Valencia Beaches and Land Activities: The winds off the Mediterranean offer perfect conditions for water sports like surfing and sailing. In fact, America’s cup yachting regattas were held in front of the Calencian coast in 2007 and 2010. There are over 2.8 kilometers of beaches to explore. Both the Arenas beach and the Malvarrosa beach are close to the city centre so you can get there quite easily. Next to both beaches is the Paseo Maritimo – a sea-front promenade- where you can walk, job, roller skate, tan or dine at the restaurants. There are also Patacona and Port Saplaya beaches in the municipality of Alboraya and the Pinedo beach (gay friendly) where there are several spectacular restaurants. El Saler beach won the European Blue Flag award for it’s clear waters and pristine golden sands. As for land activities, golf is very popular and Valencia has more than 20 golf courses. If you are a race fan, you should know that the European Formula One Grand Prix takes place in Valencia Street Circuit once a year. Also there is the motorcycle Grand Prix running, the show jumping tournament of the worldwide champions’ tour, an ATP 500 tennis tournament, or the DTM to consider as well.

The City of Arts and Sciences is quite an architectural marvel and should not be missed. It is made of five public areas that are listed below and are surrounded by peaceful swimming pools for visitors to enjoy. The five complexes are:

* L’Hemisfèric: IMAX Movie Theater and Planetarium
* El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe: Museum of applied science
* L’Umbracle: A garden for walking
* L’Oceanogràfic: Marine Park.
* El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía: Room destined to opera and the performing arts

Other museums include Museum of Fine arts, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM), Ceramic Museum, The cathedral museum, House-Museum of Jose Benlliure, City Museum (palacio Marqués Del Campo), Fallero Museum (Museum of Las Fallas), Municipal Historical Museum, Patriarch museum, Paleontologic Museum

Between March 12 and March 19, Paella, Valencia celebrates the Fallas celebration. It started as a simple burning of the remains of the carpenter’s workshops but turned into a week long celebration where the Valencian people and falleros artists now burn beautiful sculptures (made just for the ceremonial burning). There are more than 300 sculptures (made of paper and cardboard on a wooden framework are called “fallas”) that are build throughout the year and during Fallas, the large, colorful sculptures fill the streets. They are burned at midnight on the last day of the holiday, along with fireworks and explosions.

Shopping: Valencia is traditionally known for its ceramics industry. The town of Paterna is known for its painted ceramic wall decorations, known as socarrats, as well as green and purple ornaments. Check out the Plaza Redonda on Sunday mornings – it is an open-air flea market with paintings, books, plants, animals, leather goods and music. Mercado Central is a well known modern piece of architecture where your senses will be immersed in the different aromas and colors that surround you. There are traditional unique shops as well as large commercial shops to explore in Valencia.

Nightlife: There is a variety of bars in Valencia where you can find whatever style you are looking for. The most visited discotheques are in the zone called “Viveros.” Other hot spots are located on Aragón avenue, Canovas square , Blasco Ibáñez avenue, Honduras square, Xúquer square and Juan Llorens. In the El Carmen district you can find a wide variety of music all within a short distance of eachother. Some of the styles/bars include a punk bar, a reggae smoking den, a retro chill-out lounge, a jazz basement, an underground trance mix, an intelligencia meeting point, a goth dungeon, a gay bar, latino tunes, caribbean heat and a twisted bohemian art-cave.

Foods of Valencia: Fruits, vegetables, fresh fish, shellfish and of course rice are the main staples of the Valencian diet. The main fishes used in Valencian food are eel, hake, sea bass, gilthead and red mullet.