Valencia & the Costa Blanca

Characterful Valencia has a penchant for partying as seen in its frenetic festivals and the hectic nightlife of Valencia city and the Costa Blanca resorts to its south. During the spring Las Fallas festival, there are daily fireworks, parades, music concerts and bullfights. The partying culminates in the burning of over 300 giant, satirical, paper mâche effigies. Valencia city has absorbing museums and an intriguing historical center. Dramatic, modern buildings in its Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias house a planetarium, a hands-on science museum and Spain's largest aquarium. Nearby, Playa de las Arenas is great for savoring the local ...

Characterful Valencia has a penchant for partying as seen in its frenetic festivals and the hectic nightlife of Valencia city and the Costa Blanca resorts to its south. During the spring Las Fallas festival, there are daily fireworks, parades, music concerts and bullfights. The partying culminates in the burning of over 300 giant, satirical, paper mâche effigies. Valencia city has absorbing museums and an intriguing historical center. Dramatic, modern buildings in its Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias house a planetarium, a hands-on science museum and Spain's largest aquarium. Nearby, Playa de las Arenas is great for savoring the local specialty, paella. Just south of the city, surrounded by rice fields, are the bird-filled wetlands of La Albufera. Boat trips are available. The Costa Blanca is another of Spain's infamous concrete package-holiday coasts and home to many northern Europeans. Forward-looking Alicante is its biggest urban center. Benidorm, with long white sandy beaches, three immense theme parks and a water park, is popular with families. The small towns of Xàbia and Altea retain historic cores.

About the Expert

John Noble is a coauthor of Lonely Planet's Spain, Andalucia, and Mexico as well as many other LP titles from Indonesia to Belize to Brazil.