Christmas in Valencia

For this Christmas Giancarlo and I decided to treat ourselves to a holiday in Valencia; in fact for a while we had wanted to take little Matteo to visit the oceanographic park of this city, which they say is one of the most beautiful in the world.

As usual we relied on Ryanair to buy the plane tickets and were very happy with it; 3 return tickets from Bergamo to Valencia cost us almost 300 euros, not much considering it was Christmas week. As for the accommodation, travelling with a child of about 3 we opted to rent an apartment; we found one in the city centre that cost us 300 euros for the whole week (

As for parking our car at Bergamo airport we again relied on travelparking (the cost was 32 euros.

We left from Bergamo on the morning of 21 December; the flight to Valencia departed and landed punctually. As soon as we arrived we rushed to the tourist information point located right inside the airport; here a very kind clerk gave us all the information needed to spend a pleasant holiday. We also bought the daily Valencia card (8 euros) with which you can get various discounts on the various entrance tickets. Even though everyone had advised us to take the metro, which departs right from the airport, we preferred to take a taxi, which in Valencia are famously very cheap, and indeed our taxi cost us 17 euros to our apartment.

In Valencia during the Christmas period you can attend various circus shows; we counted at least 5 spread around various strategic points of the city, and our visit began with buying tickets for the most characteristic one, in the Plaza de Toros right inside the arena. The little one was delighted, especially at seeing the Aladdin theme, which he liked a lot. Outside the arena there is a very well-stocked grocery shop selling sweets at modest prices, we highly recommend it. The next day we devoted entirely to visiting the oceanographic park; at home we had consulted the website several times and in the end we bought a combined ticket for the oceanographic park and the Hemisfèric (25 euros), excluding the City of Arts and Sciences as in our judgement it was not suitable for such a small child.

The oceanographic park is the jewel in Valencia's crown; it is really very big and beautiful. The visit began with the Hemisfèric, which is nothing other than a three-dimensional cinema; at the ticket office you have to choose the show and the time you want to attend, none of them in Italian, so we opted for the dinosaurs in Spanish and we liked it a lot. Once out of there we went to eat. Right in front of the Hemisfèric there is an enormous shopping centre with a McDonald's attached, and that's where we ate. In the afternoon we visited the oceanographic park, which is astonishing, with entire pavilions dedicated to the various marine habitats; we even attended the dolphin show, saw the shark tank, the penguins and the seals. In the evening we took advantage of the nearby shopping centre to devote ourselves to Christmas shopping.

The following day we visited the city centre with the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, where a nativity scene was set up, Plaza de la Reina, the cathedral (really very beautiful), the Lonja (a UNESCO heritage site) and the central market (truly unmissable, especially during the holidays). For lunch we followed the directions of our faithful Routard and went to Fresco, where a full menu cost us about 8 euros per person.

Christmas Eve arrived; today we will visit the Pio 6 art museum. They say it is really beautiful and indeed it is, it truly deserves a visit. This is the only museum we allowed ourselves to visit even though there are several in the city. After the museum visit we visited the royal gardens, which have some beautiful aviaries inside, and then a nice walk to the Turia. The Turia is really very beautiful, you meet many people strolling and jogging, and you can also admire the famous bridges of Valencia, from the historic ones to the more modern ones. Our destination is the famous Gulliver gardens, a free play area that is really quite unique. After a couple of hours Matteo is exhausted and we all go home, where everything is ready to celebrate Christmas all together.

Christmas has finally arrived; after unwrapping the presents with the little one, we head to the Malvarrosa, which is Valencia's beach. It's a beautiful day and many like us, despite it being a holiday, took advantage of it to enjoy this sunny day. It feels wonderful. Matteo plays with the sand and the various games scattered along the seafront, Giancarlo takes a look at the menus offered by the various restaurants for today. It's almost 3 when we finally sit down at the table; we chose a lovely restaurant on the beach, Casa Isabel (where we ate divinely and celebrated Christmas cheerfully, with a steep bill, but it's Christmas). After eating we take another long walk and then go to the funfair, which by this hour is buzzing. We go on a few rides and on the pony, and I must confess I became a bit of a child again.

They give us discounts for the nearby American circus and we decide to end this beautiful day with another circus show, whose main attraction is some really good Cuban artists. We go home by taxi, because after a certain hour the buses don't run; paying just 6 euros for the ride on Christmas night (take that, our holiday and night surcharges).

To get around Valencia we bought a bus pass costing 5.60, valid for 10 rides; it's very handy because it can be used by several people, though of course you have to validate it several times. The taxi is also very convenient. The last day was meant to be devoted to visiting the Bioparc, but then because of the bad weather we opted for a stroll in the centre and doing some last-minute shopping.