The first time I visited Valencia was in the Spring of 1987. My roommate and I were studying in Madrid and living with a wonderful Spanish family who included us in their lives. They helped us create many lasting memories of a truly unforgettable year. One of them was a visit to Valencia to experience the Fallas festival.
Las Fallas de Valencia
The Fallas festival takes place every year from March 15th to March 19th. This festival has a long and storied history, dating back to the 18th century. Originally, it was a celebration to honor Saint Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. Over time, the festival evolved into a showcase of the city's artistic talent and a way for the community to come together in celebration.
During Fallas, the streets of Valencia come alive with colorful decorations, music, and fireworks. The main attraction of the festival is the creation and display of intricate and elaborate effigies, known as fallas. These effigies are made of papier-mâché and depict various scenes, often satirizing political figures, celebrities, or societal issues. They are stunning.
Starting at 8PM they burn the fallas and overnight the city is cleaned of the remnants, ashes and soot. Some are preserved and you can see them in the Fallas Museum (more on this below). We visited the museum in the spring of 2018 and loved every moment. The cover photo of this post was taken from the sidewalk in front of the museum. If you can visit Valencia during this week, especially on March 19th, it will be an unforgettable experience.
Here are a couple of photos I took back in 1987 (scans of photos from an old photo album).
You can get a better idea by visiting this site. The site is in Spanish. So, I'm really providing the link for the photos because they are much better quality than the ones I shared above.
Valencia City and Province
The truth is that the city of Valencia has a lot to offer any time of year. And if you are there for beach weather, the beaches in the city and Province of Valencia are beautiful. When I visited in 1987 for the Fallas festival, I stayed in a beach town called Benicassim and had a wonderful visit there. Benicassim is a beautiful beach town a ways north of Valencia; maybe an hour or so by car. If you go, plan to have lunch at one of the restaurants specializing in paella. Typically you have to order the paella when you make the reservation. They are wonderfully fresh because they are made to order but they take a while to prepare.
It wasn't until 2018 when I visited Valencia for the second time. It was on a whim. (edit: My wife believes we planned this before we left the states. She's probably right, but I like my spontaneous version). I was in Madrid on a family vacation. One evening we had the not so crazy idea to take the high-speed Ave train on a day trip to this lovely city. So, I grabbed my laptop computer, bought the tickets, and bright and early the next morning we were on our way. It is quite remarkable that nowadays you can get out of bed at 7AM in Madrid, shower, dress, go to the train station and be in Valencia at half past 9 in the morning. Our teenager was not thrilled at first. But she rallied and had a wonderful time with us!
One day is not nearly enough time to see all that Valencia has to offer for tourists. So, we really want to get back there to see the things we didn't see the last time. What did we see and do on our whirlwind visit? We went to the Central Market, La Lonja (silk exchange, beautiful, historic municipal building), the Fallas museum, the City of the Arts and Sciences, a paella restaurant and shopping by the beach, and hung out in the beautiful green spaces and plazas around the city.
Valencia Central Market
We first made our way along streets lined with orange trees to the Central Market (Mercat Central), stopping for a coffee with milk along the way (café con leche in Spanish, cafe amb llet in Valencian). As of this writing it was open from Monday through Saturday from 7:30AM to 3:00PM. According to one source it is the largest market with fresh produce in Europe. We wandered around a bit, taking in the sights, sounds, and aromas, and I eventually purchased four personal sized paella pans and stuck them in my backpack. Note to self: this was not the best idea because they were heavy to carry all day on my back and after several years, I have only ever used one of them one time. Anyway, whether you are a foodie or not, this is a fun place to visit. And with everything else we wanted to do during our visit, we would not have made it back to the market in the afternoon.
The Silk Exchange - UNESCO World Heritage Site
Next, we visited La Lonja (The Silk Exchange). La Lonja is a civil building in the Gothic style. it is a beautiful structure that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. It is an essential visit when in Valencia. Below is a photo of the interior. The columns are remarkable and we found the space to be quite beautiful and unique in various ways. Read more about it here.
Fallas Museum
From there we headed over to the Fallas Museum (Museu Faller de València). We thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the beautifully preserved fallas from previous years. The collection is quite extensive and impeccably displayed. Our teenage daughter remembered that there were no benches to sit on. So, plan ahead and be sure to review the accessibility section of the website. Click here to visit the official website for more information.
Turia Park
After this museum visit, we made our way to the Turia park and headed in the direction of the City of the Arts and Sciences. The Turia park was first opened in June of 1987. I remember seeing it being constructed when I was there for the Fallas a few months earlier and wondering what it was. I thought maybe it was some sort of archeological excavation. But I was quite mistaken. When it first opened only two sections of the park had been completed. Now it is a 10-kilometer-long park meandering through the city (about 6.2 miles). On a map it sort of looks like a river. Well, it was a river! In 1957 the river overflowed, and dozens of people perished. So, they decided to divert the river to the south of the city. At the eastern end of the Turia we reached the City of the Arts and Sciences. They are apparently planning to extend the park just a little farther to the port. When they built this park, they preserved the historic bridges that crossed the river. It really is a beautiful space to wander through. And if you are a runner, there is a path that is specifically for runners! Follow this link for more information and photos.
City of the Arts and Sciences and Botanical Garden
The City of the Arts and Sciences is a collection of large, futuristic l buildings that evoke shapes of sea creatures. There are university buildings, museums, reflecting pools with activities, and even a botanical garden.
We really loved hanging out there! We did not have time to see the museums, but we did spend time in the botanical garden an it was worth the visit. We will make time for the museums the next time we visit.
My son took these awesome photos of the City of Arts and Sciences. On the right-hand side of the first photo you can see the botanical gardens we visited.
Lunch by the Sea - Paella!
The reason we couldn't spend more time and visit the museums was that we had lunch reservations at a paella restaurant by the beach. So, we caught a taxi and headed there next. We had a delicious paella for lunch at La Marcelina.
There are several paella restaurants along the beautiful beaches of Valencia. We enjoyed our meal here and the views were a bonus.
Shopping by the Beach
After lunch we had an enjoyable walk along the beach, shopped in the cute little shops and got some ice cream before heading back to the Turia to walk off our lunch. We then took a taxi to the train station where we caught the train back to Madrid.
We don't know about you, but we love to cook and have been making paella at home for many years. We really enjoy this meal and after you make it a few times you can get quite good at it. You need a good recipe and the right tools and ingredients to make an authentic paella. So, today is your lucky day! Here is our recipe:
Our Paella Recipe
Be sure to continue reading after the recipe for information on and links to ingredients you will need to make an authentic paella. You will want to make this over and over again!
Ingredients
4 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons pimentón de la vera (dulce; substitute with other smoked paprika)
2 pinches saffron threads
1 sprig of rosemary (optional)*
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on)
1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
½ cup crushed tomatoes
4 roasted piquillo peppers, diced or pureed
1 cup canned lima or garbanzo beans, drained (optional)
1 ½ cups Bomba rice (short grain, substitute with arborio rice)
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, uncooked**
12 little neck clams or mussels (optional)
6 lemon wedges
Method
Place the chicken stock, pimentón, saffron, and rosemary (if using) in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir. Remove from the heat and let the saffron and rosemary steep in the stock while you cook the other ingredients.
Heat the oil in an 13-inch paella pan set over a burner diffuser and fry the chicken thighs over medium-high heat, turning to brown them lightly all over (this assumes you have a gas stove. If not, you can cook the paella over a barbeque grill or a paella burner). Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.
If the chicken has rendered a lot of fat, remove some of it, leaving just a few tablespoons. Add the onion and cook until softened, stirring frequently to prevent burning, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and piquillo peppers and stir; this is the sofrito. Add the rice and stir to coat with the sofrito. Cook the rice for a few minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
Make sure the rice is evenly distributed in the pan. Add the salt to the saffron-infused stock, stir, check the taste, remove the rosemary sprig (if using) and add the stock to the paella. We pour it in slowly over the back of a large spoon so as not to disturb the rice.
Distribute the beans (if using) over the top of the paella. Arrange the chicken thighs on the paella and simmer for about 20 minutes or until about half of the stock has been absorbed, then arrange the shrimp on the paella (and clams or mussels if using) and continue cooking until most of the stock is absorbed, about 15 minutes more.
Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook until the rest of the stock is absorbed, taking care not to burn the paella. The goal is to form a tasty crust of rice on the bottom of the pan. This is called socarrat. For us and many others, this is the best part of the paella. Arrange the lemons on the perimeter of the paella and serve.
*In Valencia, they make the traditional paella with rabbit and land snails. The land snails feed on rosemary and they impart that herbal flavor to the rice. You can skip the snails and just steep the rosemary in the stock (remove from stock before adding the stock to the paella).
**In Spain they would use prawns with the shells on. Shrimp is a good substitute and peeling them means you don’t have to get your hands messy. In Murcia, Spain they make a version like this with the shells removed. It's called señoret, not paella.
Note: We love roasted piquillo peppers. They are much finer than the roasted red peppers you are used to. And the flavor is also different; very mildly spicy.
Also, note that Pimentón de la Vera comes in three varieties: hot, bittersweet, and sweet. It is typical to use the sweet variety on a paella, but you can use whichever you prefer. You can find Pimentón de la Vera and roasted piquillo peppers online along with other ingredients and equipment that are essential to make paella and not easy to find locally.
Links to Paella Making Supplies
Here are several links to tools and ingredients you may need to make your paella authentically (these are not sponsored links, just convenient links to things you might need to make your perfect paella):
Matiz España Deluxe Authentic Paella Kit with Traditional Pan and Ingredients
Machika Enamel Paella Pan - note that I have a 13-inch pan like this and I can make it on my gas stove. But I need to use a diffuser plate so that it will cook more evenly (see next item). Paellas larger than this should be made on a grill or using a paella burner (see below).
Cast Iron Diffuser Plate for Gas Stove - needed to ensure even cooking of your paella on a gas stove
Paella Burners - needed to cook larger paellas as an alternative to cooking them on a grill.
DeLallo Grilled Piquillo Peppers 12oz Jar - a delicious ingredient for your paella (see above paragraph for a description)
La Dalia Sweet Smoked Paprika 2.469 Oz - alternatively you might be able to find smoked paprika at your local grocery store. It will be close enough.
Golden Saffron - you might be able to find saffron at your local grocery store. But it will be more expensive and may be a lower quality.
Matiz Bomba Paella Rice - paella requires short grain rice and bomba rice is what is most typical. In a pinch I have used arborio rice. But its a little different.
Plans for Our Next Visit to Valencia
The next time we visit Valencia we will plan to stay for at least a couple of days and see the sites we missed the last time. A Valencian Reddit user recommends the following other locations (the post was written in Spanish): La Casa de los Gatos (house of the cats), La Plaza Redonda (the round place), la Catedral (the cathedral), las Torres de Serranos y de Quart (these are towers), the Miguelete (another tower that you can visit and climb to the top for great views), the balcony of the Ayuntamiento (city hall) from where you can take photos, and El Palacio Marqués de Dos Aguas (a palace). We may get there later this year. If we do, we will research these places and share them in a future post.
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