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The drive from Madrid to Valencia was mostly along a highway from which you could see hill towns with towers and cathedrals. We routed through Cuenca so that we could go to the Enchanted City of unique karst geologic formations. But it was very windy and we also found that, contrary to my planning research, the visit would have taken us about 40 minutes extra each way and wouold not have left adequate viewing time so we decided to skip it. It's on the list for our next visit. There is a lot of hiking and recreation in that region so Cuenca could warrant an overnight or two.
Our stay in Valencia was at Citizentral Juristas. They had been adamant that we send them the license plate and car rental details, which we thought was odd. Once we learned about the ZBE in Madrid, we assumed it was for that reason. However, once we got the actual driving instructions, we saw that we would have to pass through some restricted areas to reach the hotel.
We were driving not just restricted streets, but across actual pedestrian walks and plazas. It was very slow and careful driving, to be sure. Generally, we have one person driving and the other looking ahead in the maps navigation. In this case, we needed a person reading text directions like, turn left at the end of these flowerboxes. We found the hotel and its teeny, tiny parking garage.
There is nothing like a stay in a (mostly) car-free area. We were able to just walk straight out the door and be in the maze of alley-ways and plazas. It was quiet and immersive. The hotel was great in other aspects too. We had a small, top-floor apartment with kitchen/living/dining area and separate bedroom. It was equipped with coffee, tea, dishes, cutlery, wine glasses - and dishwasher. The dowstairs had a common room and a laundry, and our room included a drying rack and ironing board and iron. Citizentral would be a top pick from this trip.
It was raining and getting dark when we checked in, so we didn't spend too much time walking around. We made a lap scouting out some eats, then selected Colmado Lalola for some tapas. It's a small, casual, busy place with a friendly staff and pretty good food. And of course the jamón, on its dedicated carving stand.
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Cathedral of Valencia and Miguelete Tower |
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Guastavino, the "Architect of New York" |
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| City view from Miguelete Tower |
It was still lightly raining in the morning when we started our walking tour. Our first stop was the Valencia Cathedral, where we walked the 207 steps to the top of the Miguelete bell tower. Once out on the roof, we had views across the fairly flat city, to the hills on one side and the modern aquarium complex (more on that, tomorrow) and port on another. And we got up close and personal with the giant bell, which would have been deafening had it been rung.
Nothing like a climbing workout to start your day! Funny how you can be energized and yet have wobbly legs at the same time.
The cathedral and bell tower entry is in the Plaza de la Reina. If you are looking at Google Street View, note that the plaza is different from the 2019 images (in use as of this writing), but you can use the satellite view. I got confused when I was trying to identity and locate the statue of Guastavino, an engineer born in Valencia in 1842 who patented a method of vaulting and designed many buildings in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and apparently even at the Biltmore in North Carolina. His statue was installed when the plaza was redesigned in 2022.
We crossed in front of the cathedral and passed along its east side. We were headed to the Almudín, but we noticed this innocuous looking building that was not in our plan: the Archaeological Crypt of the Prison of St. Vicent the Martyr. We debated whether or not to go in, but I checked the price and it was €2 each, so why not? We went in to this small, underground space and had a look around at some Arab pottery, an old church foundation, and some other exhibits. It was cool but not overwhelming. Don't stop reading yet though --
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Sign and ancient altar gates at the Archaeological Crypt of the Prison of St. Vicent the Martyr |
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When we came in I had seen mention of a video so I went back upstairs to ask about it. The lady said to go back down, to the end of the left side, and she would start the video in a couple minutes. And here is where it got really good.
The video is actually a multi-media presentation that moves you about the space to cover the history of the archeology findings, from Roman (including the imprisonment and martyrdom of St. Vincent), to Visigoth to Muslim periods. It described how parts of the structures were remade and used by subsequent ruling cultures, and just overall it had a unique feel to the whole thing. Certainly an underrated gem in Valencia.
By now we were getting hungry so we doubled back a bit, along the cathedral rear wall to the Plaza de la Verge. Here, at the cathedral's Gothic Door of the Apostles, the Valencia water court meets every Thursday at noon. Dating from 10th century Islamic rule, the court comprises representatives of each of the 9 agricultural water districts who meet to arbitrate disagreements among farmers. The meetings are public and conducted in Valencian (language).
We grabbed some lunch at the Cafetería la Virgen. I couldn't find a menu online to remind me of what we ate, but I seem to remember having a very good tuna salad and maybe my husband had some sort of pasta. When looking for a link to the restaurant I saw some pretty bad reviews, but I felt like the service and the food were fine, maybe a little slow.
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| Photo exhibit in the Almudín. Click here for a photosphere to see the whole space. |
It was a bit chilly and breezy but we sat outside and watched the goings-on in the plaza. I watched a woman with a malformed leg make her way to the center of the plaza. She seemed to make a bit of a show of wrapping her small, crippled foot. Then she began crawling along, scooching on her leg, and rattling a cup of coins. She was even going between the outside tables of the cafe farther down the plaza. It was sad but also really pushy and rude at the same time (please forgive me, I have complicated feelings about this sort of thing). Later, we saw her pass us speeding along in her electic wheelchair.
I would say that along this whole trip, we had seen a few beggars, most attempting some form of busking but some just outright begging. I feel like there were more here in Valencia than other places.
We resumed our tour, walking the short distance to the Plaça de Sant Lluís Bertran and the Almudín, which had served as a city storage, sales, and distribuition center for wheat dating from the 14th century. Today, the open interior space is dedicated to the arts. When we visited, there was a photography exhibit with sections featuring artistic, historical, ethnic, amateur, and international works. Admission was free.
Travel Tip: It pays to do some reading on the arts. Included in the exhibit at the Almudín were photos of the well-known US Depression-era photographer, Dorothea Lange. Because I had just read a magazine article about her, I felt clued in about aspects of the images to pay attention to and appreciate. This was just lucky; I had no idea I would see this display. But for some museums, you might be able to learn their collections in advance.
We made the long-ish walk from the Almudín toward the Central Market, passing lots of street art and some tags and posters protesting tourism (Antes todo esto era barrio is a bit of a slogan and not just a one-off item). A Google search told me that in Spain, both Valencia and Barcelona are noted for their street art.
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On our way, we cut through the Plaza Redonda, or "round square". This small plaza is enclosed by shops and forms a small outdoor market around a fountain. This is a great place to shop for ceramics and textiles, including lace. I didn't pause at the time, but I wish I had stopped and browsed there for a bit.
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The historical economic center of Valencia: Iglesia de los Santos Juanes del Mercado (with sundial), Lonja de la Seda silk exchange, and Central Market. |
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We passed many shops in this commercial district, on the way to the Mercat Central de Valencia. The market square dates to the 14th century or earlier. A gothic market hall was built in the late 15th century.
The current, enormous market was constructed in the early 1900s to provide all manner of foods and supplies to the growing city; it remains more functional market than tourist attraction. If you are not cooking during your visit, you might still plan for a lunch from the ready provisions available.
Adjacent to the market is La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia - the silk exchange where trading contracts were negotiated from the 15th century on. Sounds boring, but the World Heritage site is more like a palace, built in the golden age of Valencian trade.
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A Sphere photo of the Lonja main trading room. Click here to see it in a Sphere viewer and move around in the space. |
Entry to Lonja council room. |
There is amazing carved stone throughout, including intricate panels around windows and doors. If you look closely you will see many figures, some making political or satirical statements. The main trading room is expansive under a vaulted room supported on spiraling columns.There are multiple spaces including a garden and a chapel, with a reminder to be honest in your dealings.
Today, in addition to offering tours of its beautiful architecture and wood, stone, and glass works, it is used for events and weddings. At least, I recall hearing this while we were there but I find it odd that I couldn't find a website about it.
From the Lonja we continued down the street to the old city wall, meeting it at the Quart towers. The stairs to the top of the wall was closed due to rain, but our legs would have objected anyway, after the morning climb and hours walking.
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| A Sphere photo of the Church of San Nicolas. Click here to see it in a Sphere viewer and move around in the space. |
On this trip, we have passed by many cathedrals and other venues, stopping in at relatively few of them, for time and financial reasons. But I have to recommend this next cathedral, Church of San Nicolas.
It was built in 1242 and remodeled in the mid-1400s, and has even been added to in the 19th century, so it presents variety of styles. If you go, the audio tour is a must. It will lead you around from vault to vault and point out elements that are important in terms of religion, art, history, and even politics. There is so much to see jammed into a fairly small space, but even with the crowd it was pleasant and you could see everything. The complexity, color, and meaning is stunning.
Observation: If you want to adopt this itinerary, there is a more efficient order you could take. In fact, we had it laid out better in our travel plan, but then we didn't follow it exactly.
You would think with all this walking that we would like a nice, relaxing sit-down for dinner. Wrong! We signed up for a food tour! Now here is another time I wish I had taken notes, because I can't remember where we went or what all we ate. There were 10 people in the congenial group, including a Dutch couple and mother and daughter who were traveling separately but turned out to live within a half-hour of each other, and a group of college friends from Arkansas.
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| Mercat de Colom at night. |
The tour covered 4 places, I believe, and I initially thought that was not a very good deal for the price. But then we had 3-4 dishes at each one so it ended up being a lot of food. Some of the foods I know we had included:
It might have been a little pricey when compared to the Michelin restaurants we have been visiting, but overall a thoroughly enjoyable experience with a fun guide and group of people. The tour ended outside the Mercat de Colom so most of us decided to head inside and grab a drink. I think the college friends were looking for more nightlife after that, but we called it a day.
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Right:Gulliver in Lilliput playground.
Below: One of the many bridges along the Jardín del Turia. |
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We were greeted by a sunny, warm morning, which was great because our plan for the day was to rent bikes and ride along the Jardín del Turia, a park running nearly 6 miles through the city along the old Turia river bed. The river had been re-routed after severe flooding in the 1950s and the old route was, by popular demand, made into greenspaces.
Observation: Sadly, despite these and more recent flood control efforts, Valencia and other eastern Spain areas received deadly and destructive floods on the day after we left, as a weather system dropped a year's worth of rain in a day. We were lucky to have not been there and we feel for this city that was so welcoming and pleasant.
From the bike rental, we passed under Torres dels Serrans to enter the park. It's relatively quiet and relaxing, as it sits below the grade of the surrounding city. A creek flows along the middle with running and biking lanes along each side, and the length is broken into sections of gardens, playgrounds, sports fields and courts, and open spaces. There are twenty-some bridges crossing the little valley and connecting to the streets above.
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| Metal sculptures alongside the Jardín del Turia. | |
One of the playgrounds that we passed was enormous. I walked over to get a closer look. I forget exactly what the signage was at the entry, but I got the sense that it was not a place to go without your own kids. I didn't go inside - I didn't want to seem some creeper with a camera and no kids. But I got close enough to see that the huge play structure was Gulliver, prone, and the kids climbing all around were Lilliputians. Such a cool concept. Wouldn't it be great to have literature-themed playgrounds everywhere?
The weather was perfect, in my book. It was cool in the shade but warm in the sun. This is typical for Valencia, it seems: the Octobre average temperatures range from 57F to 76F. There were still flowering plants attracting bees, butterflies, and something buzzing around like a tiny hummingbird. There are no hummingbirds in Europe so it was most likely the hummingbird hawk moth.
Near the southeast end of the park is the ultra-modern City of Arts and Sciences. The bright white, geometric buildings and bridges and the blue light reflected from the many pools and fountains offer countless vistas for gazing and photography. Attractions include an IMAX theater, science museum, concert and events hall, and the biggest aquarium center in Europe, the Oceanogràfic.
We spent hours walking through the buildings and exhibits, seeing some sea life that we didn't know existed and other water-adjacent critters like birds, turtles, and a crocodile that looked suspiciously like, or perhaps was, a log. We were mesmerized by tanks of jellyfish and schools of glittery fish and were thankful that the spider crabs were behind glass.
We were at the aquarium on a Thursday in the tourist shoulder season and even so, it was pretty crowded. The closest spot we could find to park our bikes was still blocks away. If you want to come here, check the website for the least busy days and hours and perhaps plan to take public transportation or taxi. You might also want to pack your own lunch or snacks, as the food choices that we saw were limited and not especially appealing (the map shows a restaurant but the place is really big so maybe we just never saw it). I believe lockers are available, but you would want to confirm their entry policies.
We had initially thought to continue biking down to the Balearic Sea coast. This was completely do-able, and we even had made a dinner reservation near Playa de las Arenas. But we wanted to clean up before dinner and do a load of laundry. We pedaled back, then cabbed it back later for dinner. When we arrived, we had an extra 30 minutes, so we at least walked down to the port area for a quick peek.
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Sights at the City of Arts and Sciences: Science museum and Hemisfèric theater. Silvery fish. Crocodile pond and aquarium main entry building. Brightly colored fish. Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia. Giant jellyfish. Land turtles at the aquarium. Aviary at the aquarium. |
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Our dinner reservation was at Casa Montaña, a tiny hole-in-the-wall of a restaurant in El Cabanyal neighborhood of narrow, quiet streets. You almost wouldn't know there was a restaurant there if you weren't looking for it. But if you go, be sure to make a reservation. We saw people being turned away at the door.
The dining room is so small that the host stands outside in front of the doors - we were happy for her that the weather was nice. They could fit more tables, except the front room is flanked on both sides by wine and brandy barrels and the place is known for their traditional style Spanish and Valencian wines. To use the restroom, I had to duck under the bar and head to the back, where I passed through another small dining room.
Casa Montaña was founded in 1836 as a pub. In the late 1800s it was modernized into its current design. It has had many owners over the years; it has been under the current ownership since 1994. The service was terrific. We put ourselves in the waiter's capable hands to try a variety of tapas, wines, and even a pour of Lagavulin Scotch whiskey. We sampled anchovies, leeks, sirloin, and more. The bread also was very good.
After dinner, we walked in the direction of our hotel. Once we came to a bigger street, we we able to hail a cab back to the pedestrian zone to again wander the plazas and streets back to our hotel. In the morning we would be driving north along the coast and then up into the mountains of the Priorat wine region.
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