Local Knowledge

Taxis

There are plenty of ranks in Valencia city centre, with the white cabs displaying a green light when free. To book a car in advance, try Radio Taxis (+34 96 370 3333), or Taxi Star (+34 639 616 666).

Tipping culture

Servicio is normally added to restaurant bills, and further tips aren’t expected, but throwing in 50 cents to €1 a person will always be appreciated.

Siesta and fiesta

It could be the warm climate and the long sunshine hours, or it could just be the fact that Valencianos have midnight oil to burn by the bucketload, but days generally start late and end later. Most bars open all day, and it’s not uncommon to see locals dining in restaurants at or after midnight. No one eats before 9pm. Nightlife in Valencia could more accurately be dubbed ‘early-morning life’, as the club scene doesn’t kick off until well past the witching hour.

Packing tips

Walking shoes and sun lotion for the day; dancing shoes and midnight oil for the evening.

Recommended reads

The novelist, film-maker and political firebrand Vicente Blasco Ibáñez is Valencia’s most famous literary son. His most famous novel The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, tells the story of a Spanish family afflicted by the First World War.

Cuisine

Tapas don’t carry the same culinary weight in Valencia as they do elsewhere in Spain, but the country’s other famous gastro-gift to the world certainly does. Paella was invented in Valencia, and you’ll find it on the lunch menu of almost every restaurant. Rabbit and snails are the traditional staples, but freshly caught seafood often finds its way into the mix too. Other rice dishes and paella variants abound, including arroz negro (rice in squid ink) and fidéua (paella made with noodles). The region’s beverage of choice is horchata, a sweet and creamy blend of crushed tiger nuts, usually consumed with dippable bread buns known, sniggeringly, as fartons.

Currency

Euro.

Time zone

GMT +1 hour.

Dialling codes

Country code for Spain: 34; Valencia: 96

Do go/don't go

Famously, Valencia enjoys more than 300 cloudless days a year (part of the reason its oranges are so tasty), only seeing remotely serious rainfall infrequently in autumn and spring. July and August are usually exceedingly hot and humid, leading to a mass exodus of locals from the city and the closure of a fair few restaurants and shops. The fringes of summer – May and June and September – can be the most pleasant periods to visit, although Valencia makes a good year-round destination.