My Top things to do in Valencia

One of our ports of call was the Spanish city of Valencia. Valencia lies on the South-eastern coast of Spain. Valencia is known for its Arts and Science, Paella and my favourite Agua de Valencia.

Such a pretty City

This was my second visit to Valencia and I had one thing on my mind. I wanted to go to the Cathedral and see the Holy Grail.

My last visit 3 years ago, I went to see the holy grail and sadly turned left on arrival, paid my ticket to walk up 5 million steps to a viewing platform. No Holy Grail in sight. This time I just had to get one thing right and that was to turn right!

Anyway, I will come back to that. So we arrived in Sunny Valencia a lovely 21’c and pure sunshine. We had a couple of options. We could book an excursion with the cruise line, Use MSC shuttle transfer 13Euros each or use public transport. We opted for the MSC transfer. The local bus was only 1.50E each way but we were happy to pay more and arrive in style instead of the local bus!

I say ‘style’ the bus was over 100 years old, to get on you had to virtually crawl as to not bang your head. I literally hadn’t seen a bus like it! Anyway, after a mild panic, we sent off. It was a 25-minute journey to the centre of Valencia. The walk into the centre was approx. a 10-minute walk on the flat, so not a great hike if you have mobility issues.

Drop off point

We walked to Valencia Cathedral also known as St Mary’s. Entrance to the Cathedral cost 8 Euros, you were handed some earphones and a map and was on your way. The Holy Grail was stop number 14 but being extremely impatient I went there first. Once seen, I took the full tour. I was probably in the church for just less than an hour. The audio tour was great, offering lots of great information about this wonderful place. Whilst there, a monk came over to me and gave me a blessing. I think that’s what it was as I don’t speak Spanish and he didn’t speak English. It was a wonderful experience and I would recommend this tour to anyone interested.

Cathedral entrance

Holy Grail

Next up was to meet back with my pal Dawn and experience an Agua de Valencia – their local traditional drink Fresh Orange juice, Cava and vodka. Note* it tastes just like orange juice so be mindful when drinking it!!

When in Valencia!

Whilst we were in Valencia there was a festival – which normally runs for 1^st – 19^th March. We experienced the Firework ‘display’ Which if you didn’t know about may just make you jump!! The festival lasts for 19 Days the ‘Spectacular or sound’ Starts every day at 2 pm at the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. Please be warned its REALLY REALLY loud!!

Fallas Celebrations

Along with this you will find the streets all lined up with food such as my favourite Churros and the traditional Paella made with chicken and Rabbit. It is known to be the original recipe and is a must-have for lunch. Well if you don’t mind eating ‘Bugs Bunny’. I declined!

Churros 🙂

Traditional Tapas and local Cava

Now if you didn’t want to stray far from the port, you could visit one of many local beaches along the coast or one of the main attractions here is the  Oceanografi. The quickest way to get here from the port is by taxi it is just under 4km away. It is home to over 45000 animals with over 500 species. If this is your thing, it is believed to be one of the best in the world.

Valencia offers a lot more than what I have mentioned here. I would highly recommend Valencia, a very lovely city with plenty to do. Tip even if it’s sunny take your coat as it can be very shaded and almost chilly when out of the sun.

Have you been to Valencia? What was your highlight? I would love to hear from you

Keep Cruising,

Love Bonnie x