‘I’VE lived in a lot of places around the world, but wouldn’t make a home for my family anywhere else,” smiles tour guide Jose Manuel Celemín. “You will enjoy your time in Valencia, it’s hard not to.”
This is my third visit and I’m convinced I will – Valencia is a marvellous city; indeed the surrounding Region of Valencia boasts its own bountiful charms too as I appreciate exploring this remarkable corner of the Mediterranean.
Spain’s third-largest city is no longer content to play third fiddle behind Madrid and Barcelona.
Valencia may already have been famous for staging the annual riotously fun Las Fallas festival, but hosting the America’s Cup in 2007 really gave the city a boost in the same way being named City of Culture did for Glasgow, and this year, Valencia stars as European Green Capital, recognising its strong, ceaseless environmental efforts.
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One place immediately spotlights this.
The green lung of La Turia is an inspiration to other cities. Following the redirection of the river in the wake of 1957’s devastating floods, Francisco Franco wanted to blast a motorway through it. The brave locals, though, stood up to the dictator and La Turia was saved. Today it has been reborn as an almost 10km leisure oasis alive with walking and cycling trails.
A highlight in La Turia is the striking City of Arts and Sciences, whose avant-garde architecture is the brainchild of Valencian uber-architect Santiago Calatrava. Attractions include the Hemisfèric 3D cinema with its 900m concave screen, the hands-on Science Museum and the Oceanogràfic, Europe’s biggest aquarium, with over 500 different species. You could lose a day in La Turia – you should.
Delving into Valencia’s historic core I ease through the big-hitting sights, all the time surrounded by sweeping architecture. The lavish Town Hall grandly presides over Plaça de l’Ajuntament (above), neatly flanked by the elegant art deco Filmoteca cinema.
Romanesque, Baroque and Gothic meet at Valencia Cathedral, where the Miguelete Tower offers a 360º city view. Inside, the Holy Grail is said to be preserved. As is the tradition of the water tribunal. Every Thursday the judges meet here – as they have done for a millennia – to determine allocations from Valencia’s old Moorish irrigation system.
An even more striking building is the Llotja de la Seda. It is a breathtaking reminder that Valencia once lay at the end of the Silk Route, with around a third of the population employed in the silk trade. The gracefully carved stone pillars sprouting skywards are divine, reminiscent of vaulting palm trees. It’s a building you will want to linger in.
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My base is the Parador de El Saler just down the coast from the centre. It’s a corker set in the dunes behind a sweeping white sand beach, where turtles regularly haul themselves ashore. Clean and green, they take recycling and environmental issues seriously here. Make sure you snare a room with a sea view.
Dine here too as they do a mean paella, which brings me to surely Spain’s most famous dish …
Pushing out of the city is essential if you want to explore the gorgeous mountain villages and hikes in mountains as high as Munros, as I’ve done in the past. You also need to venture into Valencia Region if you want to learn the whole story behind its famous paella.
I use one of the parador’s bikes to reach the nearby Albufera Natural Park, flooded annually using Moorish canal systems to encourage rice growth and encourage migratory birds.
I recognise species that could have just flown in from the Hebrides. I take a traditional wooden boat for a tour of the lagoon and see the traditional cottages with their steeply pitched roofs.
For lunch, I stay in Albufera and the village of El Palmar, which boasts more than 30 restaurants, but less than 800 inhabitants. At Albufera Restaurant I savour the delicious real paella, made using Albufera bomba rice and only chicken, snails and rabbit. Never seafood, nor chorizo.
Back in the city I stop at the Museu De L’Arròs de València, home to the traditional equipment that processed the rice. If you don’t have time to get out of the city, La Cigrona does superb paella too.
Horchata (orxata in Valencian) is Valencia’s other gift to the Spanish table, made using the tiger nuts that grow underground. I head back out into the wider Valencia Region and the Moorish farm at the Museu de l’Orxata. A tour of this timewarp opens up the drink’s history. I enjoy it in traditional style, dipping a farton pastry into its sweet, creamy depths.
I end my trip nearby at Port Saplaya, a purpose-built waterfront community and marina that sees few tourists. Jose lives here so we enjoy a last supper, enjoying creative tapas at Restaurante Port Saplaya.
I’m gushing about both my time back in Valencia and the Region of Valencia. He smiles again and says, “Of course, I told you it’s hard not to enjoy Valencia”.
EasyJet fly from Scotland to Alicante, with trains and buses running on to Valencia, details can be found for Valencia City and Valencia Region.
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