10 reasons why you should visit Valencia

Why Valencia? Because it is simply incredible. After living here for a year, I am still stunned by how beautiful this city is everyday. So in case you have not yet witness its beauty, here I have laid out 10 reasons why you should buy your flight tickets now (or at least right after Covid)!

10) First thing first, for the one of a kind architecture

Calle de las Barcas

Torres de Serranos

Museo de Belles Artes de Valencia 

Plaza de la Virgen 

View from Torres de Serranos

Ruzafa

Plaza de Toros

Night view from La Torre del Miguelete

El Carmen

La Arena / Cabanyal

Needless to say, the city is simply gorgeous. It is not like Barcelona where you are shocked at the first sight. Here there is nothing too loud. But what I like about Valencia is that it is very original and authentic. People are proud of their city and they need not to make pretentious things just to sell their hometown to tourists. 

Iglesia San Nicolas

One of my favourite spot is definitely this church in a small alley in the old town El Carmen. While it is so not noticeable from the street, the interior of the basilica is absolutely stunning. People often compare it with the 16th Chapel in Rome. I personally find them equally charming from different perspectives. 






And how can we ever forget one of the biggest benchmark Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (Art & Science City)? Inaugurated in 1998, this landmark has definitely turned the city around and is attracting thousands of tourists to Valencia every year. It is an area that includes museum (art and science of course), aquarium, hemispheric for IMAX dome and 3D movie experience as well as one of the biggest night club in Valencia.





Definitely a photogenic place to visit! :p

9) The beach is right next door 

Along the coast across the Valencia Community (the province that include Castellón, Valencia capital, Alicante) there are so many lovely beaches where you can do all sort of water sports such as kite surf, surfing, scuba diving etc. Basically the tanning and beach season starts from late May all the way to September or even early October.

I personally have not visited all of them (because there are so so many!) but I quite like some of the onces I have been to e.g. Sagunto, Javéa, El Saler, Mareny Blau.

Here is a site to search for the best beaches in Valencia.

8) And the mountains are on the other side!

If you are more of a mountain person, there are many routes that you can do! 

    

The best thing is there are many with rivers and waterfalls as well where you can jump into the water whenever it is too hot. They are like natural water parks! The water is absolutely freezing though so better to go in only in the summer unless you are Aquaman ... (not funny I know.)

Source: lasprovincias.es

Source: guiarepsol.com / Shutterstock

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a site in English that introduces the top recommended trekking routes in Valencia but honestly I think the beauty of the nature here is so undermined and lack publicity! 

7) There is so much GREEN in the city too!

   

The famous Turia Garden is one of the greatest heritage of Valencia. Everyone calls it "the river" in Valencia because it used to be the Turia River before 1958. Since there was a lot of flooding that caused chaos and catastrophes, the local government decided to undergo "Plan Sur" to divert the water to another route.

 Later on they turned this "dry river" into a park and is now the best place to jog, cycle, do yoga, have a picnic, or even just to go around different landmarks in the city such as the iconic Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (Art and Science City).

6) The homeland of Paella and a lot of Spanish rice dishes

If you haven't tried the authentic Valencian paella, don't claim to be a fan of Spain.

As mentioned in previous blogs, the most authentic "paella" rice dish is originated from Valencia and the traditional paella only has chicken and rabbit meat with vegetables. But later on obviously people make different versions with seafood, or mixed paella which is with the best of both worlds. 



The word "paella" means the pan that they use to cook the rice, so seafood paella, mixed paella, black paella, vegetarian paella etc. are all legit. But if you want to try the most authentic one, you have got to try the Valencian paella. 

    

The Spaniards also value a lot of their time and connection with their family and it is very common to eat with their families on Sundays. Instead of going for dim sum like in Hong Kong or make a Sunday roast in the UK, they make paella at home outdoor (with a thing called "paellero" which is a stove that is just for making paella or over firewood). Basically they meet almost for a whole day and eat in a marathon style with appetiser, paella, dessert, coffee, mistela shot till like 6pm and this is their "lunch". How can anyone not love the Spanish dining culture right?



One extra point to add is that Valencia is famous for a lot of rice dishes because they have a lot of rice fields. One of the area to mention is Albufera where you can see amazing sunset by the lake and apparently you can find one of the best paellas in Valencia! 

5) The weather is simply AMAZING (like 320 days a year I swear)

I mean how much better life gets when you see a blue sky almost everyday?

Mind you a lot of people think we get nice weather all over Spain but actually there is miserable weather up in the north and in the in-land too. 

Source: Wikimedia

Given the fact the whole Valencia Community is by the Mediterranean Sea, we get a lot of sunny days. It's not too cold in the winter (you will never see snow sorry) but it can get quite hot in the summer (but lots' of beach days!) Those people who think it's humid in Valencia have seriously never been to any part of south Asia ...  

4) People are lovely

Actually I have not been living in any other places in Spain apart from Barcelona and Valencia. (disclaimer) 

But in general I do notice some differences in how people interact. 

     

In Valencia, while there are also some foreigners, most Spaniards you will meet are originally Valencians. They tend to have a very tight social circles with all their friends from a very young age all the way to university and workplaces. And when I say very tight, I mean a random Valencian that you run into would probably know the family of their friends quite well, and may even join their family gatherings. It seems to me that it is quite common to hang out or include the siblings of their friends in reunions which is lovely in my point of view. People seem to care and pay so much more attention in the well-being of their friends and what's going on in their lives since they are eager to maintain such relationships that were established a long time ago. 

At the same time, since a lot of Valencians born and grow up in Valencia, where in Barcelona there are a lot of people from other regions (imagine Shenzhen in China), in general everyone is very proud to be a Valencian. So when you come to Valencia, overall they are fairly welcoming and are eager to show you the beauty of their hometown. 

On the other hand, I have to say it was not easy to mix with the locals since everyone has their own groups since a young age, unlike in Barcelona where as a newbie in the city, people tend to be more open where you may easily meet someone randomly while you are having tapas at a bar. 

If you don't speak any Spanish or are still catching up on it but would still love to meet and hang out with cool people, there are plenty of opportunities to meet foreigners in meet-up groups, language schools, language exchange platforms, flat sharing etc. 

3) Drinking is cheap

   

I am not saying everyone is as alcoholic as I am, but I have to say it is far more economical to go out for drinks than in Hong Kong. Used to paying like HK$90 (9 euros) for a glass of wine? Here in Valencia a very very expensive glass of wine by the beach will cost max 4 euros. You can easily find one for 2 euros in the city centre. If you order a bottle in a decent restaurant in the city centre, obviously depends of what class of wine you are getting, but it is not difficult to find a bottle costing 15-20 euros or under. In fact, for 20 euros you can normally get a pretty good wine.

The truth is there is a lot of excellent wine in Spain. Many people know about wines from Rioja, but actually there are very nice wines in the Valencian Community as well, for example from Utiel Requena and Alicante. There are also plenty of wine tasting events organised by different cellars weekly. As posh as the idea sounds, usually you can find ones that are less than 15 euros per head where you get to try 3-4 different wines. It's a fantastic opportunity to experience how the Spaniards appreciate their local wines and is a great social activity as well. 

2) Super easy to get around

Source: Culturacv

Source: Valencia Secreta

 

While the city size is only 134.65km², a lot of places are pretty walkable or can be accessed by the extensive metro and bus network. Alternatively taking bikes is also very common. If you are staying for a long time, it is definitely worthwhile to sign yourself up for Valenbisi which will cost you 30 euros per year and you can enjoy unlimited trips up to 30 minutes. There are usually special lanes dedicated to bikes and segways so it is not always necessary to drive on the road. 

1) Most importantly, life is simple here.

If you are someone who is looking to become a billionaire, frankly speaking Valencia is probably not the most ideal place to get yourself loaded.

But one thing that really makes me love this place is how simple life can be. It is not common to see people carrying a Louis Vuitton walking around on the street and people simply don't care about this stuff. People may not be earning the most here especially when compared to other European countries. However, people live very well. They are happy, enjoy a lot of family time and time for personal interests. They don't need a Porche or a pair of Gucci sneakers to prove their self-worth. People spend time doing sport (I am not talking about signing up a Pure membership and get yourself squashed in a 50 people yoga class thinking you are part of the cool gang kind of sport), paint, lay on the beach and do nothing after work, etc. If you don't have your own flat? well then rent one, share a flat, or live with your family. The last thing they will do is dedicate the next 20 years working overtime everyday just to get themselves a 50m² flat. Get a life! 

There isn't so much of a social pressure for getting yourself married neither. If you are 30, 40, 50 and still single, good for you! You are still free to date and hop around. They would rather be single than condescending and compromising themselves just to save a marriage that does not make them happy. If you are not straight, you have found heaven because Spain was the first country that legalised homosexual marriage. There are specific clubs that you can unite with and meet new people. 

Here are 10 reasons why you should come o Valencia. Everyday I fall in love over and over again with this place so I really hope you have enjoyed my sharing. I look forward to see you guys soon! 

Love from,

Cherrie x