because it’s another attraction with a small entry fee. Well, we only nipped in for a quick look - I was in awe at this beautiful ceiling.

Lunch on this day was special for one main reason – it was the best Agua de Valencia we had during our whole trip. And as you can see, we really sampled the full range the city had to offer. Redondo en Boca were unique in that they made theirs with mandarin juice instead of standard orange juice and it just really elevated it to a new level. The food was equally delicious; we had some pinchos skewers, a beautiful tomato salad, prawn croquettes, patatas bravas, and some calamari. Everything apart from the calamari was crazy delicious; that was a little overcooked and I was also hoping it would be grilled rather than fried because we already had a few crispy elements in our spread. On the whole though, this lunch was amazing and I loved the little secret garden we were sat in, just off the beaten path.

At lunch, our waiter had said that their Agua de Valencia was one of the top 2 in the city. He said the other best one was at Café Sant Jaume. So after our obligatory rooftop chill time, we got ready for the evening and headed there for a pre dinner drink. Don’t get me wrong, it was really good. But it was nowhere near a patch on the one from lunch, and I also don’t think it was as good as the one we had from the kiosk-style bar on our first full day.

There’s a cool circular plaza in Valencia called Plaza Redonda, and it was home to the restaurant we went to on our last night, Taska Hogan. I think that throughout our trip, we had a nice mix of elevated and home-cooked feeling meals. This one was the latter and we had some really good stuff we hadn’t had so far, including an octopus and chickpea stew, and something called figatells, which were like tiny patties made from pork and pork liver. They look like basic little sandwiches but they packed a flavour punch! We rounded the meal off with some Jamon iberico, olives, prawn skewers, and white sangria.

There’s nowhere you can go in the world where an Irish bar won’t find you, and Valencia was certainly no exception. I was too full to swap onto the Guinness, but I still kept it Irish by choosing a Jameson based cocktail.

It was travel home day, but our flight wasn’t until night time so we still had ages to enjoy ourselves. We hadn’t been to the beach yet during our trip because we figured this was a good thing to save for our last day. Somewhere we could set up base and relax, rather than dragging our heavy backpacks around all day. The Marina Beach Club was the spot of choice, and I booked our sunbeds online a day or so before (although there was plenty of space so you’d be fine turning up on the day). It was €100 for 2 beds; half of which was the cost of the beds and the umbrella, and half of which was a minimum spend that would be deduced from the food and drink bill. We got started on our minimum spend as soon as we got there with a round of iced coffees and a fruit platter for a belated breakfast.

I absolutely love a beach club that combines sea and pool so this place was a dream come true! The pool was massive and beautiful, and while it was kind of a trek down to the sea, we still made sure we went in and jumped some waves.

We also decided to have lunch at their restaurant, and got seated at a lovely sunny table overlooking the pool. The menu was loosely tapas style again, but we decided to just have a small lunch so we would be hungry to eat again before the airport. So we just got one dish each, and shared a salad. Although we couldn’t resist also getting a lobster croquette!

The day was lovely and relaxed and we basically just alternated between sunbathing on the loungers, and dipping in the pool to cool off. The 6pm pool closing time rolled around super quickly, so we packed up and packed in one last tapas meal to send us on our way (cod bites, mussels, pork, monkfish cannelloni). 

And that was all she wrote! We had the most amazing time and I absolutely loved Valencia and all it had to offer. To say me and Ash haven’t even been together a year yet, we’re making a decent dent on the whole ‘travelling the world together’ thing.