Three days in Valencia

We left on the morning of April 8, 2010, on a Ryanair flight from Bergamo (which landed, of course, early in Valencia) and returned on the night of April 10, on the last Ryanair flight (arrival in Bergamo at 23:50). Cost for the flights: 187 euros. Upon arriving at Valencia Airport we bought, for 32 euros, two 48-hour Valencia Cards (there are three versions: 24, 48, or 72 hours). The card gives you the right to unlimited use of public transport, free admission to numerous museums, and at least a 15% discount on the others (including the City of Arts and Sciences). Less than 15 minutes by metro and we arrive in the center. We get off at the Colon stop, the closest to our hotel, the SH Ingles, on Via Marques Des Dos Aguas, a stone's throw from the cathedral and the historic center of the city.

For 230 euros we stayed two nights for two, in a spacious standard room, with an abundant breakfast and tickets included for the City of Arts and Sciences (Oceanogràfic, Museum of Sciences, and Hemisfèric). The price of the tickets alone for two would have been about 64 euros. After leaving our suitcases at the hotel, we devote the afternoon to visiting the old city. The weather is spring-like and the sky is blue. The first impression is that Valencia is a livable and clean city, with a truly fascinating historic center. We visit the cathedral (which is said to house the Holy Grail) with its Bell Tower (the Miguelete) and the nearby Plaza de la Virgen. We stroll through the whole picturesque Barrio del Carmen, the northern district of the historic center.

The places of greatest interest are the Torres de Serranos (from which you get a beautiful view), Plaza del Carmen, Plaza de Tossal, the area of the Mercado Central (which we'll visit on the morning of the last day), the Lonja, that is, the building that housed the commodity exchange and that contains an incredible hall with columns (UNESCO World Heritage Site). We then head to the scenic Plaza del Ayuntamiento, which houses the City Hall and the Post Office building, where it's worth going inside to see the splendid dome. Sipping the typical and excellent Orxata (a fresh white drink like milk, made from the juice of the chufa, the tuber of a plant. You can buy it at numerous stalls scattered around the city), we return to the hotel, and after a quick shower we decide to go and have dinner by the sea.

With a few metro stops and two tram stops, you reach Playa de Las Arenas, the Valencia seafront. We stroll while savoring the sea breeze and then choose one of the many restaurants overlooking the seafront. We dine on Paella Valenciana. We spend 40 euros.

We devote the entire day to visiting the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, the incredible, ultra-modern cultural centre built in the empty bed of the Turia river (the river was diverted in the 1960s to prevent the city's constant flooding). The complex, so dazzlingly pure white, is largely the work of the architect Santiago Calatrava and is worth the trip just to admire it from the outside. It's beautiful. There are three main attractions: • Oceanografic, the largest aquarium in all of Europe and the richest in animal species; • Museo de Las Ciencias: entirely interactive; • Hemisferic: the cinema that screens 45-minute films in IMAX format. Then there's also the beautiful Umbracule structure (free of charge), which offers a short stroll. We visit them all. There's no point describing the experience because any guidebook describes in depth everything you need to know.

Personally, if I had to choose, I'd suggest skipping the Hemisferic. The films – we saw the one about the secret of the Egyptian mummies – are frankly less spectacular than you might expect. In the evening we head back to the hotel, but not before a walk at sunset through the old town, especially since we have to hold out until at least 9 pm for dinner (before that, almost all the restaurants are closed). We have dinner in a little restaurant right a stone's throw from the hotel, next to the (beautiful) building that houses the ceramics museum. It's called La Utielana, it's frequented by locals and they serve excellent things, from paella to fried fish to tortillas. Good and cheap: 30 euros for two.

Early in the morning we visit the lively and brightly coloured Mercado Central (why isn't there something similar in Milan?). It's really worth strolling through this old building that houses stalls of fruit, vegetables, fish, meat and everything else. We set off for the sea. A few minutes by metro plus tram and we arrive at the Playa de la Malvarrosa, which continues into the Playa de las Arenas and all the way to the modern port, famous both for having hosted two editions of the America's Cup and for hosting the Formula One circuit. We spend the entire morning and part of the afternoon sunbathing and watching the lucky Valencians spending their weekends by the sea. This, in fact, seems to be the first slightly warm weekend, and some even venture a quick swim. The beach is immense and very lively. There's even a kite competition. The air is warm and the wind pleasant.

We have lunch with an excellent mixed fried fish platter and then walk towards the port. We visit the America's Cup facilities and in the distance we see the Formula One circuit, where a Porsche race is under way. We return to the centre in the late afternoon. We stroll a bit more through the streets of the old town, visiting the last places we hadn't seen, have dinner based on ice cream and around 8 pm, after picking up the suitcases we'd left at the hotel, we set off for the airport. The Ryanair flight, of course, lands in Bergamo 15 minutes early.