I was in Valencia and Alicante for a quick weekend. I had been to Valencia many years ago but I didn’t know Alicante, so I loved exploring this area in southeastern Spain!

Taking advantage of my boyfriend’s family apartment in San Juan de Alicante, we spent the weekend there. I arrived there late at night and the next morning we drove to Valencia in order to spend the day.

A daytrip to Valencia

Our first stop was in the area of Gran Vía since my boyfriend had to take an exam there. As soon as he finished, we strolled around the neighborhood until we hit Ruzafa (also known as Russafa in Valencian). This is the trendy place in Valencia at the moment, and we saw a lot of tempting cafés and bars. After that, we met my aunt and uncle who live there and we visited the city center with them including the Plaza de Toros, Valencia’s Town Hall and the Cathedral. We finished our tour at the super modern Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. This incredible complex houses some of the world’s most cutting edge science and art exhibits and showcases Santiago Calatrava’s exceptional ability to express what is inside a building through its exterior design.

Exploring Alicante

On Saturday, we went to the cinema in Alicante and then explored the city at night. We started our tour at Plaza de los Luceros and walked along the Paseo Federico Soto. We then saw the town hall and Marina of Alicante, plus the elegant Casa Carbonell.

Trip details

Flights:

Geneva-Madrid-Alicante (Iberia) and Alicante-Barcelona-Geneva (Vueling) on the way back.https://marielaaroundtheworld.com/tag/barcelona/

Restaurants in Valencia:

*Ubik Café: located in the trendy area of Ruzafa, we stopped here to enjoy an ‘aperitivo‘ before lunch. We had a delicious hot provolone served with mushrooms and truffle oil. Plus a cold beer of course!

*Copenhagen: we had some vegetarian dishes for lunch, including croquetas and a salad.

Restaurants in Alicante:

*La Gamba: located in San Juan de Alicante, we had some standard seafood for dinner here.

*El Bodegón: we had a delicious paella here in San Juan. Can’t wait to come back!

*Alquimia Gourmet: we tried some very good tapas!

*Peccati di Gola:  we enjoyed a beer and a snack.