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Which Would You Choose: Barcelona or Valencia?

Hello! Which location in Spain would you choose for an extended stay: Barcelona or Valencia? Of course, which ever place we stay has the option of going to visit the other for a few days anyway. But which place would you choose to settled down for a month or so and just live everyday life like a local? We bought tickets to Barcelona already but the alsa.es site has very inexpensive bus tickets to Valencia so since we are narrowing down an apartment, we still have an option of which city. Thanks!

Posted by
6733 posts

Not really that much to see/do in Valencia - it's a pretty ordinary, medium sized spanish city. I'm sure you could find things to do and see there, but it's not in the same league with Barcelona (not even close).

Posted by
672 posts

I think I would choose Barcelona. Using Barcelona as a base there are so many day trips that you could make: Girona, Figueres, Cadaques, Pyranees villages, coastal towns, Montserrat, Tarragona, Sitges, etc. and of course there is so much to see and do right there in Barcelona. We rented an apartment right outside of Barcelona in a town called El Masnou and found it to be much more reasonably priced than staying directly in the city. It was a quick, cheap train ride into the city.

Posted by
629 posts

Barcelona is a great city but so is Valencia. Valencia has a beautiful, CLEAN central area for wandering around and a world class aquarium (what architecture!). There are some great golf courses and the whole city smells sweet with oranges....the trees are everywhere. It is a nice city but it does not have the same number of day trips as available from Barcelona. If you have over a month stay in Barcelona - do yourself a favour and escape to Valencia for a visit!