Top 10 really cool places to visit Valencia Part 1
Top 10 really cool places to Visit Valencia
Has many really cool places to visit Valencia, all in one place, the city has a vibrant old centre that attracts tourists to Spain, and offers a huge range of things to see and do.
Visitors can spend their days strolling and see medieval buildings like the UNESCO-listed Lonja de la Seda, or walking gardens located within the city or nearby La Albufera National Park.
Valencia’s beaches feature soft golden sand and spectacular views of the Mediterranean, we highly recommend a visit to the expansive City of Arts and Sciences, the fantastic and modern architecture to visiting the older municipal and historical buildings scattered around the city, gastronomy (this is the home of paella), culture (Fallas), people and many more things.
1. The City of Arts and Sciences (Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias)
The City of the Arts and Sciences is a staggering ensemble of ultra-modern structures, this is an example of architecture at its most futuristic.
The City of Arts and Sciences is made up of five main buildings: the Hemisféric, which boasts an iMAX cinema and digital projections, as well as Europe’s largest aquarium the Oceanogràfic, that opened in 2003, with 45,000 individual animals from 500 different species, you won’t find another attraction on this scale in Europe.
Elsewhere you can spot sand tiger sharks, penguins, walruses, dolphins and sea lions. It all adds up to a day out adults and little guys won’t soon forget.
2. The spectacle of the Fallas festival (Las fallas)
Las Fallas is a festival that only happens around March each year, this celebrations that take place in Valencia in the St. Joseph’s Day on the 19th of March could be the noisiest and most colourful of any fiesta in Spain, but is arguably worth planning your holiday times around.
As if the city wasn’t lively enough, when Las Fallas happens, the atmosphere is indescribable. Undoubtedly one of the most unique festivals in the whole of the country, Las Fallas is celebrated in order to welcome the spring.
The streets fill with tradition and art in the form of the most spectacular floats and costumes, in a celebration which lasts around a week. So for fireworks, traditional costumes, and the most amazing floats and atmosphere.
Las Fallas are one of the best reasons to visit Valencia.
3. The beaches of Valencia (las playas)
Within minutes of the town you could be sunning yourself on a Mediterranean beach. Malvarrosa and Patacone beaches are a wide strip of golden sand that stretches for a kilometre along the city’s seafront.
El Saler is the way to go: At 2.6 kilometres from Valencia, this beach means peace and privacy as you relax on white sands on the coast of La Albufera Natural Reserve, sand dunes and pine trees and in front moderate waves and a wash that shelves gently into the sea.
Valencia actually offers a choice of more than one beach, with the stunning Paseo Marítimo just a few minutes out of the center, where visitors can relax with a traditional paella.
4, Valencia Cathedral (Catedral de Valencia)
The Cathedral is a unique and intriguing building which boasts several architectural influences and treasures. The city’s gothic cathedral dates to the 13th and 14th centuries, with renaissance, baroque and neoclassical modifications.
Twenty-one centuries of history right at the heart of the city, where you’ll find such historical treasures as Valencia Cathedral, the Micalet, the Basilica of the Virgin and the Almoina. Don’t miss the Tribunal de las Aguas (Water Court), a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
A true insight into the history and culture to visit Valencia, the Cathedral is a fantastic piece of architecture which demands admiration.
5. Valencia’s Central Market (Mercado Central)
Opposite the Silk Exchange (La Lonja de la seda) is one of the oldest running food markets in Europe, the Mercat Central de València, or the central market, has true Valencian style, colorful on the outside and the inside, and complete with beautiful ceramics and mosaics, you’ll love the metal and glass design.
There are 400 small traders at the market, with 959 selling farm and sea-fresh produce at the best prices in the city. A true insight into daily Valencian life, this bustling market not only attracts tourists, but locals doing their weekly fresh food shopping.
Regardless of whether or not you need groceries, you should certainly visit the central market purely to admire the splendor, decoration, and scale of the building, complete with an intricate glass dome standing 30 meters high and adorned with beautiful stained glass.
This is one of the two articles that we are publishing with the theme of visit valencia, the second part is dedicated to other fantastic sites such as The Albufera, Biopark, Historic old-town. While you wait for the second article, you can see another post of us “Top 10 really cool places to visit Valencia Part 2“.
