The Albufera is much larger than I imagined. I think I only got to the northern tip of it. Mostly…read moreto find places with excellent arroces dishes. There is no denying the best rice comes out of this area, but the scenery and the wildlife is also equally amazing. I think next time Im here and it's not dumping buckets, I may just go get a kayak and troll around the central parts.

Most of my four stars are for the best sunset in Spain that you can enjoy here on the jetties. The…read morephotos provide all the info required for the sunsets here. The rest of the national park and beach is pretty bland. We stayed here for 5 nights and 1 was enough. May have been more interesting if the rice fields were in full swing and not just empty fields of mud. Apparently this is where Paella was born!!

Short version: Waterfall, hot springs, and a surprise stop at a hydroelectric dam. Fun!…read more Long version: The waterfall was very pretty and just what the wife was looking to see. The river with the hot spring was also really nice, though it might have been more accurate to call it a "lukewarm spring" since the water coming out of it was actually cooler than the river on a hot Valencia summer day. Lunch was delicious. The hydroelectric dam was cool - periodically they let off a big burst of water to relieve pressure the result is a lot of rainbows. It started raining on the walk back from that and we were very glad to get back to the bus. As for Mike the tour guide, he's a good dude - funny, friendly, and didn't give us grief when we were a couple minutes late because of an issue with our hotel. Be aware that you will spend half the day in the car going to and from the locations, but that's to be expected on a tour like this. Overall it was a lot of fun. Highly recomended.

Highly recommend! My 14 year old nephew, 18 year old niece and I went on the Hot Springs tour the…read morelast week of March with Mike. It was so nice to get into nature after touring a few of Spain's big cities. We were joined by 4 other travelers who also seemed to have a great time. Before we got to the springs, we went to various locations that offered stunning views of valleys, a romantic "lovers leap" pond, and a totally cool dam that was spouting vast amounts of water. Lots of opportunities for teenage kids to run up and down mountains and boulder hop - they were in heaven! There was no one but us at any of the stops. It was raining but I'm guessing that even on the most beautiful day, there wouldn't be many people. In addition to the beautiful locations, the customer service was fabulous. They picked us up (we were jet lagged and still sleeping when they arrived, but Mike was totally gracious when we came out!) and dropped us off - no having to find a location in a big city! When we finally made it to the springs, Mike was prepared with wet suits and masks for our dip into the water. He even had umbrellas for us. Mike was hilarious and knowledgable, obviously a nature guy who enjoys sharing his special spots. When in Valencia, Do!Valencia - you won't regret it.

When Im in town i generally stay by the Calatrava complex. After taking a stroll through the…read morearchitecture, I make my way through the Turia river bed gardens. If I had a day to spend Id try and walk the whole thing out to the outskirts of the western parts of the city. It is quite huge. It's interesting that this city planning and beautiful space came out of the tragedy of the city flooding and the new river, which is almost completely barren on the outside of the city is down trodden. Anyways, there is way more to explore than meets the eye, and a bonus is on hot days, it's usually more temperate in the gardens below

This park is one of the best things in Valencia. It is really long, easy to access, full of…read moreplaygrounds, sport fields, places to hangout and picnic, skate parks, ping pong tables, paths for bicycle, running and walking, and more. In some parts of the park (near the sport fields), there are also cafes. The atmosphere is really nice and relaxing. The best time to visit is of course during summer, but it is also nice to visit all year long because it is not that cold in Valencia anyway. However there are many more people during summer, for example it gets more difficult to ride a bike during that time. The distance of the park spreads from the City of Art and Science until Bio Park on the other end. I love riding my bike along the bicycle path. I usually access the park from the side that is near Bio Parc and ride until Alameda. It is also safer to go by this way than through the traffic. Also, there are people who skate and roller blade. The only negative thing about this park is that there are many dog poops on the grass where is suppose dot be for people to chill out. Yo have to be careful where to lay on the grass or to find a place for picnic. During the night, it seems safe enough to pass through the park. I sometimes walk back from my work through the park around 9:30 pm and there were still a number of people. One highlight is the Gulliver Park situated within this park. it's got many slides for children. Very fun to visit! I highly recommend this place!

A beautiful town on the North Costa Blanca situated just several kilometers from Benidorm. I spent…read morea couple of hours in Altea recently, and I loved it! Altea's seafront esplanade is planted with palm trees and offers a great view to the mountain of Cabo Estufador, the symbol of the town. There's a long bike lane running along the beach. You won't be able to ride fast though, it's quite busy in summer. There are many seafront cafes, some of them with live music (Example: http://www.yelp.com/biz/cafe-t-haventje-altea). Find full bands here: drums, base guitar and guitar(s). Unlike in some other cities on the Costas, you find them without searching in Altea! Altea is hilly, you can drive up a hill and enjoy the views if the city, the sea and the mountains. This is the point from which I took the pictures: Calle Navarro Ramón, 23 https://goo.gl/maps/EzG3a4oE9hv I'm sure there are hundreds of other places. The main sight of the town church of La Mare de Déu del Consol ("Our Lady of Solace"): http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-mare-de-d%C3%A9u-del-consol-altea (someone add pics and reviews!). Beware of heavy traffic in August. Locals told me you can get stuck for an hour or two just to drive trough the city. There's a Spanish car named after the city - SEAT Altea (sold well until the model retired in 2015). Overall a nice town, worth visiting if you are in the Costa Blanca area! I wish I had more time to explore it. P.S. Check out this 3 minutes video about Altea by spain-holiday .com: https://youtu.be/vdo-sEt_DPQ

Guadalest is a tourist trap that offers a range of stuff to do and see here. Mainly the landmark,…read moreviews are beautiful and of course the old castle that has a lot of history to tell. Guadalest has a lots of museums like microminiatures, toys and dolls, old motorcycles and cars, shakers and pepper, ethnological, medieval, cats and more. Some of the museums are free to visit. Then there are a lot of restaurants and tourist shops. I think we spent around 4-5 hours before we took and then of course we didn't visit all the museums and shops. It can be hard to find a vacant parking lot, and probably even more difficult in the high tourist seasons, the parking cost €2 cash, if you park at the official municipality parking. You'll surely take some nice photos here and remember your visit to this place for a long time.

Nice place to have a walk for 1-2 hours. Great view from top of the El Castell. Avoid to visit in…read morehigh season, get there early or late to avoid the crowds.