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Valencia Holiday Review – All You Need to Plan Your Visit

Thinking of a Valencia holiday? It’s a popular place to visit, with good reason!

Valencia is such a wonderful city. It’s easy to explore on foot and on public transport.

There are plenty of great attractions and an amazing park that wraps around the city.

It’s a warm and welcoming city with plenty to offer.

It’s also easy to get to from the UK.

Read on to discover why a Valencia holiday should be on your list!

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Things to Do in Valencia

Valencia

Considering a Valencia Holiday?

Check out everything you need to know to plan your trip.

Is Valencia Good for a Holiday?

It’s a fabulous city break. It has a lovely old town, wonderful attractions and great parks. It also has a beach nearby making it easy to combine a city and beach break in one!

getting there

Valencia City Breaks

How To Get to Valencia From the UK

Which Airport Do You Fly Into For Valencia?

You fly to Valencia Airport (airport code VLC). This is 9km or 6 miles from the city of Valencia. There are good public transport links between the airport and the city.

Can You Fly Direct to Valencia from the UK?

Yes. There are direct flights from London Gatwick, London Stansted, London Heathrow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and Nottingham.

What is the flight time from the UK to Valencia?

It is around 2 hours and 10 minutes for a direct flight to Valencia from the UK.

Valencia is easy to reach from the UK.

The year planner below shows details of flight costs from London to Valencia

The table below gives an idea of the daily flight schedule from London Stansted to Valencia

Use this form to search flights to Valencia – just pop in your starting point and dates

weather info block

Valencia Holidays

What Is The Best Time to Visit Valencia?

What is the Best Time to Visit Valencia?

March is the best time if you want to visit the crazy Valencian Fallas Festival. April and October are great for warm temperatures and the summer months if you like it hot!

Is Valencia warm all year?

Yes, it is with temperatures in winter months only going down to around 15 degrees Celsius. Summer temperatures are generally in the 30-degree Celsius range.

Holiday to Valencia

Best Month to Visit Valencia in Terms of Weather

As you can see by the average temperature chart for Valencia below, the weather in Valencia is pleasant for most of the year, without the hotter temperatures that some other Spanish cities experience.

I visited in March and found the weather pleasant. It was warm enough to sit outside for breakfast and lunches. I didn’t need a coat as it was dry too. (Disclaimer – I live in the Highlands of Scotland so anything over 12 degrees is classed as ‘summery!’)

Here is what the weather in Valencia is doing now;

Best Month to Visit Valencia in Terms of Hotel Prices

Off-peak months will be cheaper, so for Valencia, these are the winter months. However, there will be fewer facilities and activities.

Prices for Valencia are higher around the 19th of March when there is a large festival called the Fallas Festival. This festival attracts visitors from all over the place. Check the dates and details of the Fallas Festival.

I managed to book a good deal by going the week before the festival and stayed for 4 nights in a self-catering apartment with a jacuzzi for £151.

getting around

City Break Valencia

Getting from the Valencia Airport to Valencia City Centre

How do I get from Valencia airport to the city?

There is a metro line directly in the airport building which connects you to Valencia city. Metro lines 3 and 5 go directly to the city centre.

How far is Valencia airport from the city?

It is 9km or 6 miles from Valencia airport to the city of Valencia.

It is very easy to reach Valencia city centre from the airport via the metro station. You can join this directly from the metro station in the airport building.

There are two direct lines Metro Line 3 and Metro Line 5 that go directly to Valencia city centre. You can then easily connect to any other metro lines in Valencia to reach your final destination.

A one-way ticket is around 1.50 Euros. You can buy a pass if you plan to use the Metro more during your stay. A 10-trip pass costs around 7.20 Euros per person.

The Valencia airport website has all the information you need about using the metro or trains to reach Valencia city centre.

Of course, like all airports you can also transfer by taxi. This will take around 20 minutes and cost about 20-25 Euros.

where to stay

Holidays in Valencia

Where to Stay in Valencia?

Which area of Valencia is best to stay?

The Cuitat Vella or old city is a great base if you want to explore the city and Turia gardens easily on foot. Valencia also has a wonderful beach area too if you prefer to be by the sea. The city centre can easily be reached by public transport from the beach.

Staying in the old town or Ciutat Vella will make exploring easy. You can see on the map below the green area between two roads to the North and East of the city. This is the old riverbed that is now a park and it makes getting around on foot very easy.

You can also see the metro stations on the map below.

This map gives you an idea of the cheapest prices for staying in Valencia at a glance. By clicking on a price box you can see a picture of the accommodation, and its guest rating and you can then click to check the prices for your travel dates.

City Breaks Valencia

Where I Stayed During My Valencia Holiday

I stayed in a cute little apartment called the Atico El En Centro. It was quite difficult to find initially, meaning I had to ring the owner for directions but he arrived very quickly so it was not a real issue.

The apartment is a one-bedroom apartment at the top of 3 flights of stairs. It has an open lounge/diner area, bathroom and bedroom. There is a spiral staircase which leads up to the small terrace with a jacuzzi.

It was very handy for reaching all the attractions and the park was nearby too. As such I did most of my exploring on foot.

The apartment had free WIFI and also Netflix. I particularly liked the bedroom as it had no windows so I slept like a top.

The area around was pedestrianised and there were shops, cafes and restaurants nearby including a great Italian restaurant in the alley where the apartment was.

At £151 for 4 nights, I thought it was good value too.

things to do

City Breaks to Valencia

Things To Do in Valencia

Turia Gardens

Is Valencia a walkable city?

Yes, it absolutely is. Staying in Cuitat Vella, old city, made walking everywhere very easy. Walking through Turia Gardens was a great way to explore and visit other parts of the city too.

How long is Turia Gardens?

A wonderful 9km long garden that wraps itself around Valencia. It is packed with different areas such as decorative gardens, sports areas, play parks and much more. It is the largest urban park in Spain.

OK, so I may have mentioned it once or twice already but I loved walking in the park. It was a great place to see locals going about their day-to-day activities – walking, running and playing sports. I also really liked the gardens themselves as there were different themes and features.

The official name of the park is the Turia Gardens. There are water features, flower-filled bridges, formally planted areas, sporting areas and more.

One of the features in the gardens is the huge Gulliver shaped play area. It’s hard to get a sense of scale from the photo but it was massive with children climbing and sliding all over it.

valencia holiday lonja

Valencia Reviews

La Longja De La Seda

This beautiful building just across from the Central Market is the old silk exchange. It is well worth exploring for an hour or so.

It is free to enter. The audio guide (available for a small fee) brings the building details to life, such as the stories of the ornate carvings around the entrance doorways. I would highly recommend this if you want to understand more about the features you are seeing.

Get more information on Le Lonja De La Seda from the Valencian tourist website including opening hours.

Valencia Short Breaks

The Central Market

What do they sell at the Central Market of Valencia?

Lots of amazing food including the freshest fruit and vegetables. There are so many treats and tastes including lots of takeaway stalls too. I found the most wonderful Plov, fantastic fresh juices, lovely cheeses and breads and of course those amazing oranges.

What times does the Central Market Valencia open?

It opens at 7 am Monday through to Saturday and closes at 3 pm. Going earlier in the day is better as there is more availability of produce.

In the heart of the old town is the Central Market. This lovely building is a busy spot, with stalls spilling out into the front of the building. It’s a popular spot for locals to shop and to meet for something to eat and drink. Inside there are stalls selling all sorts of wonderful fresh produce. There are also takeaway stalls and some small cafes as well.

Prices are good and it’s a great way to pick up some local delights, see a bit of local everyday life and meet a few locals too. I popped back several times during my stay. Below is a lovely dish of spiced rice, with nuts and dried fruits in a delicate Filo wrapper. It was absolutely delicious.

where to eat
valencia holiday breakfast

City Break in Valencia

Beautiful Breakfast with a View

One of my top tips to get a better price for hotels is to book with an included breakfast. Not only does this make the price cheaper, it means you can eat whenever suits you. Generally, you can find breakfast options that are much better and much cheaper, especially if, like me, you like to get up and get out and then stop for something to eat.

Below is a photo of a lovely breakfast which I enjoyed at a cafe overlooking a large square near the Cathedral. It was all delicious and a bargain at only 3 Euros with views of local life all around. It was so good I went back

The cafe is called Bertal located in Placa De La Reina. (There are some poor reviews for this place but I found the service friendly and welcoming)

valencia holiday science park

Holiday in Valencia

Science Park

Having walked through Turia Gardens I found a cafe which overlooked the science park area. It was a welcome chance to get a coffee, a quick sandwich and just enjoy the view of these wonderful buildings.

The cafe is called Terrassa El Mirador

The City of Arts and Sciences includes several buildings;

Palau De Les Arts – a contemporary arts space and just a really wonderful building. Worth visiting just for a photo.

Hemisferic – another lovely museum containing an IMAX cinema

Science Museum – another lovely building

El’Umbracle – a sculpture park area with gardens, all in a large covered walkway (massive actually)

It is definitely worth visiting this area even if you don’t go in any of the buildings.

valencia holiday fallas

Holiday to Valencia

The Fallas Festival

In Spring Valencia celebrates the Fallas Festival. Communities from around Valencia spend a year making huge papier mache floats and competing for whose is the best.

The festival culminates in a large parade where the figures are set on fire to symbolise the new Spring.

Each year one figure is saved and put into the Fallas Festival museum. The people of Valencia decide on the figure.

However, in the week running up to the festival, there is a gunpowder competition. Each day teams cover a large square – Placa De L’Ajuntment in gunpowder. Each team has the same amount of gunpowder and it is the team that makes the loudest noise that wins.

Having strolled through the square during the morning I saw locals getting their seats ready so they could be in prime position. Having read warnings that the noise was so loud it could cause permanent hearing damage I retreated to my apartment and listened from there. The video below gives you an idea of the noise – the apartment was 0.5 miles away from the main square with many buildings in between. It was loud!

The Fallas Museum

The Fallas Museum is tucked a little bit out of the way.

I found the museum really interesting and a fantastic insight into the culture of Valencia.

Behind each figure is a story, sometimes cultural, sometimes political. There are figures representing the rise in immigration, corruption in the police service, and the clash between culture and history with modern distractions. The list goes on. I spent around 2-3 hours in this museum and found it totally absorbing.

You can see all the figures saved from the fire from each Fallas festival. One of the really interesting bits is to see the photos of the huge structures that the figures were originally part of. They are massive!

The figure above shows shortcuts being made to Valencian traditional cooking.

At only 2 Euros it’s also extremely good value!

valencia city break package holidays deals

Radio City

Radio City is a club in the old district of Valencia. The line up is eclectic, with a wide range of music genres. During my Valencia city break, I visited this venue twice.

The first time was for a language class where locals could improve their English and I tried to improve my Spanish. It was a good way to meet some locals – again quite an eclectic bunch. It was great to chat with them about daily life in Valencia and issues in their city as well.

The second time I went was for the evening flamenco show. Whilst this was clearly for tourists I found the dancers and the dancing really moving. The emotions came through very strongly.

Valencia Holiday Video

Valencia Holiday FAQs

Is Valencia Spain A Safe City?

I stayed for 4 nights on my own as a solo female traveller. I walked extensively, I travelled on public transport and I was out at night. I felt very safe at all times during my stay in Valencia.

As always taking simple precautions when travelling are wise and will help reduce the likelihood of any issues.

What is Valencia Best Known For?

Oranges. These are grown in and around Valencia. You absolutely should try them and one of the best ways is trying freshly pressed orange juice. This is available at cafes and restaurants throughout Valencia – you can taste the sunshine in the oranges.

Do You Need a Car In Valencia?

If you are taking a city break or long weekend and plan to visit mainly the city centre then you will not need a car. If you plan to stay in the old town then a car would actually be quite difficult to manage in terms of driving around the old town and parking.

Is Valencia a Nice City?

Absolutely. It has a great mix of old and new, a historic centre and green spaces. The people are friendly and the food is great. Whilst there I met some Americans who had retired to Spain and having lived in Barcelona they moved to Valencia because they found it much nicer and friendlier.

Is Valencia a Beach Holiday?

It can be. Valencia has a wide sandy beach within easy reach of the city centre. It has great reviews for being very clean. As you would expect there is holiday accommodation and lots of cafes and restaurants nearby. Valencia also has a harbour and marina too.

Is Valencia Good for Long Weekend?

It absolutely is. You could either focus on the city centre or the beach area of the city and have a fantastic stay. Getting around is easy making it a great option if you like exploring on foot and public transport. Why not have a long weekend in the city and another by the beach?

Is Valencia A Walkable City?

The city is flat and level and of course, the gardens being an old river bed are also flat and level, this makes walking very comfortable and enjoyable. The old city is compact and easy to explore on foot. Turia Gardens wraps itself around half the city making it easy to walk through the park and get from the old city to the science park for example.

How Many Days in Valencia is Enough?

5 days was a good amount to enjoy Valencia (4 nights). This was long enough to enjoy exploring the city centre areas and the main attractions and museums for me. If you would like to visit the beach then perhaps a night or two longer might be wise. There really is a lot to see!

What is the best month to visit Valencia?

If you want to see the Fallas festival then March is going to be the best month to visit. If you want to get the best prices for hotels a bit earlier or later in the year means your money will go much further. Early March, April and then September, October and even November.

Is Valencia a Cheap City?

Valencia is certainly good value compared to some other Spanish locations. This might be because it is a popular holiday destination for Spanish tourists too.

Is Valencia Good for Singles?

Valencia is a great place for singles. It is easy to explore on foot or on public transport. There is plenty to see and it is a very safe city.

Valencia Holiday Conclusion

  • Valencia is a great value destination to visit – with less crowds and better value than larger cities.
  • It’s incredibly easy to explore on foot and there are wonderful attractions to enjoy.
  • Valencia is a friendly, safe city that is easy to reach from the UK.
  • If you are looking for a welcoming, authentic city to visit that is a little less visited you should visit Valencia. It also has the best orange juice you are likely to taste!
loveholidays valencia

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Further Reading

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