Things To Do in Valencia City

The Central Market of Valencia is a landmark in its own right, but there’s more to this place than just its stylish Art-Nouveau design. A haul of more than 1,200 stalls have a home inside and sell all sorts, from fresh produce to tasty tapas dishes and souvenirs. It’s a great place to pick up a bottle of home-grown wine, too.

Valencia’s nature park provides a home to more than 300 different species of birds throughout the year, including flamingos during the winter months. And it’s not just the warm weather they flock here for, Spain’s largest lagoon has a lot to do with it, too. Taking a boat ride across the lagoon is a popular way of bird-watching. Or, if you’re feeling active you can follow the 78-kilometre cycle route through marshes and coastal forests.

This week-long festival is the uncontested highlight on the city’s calendar. Celebrations last for a week towards the end of March, although there’s usually a trickle of events throughout the whole month. The festival has been around for nearly 100 years, and began back when local carpenters burned pieces of wood that were used to prop up their lights during winter, to celebrate the beginning of spring. Things are slightly different these days, convoys of floats with huge papier-mache puppets onboard are paraded around the city’s central streets. Then later, they’re filled with firecrackers and set alight – right before a spectacular firework show.