Valencia · Spain
Valencia
A practical guide to Valencia in 2 days: the old town, the City of Arts and Sciences, the Turia, the market, paella by the sea and El Cabanyal, with hours, prices, traps and how to get around.
Worth it, and two days are enough, because nearly all the best of it is free, flat and walkable; the one thing to book is the paella, and never on the Plaza de la Reina.
Valencia is a flat city on the Mediterranean, with a Gothic old town, a river turned into a park and Calatrava’s buildings at the far end. It is the city of paella, horchata and Las Fallas, and you can see almost all of it for free and on foot.
Our experience
We spent two nights in Valencia, between Madrid and Barcelona. On Monday, May 25, we arrived on the 11:30 AVE from Madrid Chamartín and were at Joaquín Sorolla by 1:24. That day we discovered the plan had been written as if it were a Sunday, and we redid it: La Lonja moved to Tuesday, because its Monday hours are uncertain, and we had a rice lunch at El Paeller Valencià. The afternoon was a quick look at the Mercat Central before closing, the Plaza de la Virgen, the cathedral with the Miguelete, horchata at Santa Catalina, El Carmen out to the Torres de Quart, clochinas at Bar Pilar and the sunset in front of the Torres de Serranos.
Tuesday was the full day: the City of Arts at 8:45, the Turia on foot to the market, La Lonja, paella at La Pepica at 14:00, the beach and El Cabanyal. On Wednesday at 9:06 we left for Barcelona from the Estació del Nord.
How to plan the days
Valencia has two halves: the old town, which you can cross in fifteen minutes, and a line running east with the Turia, the City of Arts and the sea.
We put the old town on the arrival afternoon, because it is ten minutes from the AVE. The cathedral, the Plaza de la Virgen and El Carmen come together in a single walk that ends, without doubling back, at the Torres de Serranos for sunset.
We built the full day around two fixed times. The City of Arts and Sciences has to be early: before 9:30 the water is still, and at 11 the groups arrive. And paella is a lunch dish. In between, the Turia links the City of Arts with the center in three kilometers, and the Mercat Central closes at 15:00, so it goes in the morning, with La Lonja across the square. La Pepica is 15 to 20 minutes away by taxi, and El Cabanyal is right next to it.
What to eat and where
Paella valenciana has chicken, rabbit, garrofó beans and green beans; no seafood and no chorizo. It is a midday dish, and the prize is the socarrat, the crust at the bottom. We had it at La Pepica, open since 1898 on the Malvarrosa, with the photos of Hemingway in the dining room. The alternative purists prefer is Casa Carmela, from 1922, open Tuesday to Saturday.
So as not to repeat paella, on the first day we ordered a different rice at El Paeller Valencià, on Calle dels Cavallers: arròs del senyoret, a banda or negre. It is cooked to order, so count on 20 to 30 minutes.
Valencian horchata is made from tiger nuts, not rice like the Mexican kind. The one at Santa Catalina, open since 1830 and covered in tiles, costs about €5; it comes with fartons for dipping. At La Pilareta, open since 1917, you order standing at the bar: steamed clochinas and esgarraet, roasted pepper with salt cod. Agua de Valencia, with cava, orange juice, gin and vodka, is ordered by the jug at Café Madrid. At the market, a slice of jamón and a €2 to €3 orange juice are enough.
Getting around Valencia
It is flat and the old town is entirely walkable. For everything else we used taxis: from the hotel to the City of Arts, €8 to €10; from the Plaza de la Reina to La Pepica, €12 to €15 and about 15 to 20 minutes; from El Cabanyal to the hotel, €10 to €12. If the meter goes over €15 on the way to the City of Arts, you were taken the long way.
Without a taxi, trams 4, 6 and 8 reach the Platja Malva-rosa stop in about 30 minutes from the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, and Marítim-Serrería station is on the edge of El Cabanyal. Valenbisi, the public bike system, has a €13.30 weekly pass with 30-minute rides.
A bit of history
The Romans founded Valentia in 138 BC, and its forum stood where the Plaza de la Virgen is today. It was Muslim Balansiya until Jaume I took it in 1238. In the 15th century it was the richest port on the Iberian Peninsula, and La Lonja came out of that wealth.
In 1957 the Turia flooded the city and at least 81 people died. The river was diverted to the south, and the government wanted to turn the dry riverbed into a highway. Valencians protested with a slogan, “El riu és nostre i el volem verd” (the river is ours and we want it green), and in 1979 the riverbed passed to the city as a park. The City of Arts took over its far end between 1996 and 2009.
What we skipped and why
The Oceanogràfic, because it takes half a day, and the paid interiors at the City of Arts. The climb up the Torres de Serranos, which closes at 19:00 and may not open on Mondays. Cervecería El Siglo, which today is a hotel restaurant with tourist-zone prices: we swapped it for the rice. And the Fallas Museum, which our notes flagged as a tourist trap.
What to see, in order
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The Plaza de la Virgen
It sits on top of the Roman forum. The 1976 fountain is the Turia River surrounded by eight women, one for each irrigation channel of the huerta. The Basílica de la Virgen is free and has a dome painted by Palomino in 1701, and on Thursdays at 12:00 the Water Court meets at the cathedral door.
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The cathedral and the Miguelete
Gothic, built over the old main mosque. It holds the Holy Chalice and two Goyas, and from the top of the Miguelete, after 207 steps, you see the whole city out to the sea.
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La Lonja and the Mercat Central
Facing each other across the Plaza del Mercado. La Lonja is Gothic, from 1482 to 1548, with 17-meter twisted columns; the market is Modernista, from 1928. Together they take about 70 minutes.
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El Carmen
The medieval quarter. Walk it along Calle dels Cavallers to the Torres de Quart, from 1444, which still carry the cannon impacts from the Napoleonic siege of 1808. Then the Plaça del Tossal and the murals on Calle Beneficencia.
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The Torres de Serranos
The north gate of the city wall, from 1392, used as a prison from the 17th to the 19th century. The climb costs €2 and closes at 19:00; the sunset from the Pont de Fusta is free.
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The Turia Gardens
Nine kilometers of park in the bed of the river that was diverted after the 1957 flood. About 20 minutes from the City of Arts is the 70-meter Gulliver, and near the Pont del Real, the Jardí de les Hespèrides, with 54 citrus varieties.
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The City of Arts and Sciences
Calatrava's white buildings at the end of the Turia. Outside and in L'Umbracle it is free, and before 9:30 the still water in the pools doubles every building.
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La Malvarrosa
The city beach Sorolla painted, with the promenade of paella houses. A few minutes with your feet in the water is enough; in May it is 17 to 18 °C.
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El Cabanyal
The old fishermen's quarter, one block from the sea, with a different tiled facade on every house. In 1998 the city council tried to tear down 1,651 houses to run an avenue through it; the residents stopped it. Calle de la Reina has the longest stretch.
Tips we wish we’d known
Tips
- Check the day of the week for every plan. The Mercat Central is open Monday to Saturday from 7:30 to 15:00 and closed on Sundays; La Lonja is reliably open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00, and on Mondays the sources disagree.
- Clochinas, the small Mediterranean mussel, are only around from April to August. At Bar Pilar, now called La Pilareta, get there before 19:00 so they have not run out.
- Horchatería El Siglo, across from Santa Catalina, closed in 2014. If you want to compare horchatas, Daniel is in the Mercado de Colón, and in Alboraya it costs almost half.
- On Thursdays at 12:00 the Water Court meets in front of the cathedral's Puerta de los Apóstoles. It is free, lasts about 30 minutes and is held in Valencian.
- Ask for tap water with your meal: it is safe to drink and free if you ask, while a bottle of branded water costs €3 or €4.
Do
- Order the paella as soon as you sit down: it is cooked from scratch and takes 40 to 45 minutes. And ask for the socarrat at the end.
- Climb the Miguelete before touring the cathedral, while your legs are fresh, and cover your shoulders and knees.
- Walk back from the City of Arts to the center through the Turia: three flat, shaded kilometers.
- In El Cabanyal, photograph the facades, not the people: more and more doors have "no photos" signs.
- Go all the way into the Mercat Central before buying: the juices at the entrance cost €0.50 to €1 more.
Don’t
- Do not eat paella on the Plaza de la Reina: laminated photo menus and someone at the door calling you in are the sign. And do not order paella as a single portion or for dinner.
- Do not take the sprig of rosemary, do not sign clipboard petitions, and do not let the photographers on the Plaza de la Virgen take your picture: they charge afterward.
- Do not pay for the Oceanogràfic if you only have one full day: it costs €35.90 to €43.05 and needs three hours at least.
- Do not buy the €25 to €35 "Holy Grail tours" on the Plaza de la Reina: they include the same €10 cathedral ticket, which comes with an audio guide.
- Do not carry your phone in your back pocket at the Mercat Central, the Plaza de la Reina or El Carmen at night.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Valencia?
Two. We arrived at 1:24 in the afternoon on a Monday and left on Wednesday at 9:06: the arrival afternoon for the old town and all of Tuesday for the City of Arts, the Turia, the market, paella on the beach and El Cabanyal. A third day would add the Oceanogràfic.
Is the Valencia Tourist Card worth it?
We did not buy it. It gives free entry to La Lonja, which costs €2, and 20% off the cathedral, and almost everything else we saw was free from the outside. It may pay off if you will use the metro and tram a lot or go into several museums.
How do I get from the AVE station to the center?
By taxi, about 10 minutes and €8 to €10, which is the most practical option with luggage. The Estació del Nord, where the trains to Barcelona leave, is already in the center, next to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
Where should you stay in Valencia?
We stayed in the Ensanche, 10 minutes by taxi from the AVE, 15 minutes on foot from the cathedral and 10 from the Estació del Nord. For two nights with an early train to Barcelona, it worked for us.
Is Valencia safe?
From everything we read, quite a bit calmer than Barcelona. The risk is pickpockets at the Mercat Central, the Plaza de la Reina and El Carmen at night; keeping your bag in front is enough.
What should you eat in Valencia, and where?
Paella valenciana at midday, with chicken, rabbit, garrofó beans and green beans; we had ours at La Pepica, facing the sea. Also horchata with fartons at Santa Catalina, clochinas at La Pilareta and agua de Valencia at Café Madrid, where it was invented in 1959.