Valencia

Valencia is a port city on Spain’s southeastern coast best known for its City of Arts and Sciences. With a coastline of beaches, beautiful walking trails and rich history, Valencia is a great city to add on to a Spain trip.

We came to Valencia at the beginning of our trip after exploring Ibiza. It was only $10 per person to fly from Ibiza which saved us travel time and money, so we used the city as a transit stop. Though we didn’t see much the first time around, it seemed like a beautiful place worth coming back to.

Luckily, we had good reason to return to Valencia. La Tomatina is a tomato throwing festival held in small-town Bunol, just 40 minutes outside Valencia. We both wanted to attend La Tomatina, and saw it as a great opportunity to get to actually explore Valencia further. We were not disappointed. The festival was a blast, though it took a few days to get all the tomatoes out of our ears. Better yet, we learned a lot about Valencia and spent several days exploring the city.

Over the last few years, much work has gone into building and opening the City of Art and Sciences complex, where there are several museums, theme parks, and exhibits. Valencia also has an interesting history, and is home to what many historians believe to be the Holy Grail, stored inside Valencia Cathedral. There are several parks and beaches worth seeing in Valencia, and a large shopping area in the center of the city.