Has anyone visited Cuenca? Is it worth a stop? Is it difficult to get transport to the town from the railway station? Is a day there enough to get a feel for the place?
What were your favourite things to do in Valencia (history, wandering). Any recommended walking tours, bus tours? Thankyou
Posted by
Washington DC
27197 posts
I spent two nights in Cuenca in May and highly recommend a visit to the city. If you're interested in modern art, I recommend allowing at least a full day, because there are a couple of museums you should see, and each might take 60 to 90 minutes. The historic area is not tiny, so you'd want a fair amount of time to see it, in any case. I saw notices around the tourist office offering walking tours but didn't take one.
I arrived via regional train rather than on the AVE, so I didn't have such a long trip into town. It was still a bit of a walk. And uphill; the good stuff is always uphill.
I found this 2012 post on TripAdvisor that provides bus, taxi, and tourist-office information that would be very useful, assuming it is still accurate. Certainly the description of the T.O. locations was accurate as of May 2016. With luck the bit about buses meeting the AVE is also still true.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15593 posts
I took 2 of the TI's walking tours in Valencia. One guide was most excellent, the other was just plain awful. I didn't have enough time to visit the museums - I was there during a festival. Very pretty town, interesting architecture, nice covered market.
Posted by
Port St Joe Florida
513 posts
I spent two nights in Cuenca and three in Valencia last fall and really enjoyed both cities. I took the AVE out of Madrid's Atocha station and it took only about 30 minutes or so to reach Cuenca. As another poster mentioned, the art museum is great, as is the Cuenca History Museum, the smallish Old Town, the cathedral, and the Plaza Mayor are very good, and the Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses) built over the ravine are fabulous. Walk across the San Pablo bridge for the best view of the houses, and while you are on the other side walk on up to the Parador de Cuenca (historic hotel) and explore the common areas. Valencia is one of my favorite cities in Spain (I know Rick ignores its existence, but it is still great!) and my recent three nights there were a joy. It is only a little over an hour by AVE train from Cuenca. Go to Valencia for the immense array of seafood offered in local restaurants and explore as many varieties of paella (it was "invented" here) as you can find. To fill the time when you are not eating, take one of the Walking Tours offered by the local TI on the cathedral plaza, visit the cathedral and see the Holy Grael, explore the Old Town and the Mercado Central, and go out to the old port and take in the Ciudad des las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) whose aquarium is one of the best in Europe and whose science museum is worth the trip alone.