Valencia Holiday Guide

Sunshine, tapas, old streets… and a bit of the future thrown in.

Why Valencia?

Barcelona gets most of the attention. Valencia probably doesn't mind.

It's got the old streets, little squares, tapas bars and that unmistakably Spanish habit of making sitting outside with something cold to drink feel like a perfectly productive way to spend an afternoon.

Then, just when you think you've got Valencia figured out, you arrive at the City of Arts and Sciences and it looks as though somebody has dropped part of the future into the middle of the city.

That's one of the reasons we like Valencia for a short break. You can wander around the old centre in the morning, eat far too much at lunchtime, spend the afternoon somewhere completely different and still have the beach as an option.

And no, we're not going to tell you to get up at 6am to fit 17 attractions into one day. That's not a holiday.

Where we'd stay

We're currently putting together our shortlist of Valencia hotels and places we'd genuinely consider staying ourselves.

Once our travel partnerships are in place, we'll add our favourites here — including what we like about them and who we think each one would suit.

Coming soon.

Why Valencia

The Old Town would be high on our list, along with the Central Market and the City of Arts and Sciences. We'd also leave some completely unplanned time for wandering, stopping for food and changing our minds — because those often end up being the best bits of a city break.

And being Valencia, we'd have to talk about paella. This is its home territory, so finding somewhere good for a proper Valencian paella deserves considerably more attention than another hour spent ticking attractions off a list.

Who would we recommend Valencia to?

Couples, friends and solo travellers looking for a European city break that combines sightseeing, food and sunshine particularly well.

It also works brilliantly if you’re somebody who likes cities but doesn’t necessarily want your entire holiday to feel like one long sightseeing marathon.

View The Planner

We've created a BlueHazeStudio Valencia City Break Planner to help bring everything together — where to stay, what to see, itinerary ideas, bookings, budget, packing and all those little things that are surprisingly easy to forget.