LOOKING for a city that has it all with vibrant restaurants and shops as well as beautiful beaches? Check out Valencia.
What’s even better for Brits is that flights to the Spanish city are as little as £15, it’s just over two hours away – and travel experts at A Place in the Sun love it too.
When it comes to exploring cities looking for properties as well as a general vibe, A Place in the Sun presenters can get a real feel for a place.
And when Sun Travel spoke to two of the stars asking where in Spain their go-to city is, both had the same answer – Valencia.
Craig Rowe told us: “What I love about Valencia is that it has it all – it’s a city, and the beach is there as well.
“It has amazing coasts and beautiful architecture, it’s got everything you need from a city.
“It’s great for a weekend break, and it’s the third largest city in Spain with around 800,000 people – but it doesn’t feel too busy like Madrid or London, it’s a relaxing place to go.”
In fact, Craig loves the city so much so that he’s planning on buying a property there himself one day.
He added: “My partner Paul and I are hoping to buy a property in Spain, we’re not in a position to do it yet, but hopefully we’ll be able to in the next couple of years.
“I love Valencia as a city, whereas my partner loves Barcelona – but I think he’s coming round to my idea.”
Talking to Jean Johansson, who has been presenting A Place in the Sun since 2018, she also was full of love for Valencia.
She said: “I’m a massive fan of Spain, and Valencia especially; it’s got that beach and city vibe.
“As soon as you get out of the city centre, there are big properties there too.
“But it has great food, nice people, and it’s not as talked about as some of Spain’s other cities, but I think that will change in the next few years.”
“Personally, I much prefer it to Barcelona, which can get very busy in the summer – Valencia has more of a laid-back vibe to me.
“I only really discovered the city while working on A Place in the Sun, I’d never been to Valencia before – it’s a great place for a girls weekend, or a romantic weekend away.”
Brits can fly to Valencia from London Stansted in April from just £15 with Ryanair.
From there, you can get into the city by car in around 15 minutes.
Being a bustling Spanish city there are plenty of restaurants to grab a bite to eat.
Some of the top on Tripadvisor include Esquinita Mía, one visitor said: “The tapas dishes were fabulous – very tasty and great value. The empanadas were so good we re-ordered.”
Other top spots include Osteria da Gianni, El Garaje Foodie and Arrocería El Rek.
There’s plenty of things to see too and one popular activity is biking through the Turia Gardens and exploring the market which is one of the biggest in Europe.
In peak season the market has around 900 stalls with lots of baked foods, fresh seafood as well as perfumeries, and souvenir spots.
When Deputy Travel Editor Kara Godfrey visited the city two years ago, she went to the City of Arts and Science museum.
The huge complex cost a huge £760million to build across 10 years and film fans will recognise it as it appeared in Westworld and Doctor Who.
But it was when she visited the trendy district of El Cabanyal, she found her favourite place.
Kara said: “It’s here I fell into a warehouse-cum-greenhouse that had both a bar and jazz being played live on stage.
“The cheapest eat I found was La Finestra back in the city, where not only are the beers cheap, but you can get mini pizzas for just £2.”
Of course there are beaches too like La Malvarrosa which is the most famous and popular in the city – it has golden sand and a long promenade.
Other popular coastal spots include El Cabanyal (Las Arenas), and La Patacona.
For more on Spain, here’s a European city with 3,000 hours of sunshine a year named best destination to visit in 2026.
And this Spanish city that’s closest to the UK and is quieter than Barcelona is getting new TUI holidays.