Travel update: I’m in Valencia and I’m in love with this city!

“Why have I not been here before!?”

This was a genuine question I kept asking myself just a few hours after I’d landed in Valencia.

This city is gorgeous.

It’s warm and it’s beautiful and it’s interesting. It’s historical and filled with culture but also modern and filled with young creativity. It feels a million miles from home yet it was an easy hop, skip and a jump from Manchester.

I hate admitting this but before arriving in Valencia I knew almost nothing about this city. Considering I’m a travel blogger that’s a really embarrassing fact but I’m assuming/hoping that I’m not alone here.

I knew the city was in Spain and something about Valencia Oranges so I made an educated guess and worked out it was Southern Spain. And that’s it. Yep, that’s everything I knew about Valencia.

If I knew what I know now I’m 100% sure I would have come sooner. Valencia is gorgeous! Absolutely drop dead if-I-could-speak-Spanish-I’d-probably-move-here gorgeous.

I keep having to pinch myself to remind myself that I am actually in Europe. In January. In a t-shirt. Drinking freshly squeezed orange juice in the sunshine and generally loving my life.

Valencia is my kind of city. It’s small enough to walk or cycle around but big enough that there’s a long list of things to see and do. There’s something photogenic at every turn and I’ve found myself snapping away with my camera like I’m a member of the paparazzi. I seriously can’t put it down! Sometimes it’s a palm tree with a pink sunset lingering behind it. Sometimes it’s an incredible monument, a beautiful bridge, a spellbinding church, a colourful market, a delicious meal, cool street art or simply an old bloke drinking his coffee and looking so impossibly Spanish.

I think one of the reasons I’m loving Valencia so much is because I hadn’t expected it to be this beautiful. Valencia is overshadowed by Barcelona and Madrid like two older sisters who are taller and prettier. Valencia is like the sister who will take off her glasses and shake out her hair and suddenly everyone stops dead and goes, ‘Wow, how did we not notice her before!?’ But she’s not just beautiful. Oh no, this girl is smart and funny and creative and just about ticks every box on the list.

I’m going to be spending the next few days writing about my trip but, for now, here are some photogenic reasons to show you why I’m loving it.