While there are tons of countries in Europe that I hope to explore while living here, one of my other priorities is getting to experience all the gems in Spain. Just three hours south of Barcelona (by train or car), Valencia was our first getaway. I’m sure you could spend weeks in Valencia to really take it all in, but even in just 36 hours, I got a good feel for the city. If you’re in Spain and want a quick getaway, you can easily experience the charm of Valencia in just two days.
Insider tip: If you’re traveling from Barcelona, I recommend taking the train. We drove and the tolls were insane. Roundtrip, we spent nearly 100 euros on the tolls. The train is extremely affordable and the way to go.
How to Spend 36 Hours in Valencia
What To See & Do
Wander: What I loved most about Valencia was the charming tiny streets. Take time to simply walk around and get lost among the winding narrow sidewalks. Make sure you walk through the city center, which is beautiful and worth taking a look at.
Mercat Central: This enormous market is a must. Even though we live in Barcelona, home to the famous Boqueria market, I can’t help but make a stop into other European markets as we travel. All I bought was some rosemary and a persimmon, but you could easily spend tons of time (& money) in this market, shopping and snacking around. The market closes daily around 2:30pm and is closed on Sundays. If you’re on a weekend trip to Valencia, make sure to go on Saturday so you don’t miss out.
City of Arts & Sciences: About a 15 minute drive from the city center is the City of Arts & Sciences complex and aquarium. We took a long stroll around the buildings, they are pretty amazing. The aquarium looked nice and is probably a great activity if you’re traveling with kids. I didn’t run on this trip, but if I did, this would have been where I would have run to and around. Even though it’s a touristy destination, it’s not crowded.
Beach Time: And lastly, after visiting the City of Arts & Sciences, continue on towards the water and spend some time at the beach (about a 10 minute drive from City of Arts & Sciences). There’s a long row of restaurants to relax at when you need a break from the sand. It wasn’t quite beach weather for our trip (in January), but still worth visiting.
Where & What to Eat
What to eat–Paella: Valencia is the birthplace of paella so it goes without saying that this is a must. When you think of paella, a lot of us think of seafood, but the traditional Valencian version is made with chicken, rabbit and beans. Many restaurants offer seafood paella as well, but if you want to go for the real deal, order the Valencian paella. Also note, in Valencia paella is a lunchtime dish, since it’s heavier and thus better to have mid-day, instead of right before bed.
Another tip: Restaurant hours are pretty wacky in Valencia. Many restaurants open for lunch, then close again and don’t open up for dinner until 8:30 or 9pm.
Where to eat paella: Before selecting our paella place, we did some research. Unfortunately we missed the memo about it being a lunch meal, but luckily a lot of restaurants also serve it at dinner. You could research the best paella all day long, literally every place in Valencia claims to have the best. Eventually you just need to pick a place.
We chose Casa Roberto and it was very good! A bit on the pricey side but big portions and very tasty paella. Other places at the top of our list from researching were La Riua, La Pepica and Restaurant Canela.
Mercado Tapiniera: The other place I’d highly recommend is Mercado de Tapiniera. It’s located in a cute little square with outdoor seating. We stopped here for a quick bite and a glass of wine. There was a bit of live music while we sat and ate. The food was tasty and the atmosphere was great. I recommend the patatas bravas (which uniquely include sweet potato and roasted garlic) and the flatbread.
La Estrecha: Grab a drink outside of La Estrecha. We wandered by and saw tons of people drinking in the square outside this tiny bar and decided to join the crowd for some sangria. I didn’t know it at the time, but it’s known as the narrowest building in all of Europe and is worth a stop at.
Aside from those those places, it’s easy to walk around the city and spot cute places along the way. We saw so many places we wanted to try. Walk around, see what catches your eye, and hop in for a bite or a quick copa de vino.
Where to Stay
The city and the beach are a bit of a hike from each other (a 20 minute drive between the two). I recommend staying by the city so you can easily walk around and explore. We stayed at Petit Plaza Ruzafa. It’s not the nicest hotel in the world, but was perfectly fine for our one night. The front desk team was very helpful and the location was perfect for city wandering outside our front door. Not many hotels in Valencia are dog friendly. If you’re traveling with a pup, then I definitely recommend this hotel. The room was well priced (one night was about $100) and there is no extra fee for pets (which is very unusual). On top of that, they had a dog bed, water bowls and even dog food waiting for Ollie in the room upon our arrival!
Key Items to Pack
Just two recommendations to call out. First, bring good walking shoes as you’ll definitely hit your 10k steps while exploring. Also, and this will likely be my recommendation for every place we visit in Europe–bring a water bottle. I quickly learned that no restaurants in Spain will serve tap water (even though it’s perfectly safe to drink). If you want water, you must pay for it. Free tap water is not an option. At a restaurant, a bottle of water is around $3, which happens to be about the same cost as a beer or wine. I’ve gotten in the habit of bringing my Swell bottle everywhere to avoid those extra costs.
While a quick trip, we loved Valencia and it was a great way to kick off our travels around Europe. This charming little city is worth making a visit to next time you’re in Spain!
