We just finished a 14 night trip to Spain, Barcelona 5, València 4 and Madrid 5. Valencia was a "pin in the map" destination for us. We knew we wanted to fly into BCN and out of MAD and Valencia seemed like a logical stop (to us) in between when looking at the map. One short YouTube video and I was convinced to add it to our itinerary.
We stayed at the Venecia Centro Plaza. This is a 2 star hotel (used to be called Hostal Venecia) which has been fully renovated and could be rated much higher in my opinion. The rooms overlooking the Plaça de l'Ajuntament have fantastic views; no sunset, but a beautiful sunrise. Room 802 has a huge balcony with 2 chairs and a coffee table. It is centrally located. Turia Gardens is about a ten minutes walk away. City Hall (free and worth visit), train stations, Central Market, Valencia Cathedral (Holy Grail), Saint Nicholas (rivals Sistine Chapel) are even closer. We rented a tandem bike and rode down the Turia to the Ciutat de les Artes I les Ciences (stunning modern buildings worth seeing even if you do not go inside) and the Oceangrafic (dolphin show was fun and the aquariums and underwater tunnels are massive). Everything in Valencia is more laid back, less crowded and cheaper compared to the other big cities. And I did not know that there are oranges in the trees in November.
I suggest El Porteño Asador (Argentinian) for dinner. For €36 pp, you get appetizers, a massive platter of assorted grilled meats (you will have leftovers for the next night meal), unlimited drinks (bottle(s) of wine, beer etc. I did not believe it at first) and a plate of selected desserts including crepes, mousse, cheesecake, brownie. Funny thing is that coffee is not included. It was the best (and most expensive) meal of the two weeks. If you want to average down, try a €5 shawarma at Merlins down the road or anything at the nearby Central Market.
The only bucket list we had in Valencia (the other "holy grail") was to find authentic paella Valenciana (rabbit, chicken, snails). Look for a place where you have to get a reservation and pre-order it. Authentic paella is served only for lunch, not dinner. Pre-ordering is required because when they cook it in the paella pan, it takes about 45 minutes. You don't have to pre-order other "paella" like seafood, vegetable etc, probably because the rice is mass cooked in a pot and then just served in a paella pan. When they actually cook authentic paella in the pan, some of the rice can get crispy and stuck to the bottom of the pan. We went to Navarro which is highly rated and recommended by some locals. We did not know any of this and just showed up at Navarro before opening. While we were waiting for the restaurant to open, we met a tourist from Portland who had pre-ordered a large pan of paella Valenciana for a family that had rescued him from being stranded in Sagunto the day before. When the couple showed up without their kids, he invited us to join them for lunch to share the large paella. That is when I found out about the requirement to pre-order. FWIW, the paella was okay. I eat a lot of different rice dishes and paella would not be the top of my list.
Madrid and Barcelona are like Toronto or Montreal. IMO, Valencia is like Vancouver (where I live). The other two cities are obvious must see and must do. Valencia, on the other hand, is something to really enjoy with no expectations. It was also warmer than the other two cities in late fall and early winter. We spent four days in Valencia and loved every minute. We would not hesitate to go back.
