Spaanse scholen en toeristische informatie over Valencia

With beautiful beaches, fascinating architecture, a well-known football team and an unrivalled nightlife, Valencia offers everything your heart desires. The city, which is the birthplace of the most traditional of Spanish dishes, paella, is the perfect location from where to explore a great number of Mediterranean beaches along the Costa Blanca, catch a ferry for Ibiza, or just wander through the city's open air markets and explore its Gothic architecture. This is why Valencia is a highly popular Spanish destination and has much to offer to its plethora of visitors, including those people who come here for language holidays.

It is rather difficult to say what would be the best time to take a language course in Valencia. Though the climate is pleasantly warm all throughout the year with an average temperature of approximately 21-degree Celsius, July and August are the peak summer months when the mercury goes as high as 26-degree Celsius. But one should think twice before deciding that July and August are not the months when to go to Valencia. Why? Because August is the time for the very famous and very messy Valencia Tomato Fight Festival (La Tomatina) which attracts visitors from all parts of Spain and also from all corners of the world. Meanwhile, in July you have the Feria de Julio and also some of the most important of the Spanish bullfighting events. If the festivals and events in Valencia are among your reasons for choosing it, then this is actually the best time to get to know the city. So is middle-March, the time for the Fallas de San Jose, one of the most significant festivals in Spain.

You can also visit the city during the peak tourist season which is in June. But if you rather preferred to avoid the crowds, then consider late May and early June as a more appropriate time. Nature is in full bloom during this period, the temperatures are bearable and the noisy crowds have not yet arrived on the scene. The splendours of spring and the allures of autumn notwithstanding, torrential downpours make these seasons not the best time to be in Valencia. Winters are mild in the city, but freezing in the inner parts of the Valencia region, that is in the mountainous terrains. So if you are planning an excursion in these areas, it is a good idea not to consider this time when you are debating on when to visit Valencia.

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Here is a list of the most popular museums, sights and tourist attractions in Valencia. Find out the famous places to visit, from the Miguelete to the City of Arts and Sciences.

Mercado Central is home to 3 buildings of interest, the Silk Market, one of the best examples of gothic civil architecture in Europe which is Patrimony of the Humanity (UNESCO), the Santos Juanes Church in baroque style, and the Central Market, a colourful market in a beautiful modern building.

La Catedral, El Miguelete and Plaza de la Virgen - Each of the three gates of the Cathedral has a different style: Irons Gate (baroque), the Apostles Gate (gothic) and the Palace Gate (Romanesque). The bell tower El Miguelete is the place where you can enjoy amazing views. And the Plaza de la Virgen is located on the site that once was the forum of Roman Valencia.
Torres de Serranos are considered to be the largest Gothic city gateway in all of Europe, and were constructed at the end of the 14th century by Pere Balaguer as part of the city's fortification. They provisionally housed prison cells and served as a triumphal arch on many festive occasions.
Iglesia San Juan del Hospital is one of the oldest churches in Valencia, built around 1261. The temple has a single nave covered with a pointed barrel vault. Inside, you may contemplate the magnificent chapel of Santa Barbara and others chapels with painted murals from the Gothic period.
Museo de Bellas Artes San Pio V- Located in a Baroque building recently renovated, this museum is one of the most outstanding painting archives in Spain, renowned for its collections of primitive Valencian painters, although there are also works by El Greco, Velázquez, Murillo, Goya, and some archaeological pieces.
Museo Nacional de Ceramica Gonzalez Marti is housed in a palace that dates from the 15th century and was refurnished in 1740 in rococo style with a magnificent alabaster entrance. Inside, you can find the 19th century rooms and a collection of tiles made in the Royal Ceramics Factory in Alcora.
Monasterio de San Miguel de los Reyes was erected in the 16th century over the old abbey. The facade is in the Renaissance style and is framed by two towers with salomonic Baroque columns. The monastery also has two cloisters surrounded by arch galleries.
The City of Arts and Sciences Complex includes four buildings: L'Hemisferic and its IMAX cinema;  the Science Museum is one of those museums where it is forbidden not to touch;  L' Oceanographic is a giant marine park or aquarium,  and the Palau de les Arts is an Opera House.
El Puerto y La Playa - Visit the port and enjoy the team bases, the house of America’s Cup, the super yacht pier and the port sheds. Afterwards, you could walk by the promenade seafront in the Las Arenas, La Malvarrosa and Alboraya beaches.
Jardin Botanico - The Botanic Garden was founded in 1567 for the study of medicinal plants. In 1802 it was installed in l'Hort de Tramoyeres, where it is currently situated.

Valencia & Entertainment

After all efforts one needs to find diversion:
Hit the beach - The sun, the sand, the sea… not surprisingly, one of Valencia’s top features is its endless kilometres of shoreline. The most lively city beaches, Las Arenas and Malvarrosa, are connected by a busy boardwalk full of restaurants and cafes.
Eat, drink and be merry - Fresh-squeezed orange juice, tasty seafood platters, frothy horchata de chufas, steaming pans of paella… hungry yet?
Take a walk - With mild year-round temperatures and a sure-to-shine sun, it is only natural that Valencia is loaded with lush parks, shaded gardens and seaside boardwalks.
What about an underwater visit? - Europe’s biggest aquarium, L’Oceanogràfic, gives you the opportunity to get up close and personal with belugas, sharks, penguins, tropical fish and all sorts of other creatures of the deep. The numerous installations, located in Santiago Calatrava’s sleek and ultra-modern City of Arts and Sciences, feature a truly spectacular dolphin show, two massive underwater tunnels and even an underwater restaurant!
Watch a flamenco show - Although Flamenco is traditional from Andalusia, you can find it in most cities throughout Spain, Valencia being no exception. This city has certainly adopted this music genre, and has done a very good job in raising it as its own.
Go out for a wild night!- Valencia  is famous for its discotheques, where the music plays until dawn.
Feel like doing some shopping? Then take advantage of the many shops and boutiques that you can find throughout the city.
Do some sports!- The 112 kilometres of the Valencian coastline offer countless opportunities for leisure and sport. With an annual average of nearly 2,700 hours of sunshine, a temperature of 24 C in summer and 10 C in winter, lovers of nautical sports will find everything they need on the premises strategically placed all along the shoreline .

Feast of Corpus Christi - Celebrations go back to 1355 in Valencia City.  The ceremony has been held for centuries with different religious, cultural and festive events in a large number of towns and cities throughout the whole region of Valencia.
The Fallas – Valencianos celebrate each year the final days of the winter and the arrival of spring with spectacular fires and pyrotechnics. From March 15 to 19 (the feast of Saint Joseph, day of the father in the whole country), Valencia is given over to a carnival of bonfires, fiesta, fireworks and a healthy dose of satire known as Las Fallas, the fires.
Valencia July Fair is a traditional and extensive programme of events that take place in emblematic areas of the city. This fair is quite old, it has been celebrated since 1871 and it is considered as a joyful event that allows both citizens and tourists to enjoy amazing events held in the warmth of the fresh summer nights.
Tomatina de Buñol (only 38 Km from Valencia) -Every year, on the last Wednesday of August more than 40,000 people, hungry for fun and fiesta, get roped into tomato throwing in the Tomatina de Buñol, a friendly battle in which more than 110 tons of ripe tomatoes fly through the air.

Trips in the surroundings of Valencia
La Albufera Nature Park- Lying to the south of the city of Valencia, the Albufera freshwater lagoon is one of the most important nature areas in the Land of Valencia. A slim strip of coastline protects it from the sea, and on this strip of land, sand dunes have formed, plus a curious Mediterranean pine forest growing in sandy soil with rich shrubbery.

Peñiscola - The intense blue of the Mediterranean laps at the enormous rock – previously a small island – on which the fortified city of Peñíscola proudly stands. A fairytale city, an almost magical place straight out of the movies, it is crowned by a Templar castle from which Pope Luna, Benedict XIII, drove the Western Schism and determined the fate of Christianity for many years.

The Wine Route - On the way towards the Valley of Buñol from Valencia, the traveller in search of Valencia´s vineyards arrives at Cheste, a town of Arabian origin whose inhabitants earn their livelihood from winemaking and the exploitation of olive and cereal crops.

The River Turia Route stretches over the regions of Camp de Turia and Los Serranos. It begins in Lliría, the main regional town. The Romans called it Lauro and thus the chronicler Pliny refers to the wines grown in Plá de l´Arc as lauronenses.