Valencia is a beautiful Mediterranean city with an enviable location, climate and colourful cultural life. Valencia’s history and cultural diversity is reflected in its different neighbourhoods. Here is a quick guide to the three main areas of the city to hopefully help you choose which one you would most like to stay in on your trip to Valencia.
If you are travelling to this part of Spain in search of sun and fun or you are with small children, the beach area is probably the best bet for you. You will find the coastline on the eastern side of the city and they all have attractive seafront promenades lines with bars, cafes and shops. The main beaches in Valencia are Malvarrosa Beach – which is famous for its nightlife, Alboraya Beach and Las Arenas Beach.
Another popular choice with tourists when choosing their accommodation in Valencia is obviously the historic city centre, known as El Barrio del Carmen. This is where you will find the city’s charming cobbled streets, narrow lanes and historic buildings. This is, in my opinion, the most attractive part of the city for just wandering and enjoying a tasty coffee on one of the cafe terraces and watching the world go by. This neighbourhood runs from the Central Market to the dried out Turia River bed which has been converted into an attractive park. The Carmen neighbourhood is home to some of the city’s best nightlife as well as its best museums and most important historical monuments.
If shopping is your thing, head to the Casanovas area which has Calle de Colon in the middle of it – a long avenue dotted with great shops and cafes as well as some excellent restaurants. This is the ideal place to discover the more modern, more commercial side to this old Spanish city and take in some of the glamour as well as the history.
If you only have a few days to spend in Valencia, it is worth choosing the location of your accommodation carefully bearing in mind what you want to get out of the city. Having said that, Valencia is not a sprawling European city like London or Paris and is fairly easy to navigate using the efficient local transport if you do want to see all of the neighbourhoods and get a more balanced idea of what Valencia is all about.
