Tag: valencia

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Valencia Spain

We arrived in Valencia June 28th and stayed there until July 25th. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona, this was our first destination after the Camino de Santiago.

The reason we chose Valencia is because we’ve never been there before and because it is in the south part of Spain. After walking the north from Pamplona to Santiago de Compostela we also wanted to experience the coastal areas of Comunidad Valenciana and Andalusia, which we had been told is a must see. Compared to other cities in Spain, Valencia is more affordable to live in, for us this is important since we will be traveling for awhile. For those looking for a great cheap vacation, Valencia is a great option. Staying here for almost a month, is a way to get involved in the culture and really get a feel for how people live, to have a daily life while at the same time exploring around. During July it is very hot with temperatures of up to 35C as it is summer time in Europe. Coming from Florida this was not too much of a problem for us, it felt better because there was no humidity like in Florida. We definitely made a good choice by choosing Valencia as one of the cities to live in.

Our Airbnb was very nice and located right on the Plaza Tossal in the neighborhood of El Carmen. Here we had everything we needed such as cafes, tapas bars, restaurants, small fruit/veggie markets, fashion boutiques, museums, theatre, and the Central Market was 3 minutes walking distance from our apartment (aka piso). No matter what day of the week it was El Carmen was always ready to party at night. Whether we walked downstairs to what became our corner to have a drink and enjoy the evening or look through our balcony we enjoy it very much!

  • Our apartment building to the right and some of the street art
  • Torres de Serranos, one of the 12 gates that formed part of the ancient city wall.

In Valencia you can rent a bike, scooter, or simply walk like we did. There are also free walking city tours that you can book online and offer great insight (at the end of the tour you pay what you consider appropriate).

Food in Valencia like everywhere in Spain will not disappoint. Tapas, burgers, fresh seafood, paella, agua de Valencia, horchata, vermouth, fartons, churros, arroz caldoso, and many more! Valencia is where you can find the most famous Spanish dish, the paella, which originated from this area. For those of you that do not know, the traditional paella Valenciana is made up of chicken and rabbit. In Valencia they do offer other combinations of paellas for those that do not like the taste of rabbit (like Santiago). Agua de Valencia was Ingrids favorite after a sunny day of walking around. It’s very refreshing and made up of fresh-squeezed Valencian oranges, along with cava, vodka, and gin. We also had anything we could ask for at the many markets and shops around town. Santiago was able to cook some of our favorite meals from home during our stay in Valencia. We also went to many international restaurants like Chinese, Argentinian, and Colombian. Needless to say, do not worry about food in Valencia because there is something delicious for everyone!

  • Agua de Valencia
  • Horchata and Fartons
  • Paella de Mariscos

The City of the Arts and Sciences complex will amaze you! It’s very futuristic and offers many activities for the entire family. You’ll need to dedicate some time when visiting even considering coming back a second day if you have the time. The City of the Arts and Sciences is comprised of the Museum of Sciences (hands-on exhibits fun for the entire family), L’Hemisferic (IMAX cinema), Palau de les Arts (opera venue), Umbracle (open air area to take wonderful photos), The Agora (multi purpose event space), Oceanographic (Europes largest aquarium). We recommend purchasing a combined ticket of your choice which is good for the day of purchase and the next day to allow you to come back. Tickets are around 25 euros for combined activities depending on what you want to see. You can also walk around the complex and its gardens for free.

  • Umbracle
  • Museum of Sciences
  • The City of Arts and Sciences

La Lonja de la Seda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was originally used for trading in silk. This is a beautiful Gothic building worth seeing that will not take much of your time, it’s free, and it’s right around the corner from the Cathedral at Plaza de la Virgen.

Jardin del Turia is a park in the center of Valencia that runs about 9 kilometers stretching from the Bioparc to the City of Arts and Sciences. It is the largest urban park in Spain with activities for the entire family. Within the park you can enjoy activities such as morning runs, cycling, yoga, sight seeing, skateboarding, festivals, fairs, playgrounds for children, Gulliver’s park and much more! We enjoyed walking through here to reach different points in the area and take advantage of the shade, we did our daily runs, and enjoyed the fair that was there at that time. When in Valencia it is very hard to miss as it stretches along the city and from its history you’ll want to go see this park that was once the River Turia.

Bioparc is one of the top zoos in the world located in Valencia. We visited the zoo and enjoy it very much! The park has a concept of zoo-immersion, which is a more natural habitat for the animals and where you’ll see rivers, rocks, and ponds separating you from the animals. Pretty cool!

The Mediterranean Sea has a lot to offer and along the coast of Valencia you will find its many beaches. We visited La Malvarrosa beach and drove a scooter to Playa de la Pobla de Farnals. Both very nice beaches to spend the day.

  • Playa La Malvarrosa
  • Playa de la Pobla de Farnals

We loved The Central Market! We were 3 minutes away walking and we were here for our daily coffee and some pastry almost everyday after our morning run. Inside the market you can find fresh fish, meats, cheeses, all kinds of ham, veggies, fruits, spices, and many many international foods.

  • Central Market

Valencia’s Cathedral claims to have what is supposed to be the Holy Grail, the actual cup that Jesus drank from at the last supper. There is a small entrance fee for the cathedral. You can also go up to the cathedrals bell tower (El Miguelete) through a spiral staircase of around 200 steps for city views.

  • Plaza de la Virgen and the Valencia Cathedral
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Granada Spain

While living in Valencia for a month we decided to visit Granada which is a 5 hour drive from Valencia. Granada just as Seville is also in the Andalusian region of Spain and it is right in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. During the summer it could get very hot and dry reaching temperatures around 40C degrees.

We had not planned on going to Granada and it was a last minute getaway. We left July 20, 2019 and returned July 22, 2019. We had been recommended to visit Granada by many people on the camino and also by our Airbnb host from Seville, so we thought well it’s not that far and renting a car for 2 days cost us $70 from Eurocars in Valencia.

We got a Smart car which was very small but very comfortable and did the job. This brings me to renting cars in Spain. Be careful when renting a car in Spain, we had 2 very bad experiences. One, was in Santiago de Compostela in the north of Spain. We had finished our camino and wanted to have a road trip all the way to Valencia so we made a reservation online with Enterprise and thought well that was inexpensive and easy. Once the day came we show up to pick up the car and the lady tells us they have no cars that they have ran out! Off-course we were frustrated Santiago even spoke to someone in charge and they just simply don’t care. You can imagine how angry we were. On the bright side we were not in a hurry but it is still so disappointing. We ended up going to another nearby car rental company named Sixth that did have a car but we ended up paying double what we were supposed to! Our road-trip was not so pleasant after that since we were already out of budget, lost time, and had to drive 9 hours to Valencia!! All we wanted to do was get to Valencia and return the car. Our second bad experience which ended up being good at the end was in Valencia, renting the car to go to Granada. We made the reservation online and the same thing happened, they had no cars! We could not believe it!! Now we were in the southern part of Spain and same exact situation, we get there and they don’t have the car!! Needless, to say we walked out of there furious and went to Eurocars which was very close and the girl helped us get a car. We had to wait 45min for one to come in which was the Smart car but that was fine with us plus she was so helpful and it was a cheaper car than the other one we were supposed to have. Our recommendation would be to make your reservation and call ahead of time to make sure they have your car ready when you get there or go to the office to reserve a car there directly. They kept saying their online system is not reliable and they are not sure why they let people make more reservations online.

Back to Granada, to start, the drive there is amazing, the views from Valencia are very entertaining and specially if you take the route that passes through Benidorm. The highway and tunnels are in very great condition. In Granada we stayed at the Hotel Catalonia Granada. It is situated in walking distance to all points of interest with many options of restaurants. We recommend including breakfast at the hotel since it is buffet style with many options. The pool was disappointing since it is very small but the spa made up for it! We loved the spa and even used the gym the two days we were there.

The Alhambra is a must go if you are thinking of visiting Granada. Home of many Arab Sultans, this palace and fortress was also a runner up to be considered as one of the new 7 wonders of the world. Buy your ticket online in advance for 14 euros. There are four main areas you can visit when you go to the Alhambra; the palaces, the military zone or Alcazaba, the city or Medina, and the gardens of the Generalife. You will also get one of the best views of the city from here. I would recommend to spend at least half a day there if not more.

The tapas are very good here and the best part is that for every beer, wine, or drink you order you get a tapa and these are usually really good! We ended up not having dinner one night because we had ordered 2 beers each and that was enough food for us!!

Don’t forget to go to flamenco show, for 25 euros you can experience some of the best shows.

Mario Maya was one of Spain’s most influential Flamenco dancers who grew up in Granada. His statue is a tribute to all his great work.

During our getaway we had time to enjoy the hotel, walk to some of the bars, walk around town, ate tapas, went to the Alhambra, visited the cathedral, and some of the plazas and shopping areas which are all very close to each other. This is a very beautiful city worth visiting. Don’t forget your comfy shoes to walk everywhere, and bring your camera as you will be taking lots of pictures.

Don’t forget to check our story line in Instagram @everywhereabroad for more pictures and videos.

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